1988 Lada Samara Deluxe from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

After we had picked it up from the dealership and brought it home, we had noticed that the window winder had fallen off, there were swirls in the paintwork, the dash was fading, the hubcap had fallen off, and the tailgate rattled.

We took the car back to Lada, where we demanded a refund or a new car, but were not given one. If our car was to be fixed, we would be paying for a courtesy car!

At about 10,000 km, we were left stranded after the car had broken down. There was no oil, and there was no washer fluid. The washer fluid had only ever been used once. There were rattles from all parts of the body, as well as faded parts in the interior, broken switches, and a door lock that ended up falling out. Detail work on the side of the car had fallen off too.

At 15,000 km, the cabin had rust in it, the electrics had failed, the washer fluid had dried up again, and the car had broken down 3 times since it had broken down at 10,000 km. We went to Lada and showed them the faults. Lada never gave us a new car.

The most disappointing piece of rubbish made!

Bad quality, bad fuel economy, BAD EVERYTHING!

This all must have come as a huge shock to you. After all, Ladas have a reputation as being the most reliable cars on the planet.

Surely a test drive and a close look at the cars at the dealership should have put you off. Brand new Ladas weren't even as good as a ten year old Hyundai.

Hmm, the Ladas produced between 90-95 are not really good, but, Lada as the commercial car, is the most solid car on the planet, even today, and the her reliability is well known to be much higher than any GM car produced, again, even today.

Very strange experience, I have owned five Lada's over the past twenty years, four Niva's and a Samara, all except one were bought second hand and all were reliable and robust, but poorly finished.

I would agree that they are not the same build of finish quality than Korean or Japanese built cars, but for the price (second hand) they are excellent value. The Samara by the way was bought at 70,000 kms and is now driven by my some and has over 160,000 kms on it with only a water pump needing replacement.

You must have alotta Ladas to drive a Lada. You need parts... mostly body parts... the metal is poor, but the car keeps on running. I bought a Samara for $200. Cnd. for parts. I ended up driving it and it is still running 2 years later... we are slowly losing the ability to cannibilize, but both engines still run. They are great in the winter and great in the snow. If they would just hold together and I wish the doors would stay on!

After reading the review, I began feeling quite sorry for the poor little Lada! A car is really only as good as the owner behind it- and this particular owner appears to have absolutely NO idea how to maintain and look after a car. Owner rates 0/10!

Actually, I sympathise with the owner of the Samara. Poor old New Zealand ended up with loads of Ladas as part of a deal with Russia and our Dairy board. These cars were supplied in lieu of payment along with dodgy Belarus tractors and coal. The cars sat around out in the sun with grass growing up around them until such time they were needed. By the sounds of it, yours had been sitting forever - hence the fading and swirl marks indicating heavy buffing of paintwork. My Dad ended up with a Belarus tractor, and all I can say about that is one needed a good socket set to stop the thing from falling to bits - the bolts holding it together would unwind on a regular basis!

So, who`s to blame for storing brand new cars out in the open for long periods of time, in the notoriously harsh New Zealand weather, and watching "the grass grow around them"? Nobody could be that dumb. Could they? No, it HAS to be the car`s fault!