Lada 4x4 (Niva) for overland

[Cambelt]

Originally Posted by erdei82

Thank you for all your comments! We plan to travel light and don't want to go hard offroading. So it seems that I will pick a few years old RAV4.

When are you looking to buy? I have a 2007 RAV4 that I'll be looking to sell soon in the UK.

[erdei82]

Originally Posted by Cambelt

When are you looking to buy? I have a 2007 RAV4 that I'll be looking to sell soon in the UK.

I plan to buy only next year. At the moment I still not decided which 4x4 should I pick. Now I am collecting information from more experienced people than me. .. Anyway thank you for the information!

[erdei82]

So the plan is to travel from Budapest to Almati and back, then after a year from Budapest to Bamako. Now I have the following cars on my list: Lada 4x4 (Niva), Toyota RAV4, Toyota 4runner, Land Rover Defender, Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin Wagon.

[Lovetheworld]

The 4Runner is great because it is more affordable than Landcruiser or Defender, but still is a capable 4x4.

With the Mitsubishi please check for any issues with that specific model. Don't know about the Pinin, but some of them have engine problems waiting to happen, others are fine.

Originally Posted by Homers GSA

I appreciate what you are saying however the Lada Niva is a proper and very capable 4wd. The Rav is AWD and not capable.

I am trading ability off against serviceability.

Yes I understand, but I don't agree with your outcome.

What good is a very capable 4x4 if you bring it to Africa and it is overheating all the time or something breaks and you cannot service it?
I'm okay with a Niva for central asia and so on, because even if it breaks a lot, you can get it fixed.

If the vehicle is not reliable and/or not servicable, then automatically you should not be very confident to take it on long trips and offroad.

[Homers GSA]

Originally Posted by Lovetheworld

The 4Runner is great because it is more affordable than Landcruiser or Defender, but still is a capable 4x4.



With the Mitsubishi please check for any issues with that specific model. Don't know about the Pinin, but some of them have engine problems waiting to happen, others are fine.







Yes I understand, but I don't agree with your outcome.



What good is a very capable 4x4 if you bring it to Africa and it is overheating all the time or something breaks and you cannot service it?

I'm okay with a Niva for central asia and so on, because even if it breaks a lot, you can get it fixed.



If the vehicle is not reliable and/or not servicable, then automatically you should not be very confident to take it on long trips and offroad.

The Lada is reliable.
It is easily serviceable.
It is capable.
Any trained mechanic can fix one.
Parts can be shipped if required.

Adventure riders take modern bikes that require computers to diagnose them. I doubt the bush mechanics of Africa have final drives for R1200GS’s on their shelves yet many take them there.

It’s obvious we are not going to agree and that’s fine.


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[turboguzzi]

I'm a big Subaru Forrester fan, got two, but for harder off road I'm looking for something thogher. If you are still considering prev gen Ladas, then add to your list the vitara, the one before the grand vitara model. It is heavily inspired by the nova but with proper Japanese engineering, in TUV reliability ratings it's way up there with Mercedes Benz or Porsche.

[Thomass1]

Nice idea! I also want such a family trip, I will definitely convince them. To be honest, I think that toyota is the best car for long trips, especially because it has enough space and doesn't create many problems. I have a toyota rav4 for more than 7 years and it only once had issues with the automatic transmission, but there are great prices for toyota rav4 ecm repair deals which are also very qualitative. So, I solved very quickly the problem with little money. I really wouldn't change toyota for anything, just my opinion.

[JenniferA]

My longest road was 6500 km, I and my husband traveled to Irkutsk from Lithuania. It was so long but our Land Cruiser 200 is a perfect car for these roads!

[Surfy]

Originally Posted by Thomass1

Nice idea! I also want such a family trip, I will definitely convince them. To be honest, I think that toyota is the best car for long trips, especially because it has enough space and doesn't create many problems. I have a toyota rav4 for more than 7 years and it only once had issues with the automatic transmission, but there are great prices for toyota rav4 ecm repair deals which are also very qualitative. So, I solved very quickly the problem with little money. I really wouldn't change toyota for anything, just my opinion.

Toyota has the strongest network for spares for shure.

But you have to be careful with choosing the specific model - to be able to optain spares quicker during your journey.

I did travel 110`000 Kilometers, did a transafrica, did travel in south america - and can confirm that toyota can deliver spares internationally... But...

If the spare isnt common, Toyota will need aprox. 60 days to import them.

DHL International Business Express (2 days) brings it (mostly) in 7 days (if you are able to get an local partner to speedup the tax process), you need a good mechanic / garage at home who can support you on your journey.



I did wrote an article about in german language:
https://www.4x4tripping.com/2015/04/...weltreise.html

The Landcruiser 200 did served my well during my trips, and many repairs was possible locally (Windscreen in Mauretania, Windscreen in Namibia, side window in Bolivia). Mostly because the UN and the local Goverment did use the same car.

Other technical repairs - wasnt always that smooth - too with the Land Cruiser 200, but possible by toyota inside of a week: 53420-60050 Hood Hinge Assembly, 88710-6B580 Tube Assy, Air Conditioner, 88460-60400 CONDENSER ASSY. No, they arent able to deliver all of them quicker than 60days. But they was able to repair them - had to replace them at home.

Didnt expect the same experience with a 4Runner or a Rav4 during international travels. You will have to flight in the spares or wait ages each time. Because of that Issue - absolutely nothing speaks against an Lada 4x4

That is my personal view - and did grow with ongoing reading of travel blogs, vlogs, diarys. I did not just read each transafrica over the west travelblog since 2011 in detail - too I did following Panamerica and Silkroad Journeys. Therefore just a low percentage is wroting diarys or similar - too my focus don`t covers more than some low percentages and my own experiences.

As you can note above - this was not the toyota workshop in Mauretania - they did send me away with a 60days waiting time. This was the black market who did help. Guess wouldnt be able to help with a rarely used toyota down there.

Surfy

[boro1]

Everybody who've ever owned and driven a Soviet car have said that the most obscure and rare western or Asian vehicle of similar capability is a better choice. Mostly more reliable. A Soviet car works best if you're a masochist. If you want to constantly work on your car and keep enough spare parts to build another car out of said parts.