Lada Niva owner interview

A big thank you to @seinedudeheit!

1. Tell us about your Niva.

First I have to write something about the name - the Lada Niva is marketed as Lada Taiga in some markets since some time, because the brand 'Niva' went to GM. However, for the sake of clarity, I will continue to write about my Niva.

I bought the Niva new in Germany in 2015. I was looking for an inexpensive car that I could use for short and medium-long distances professionally, on the one hand, and a car that could handle bad roads well, on the other. The new price at that time was about 12,000 euros with necessary extras such as a trailer hitch, inner shells for the wheel arches and a radio.

The car is otherwise very simply equipped - it has no air conditioning, no central locking, window cranks, a manual 5-speed transmission. The all-wheel drive is permanent with a locking center differential and a -not too long- off-road reduction. It is prone to corrosion, so I had a wax sealant done, which is why the car tends to drip in the summer heat.

2. Why did you decide to buy a Niva?

There were actually two reasons for buying the Niva. One is rather pragmatic - the car was mostly used for work in the beginning, and fiscally, Germany favors inexpensive cars, even with relatively high fuel costs. The other is that I liked the Lada since my childhood and I was fascinated that you could still buy it factory new. On top of that, there was an uncertain feeling that it probably wouldn't be available to buy for much longer. The official import was stopped in 2020.

I wanted to own a car that could take us anywhere and back again without major modifications. Since the car really only inspires commiseration or enthusiasm, encounters with other drivers in the woods or in the mountains are usually very relaxed. The small size makes evasive maneuvers on narrow roads very easy.

3. What is the dealer network/support like in germany where you live?

The dealer and workshop network for the Niva is rather thin. However, there are some garages that specialize in the Niva, but they are 50-100km away from me. I therefore have the following maintenance plan: I give the car to my trusted workshop nearby for standard maintenance every year and the following year I give it to the Lada workshop further away for more specialized work.

4. What do you love about your Niva?

I love several aspects of the Niva - certainly the looks, I like that it is boxy but not aggressive. I like the size - the car is 3.80m long 1.60m wide. So you don't take too much space either in the city or offroad. Nevertheless, one has - I have removed the back seats - a lot of storage space. Even though I don't do much work on the car myself, I like the simplicity of it - you open the hood and everything is immediately visible and understandable. The spare parts for the Niva are very cheap, although the quality is sometimes questionable, and you can get them without any problems. (I wish it was the same with Citroens from the 90s).

5. What do you hate?

I don't really hate anything about the Niva - it certainly has some drawbacks, but it doesn't hide them before buying. It is quite noisy - long trips on the highway are possible but exhausting - here headphones with noise reduction help a lot. Fuel consumption is not low for a car of its size - I have never used less than 10L per 100km (about 24mpg) and I am not a very dynamic driver.

6. Are Nivas super simple to repair and maintain?

Yes, the technology is relatively simple and very well documented. I could do most of the work myself if I had a place to work on the car. Our village workshop is always very fond of the car.

7. What is the most modern technology/part of your Niva? LED lights? USB?

I left the car mostly in factory condition. I had two Hellas fitted at the time of purchase, so the lights are not an issue. From that point of view, I think that the ABS and Bosch injection is the most modern part on the Niva.

8. Do you feel safe driving it on the highway? Does it have airbags? ABS?

Highway driving is not a problem with the Niva - it doesn't have much trouble with a cruising speed of 120km/h with its 87hp. At least not as long as it doesn't get too mountainous ;-) On the flat, higher speeds are possible, but I haven't driven faster than 150km/h yet. The car is track stable even at these speeds and you don't feel unsafe. The car has ABS, but I have never activated it. It does not have airbags - I think the body structure is too soft for airbags. It has proven to be better not think about accidents when driving.

9. Do you own any other cars? If so, what are they?

I currently drive the Niva and a 2019 Prius on a daily basis - fun fact: a Niva is much less exotic in Germany than a Prius. I see Nivas almost daily, a Prius only every few weeks. In the garage there is also a 1999 Citroen XM 3.0 Exclusive automatic in green and a black 2013 Ford Transit 2.2 Diesel Westfalia with lifting roof . And some motorcycles.

10. Why do you love cars?

I have always loved cars - our family always had practical Opel Rekord station wagons, until my father bought a Citroen XM in his retirement, his (and my) favourite car that I still drive. I've always been fascinated by the fact that you can go anywhere by car at any time and yet never actually leave your familiar surroundings. That's why I love road trips more than high speeds or sporty handling.

I also love the car as a social phenomenon and as a sculpture of everyday life - in the spirit of Roland Barthes' beautiful essay about the Citroen DS.