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Comment by throw8932894 | Hacker News Reader

Lada Niva 4x4. Old school soviet, but modernized car. With airconditioning and some modern gimmicks. Very easy to fix and maintain. Good fuel economy, some versions even pass Euro 5 emission limits.

I liked WW2 jeeps and their simplicity, this seems like modern equivalent.

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+1 for Lada Niva but not sure where OP is. Hard to get one outside Russia and Europe.

Dashboard is still the same analog as in the 80s https://static.lada.ru/images/press-releases/vaz_catalogue_n...

https://www.lada.ru/en/cars/niva-legend

There seems to be a UK dealer https://lada4x4.co.uk/

For the US and Canada:

It would be impossible new without buying them for crash tests and I think maybe modifying the engine, and it gets very expensive (I'm not 100% sure but it's a tedious and very difficult and expensive process from what I remember). That's unless they're 25 years old in the US or 15 years old in Canada (eg. buy a really old model).

I would kill to be able to purchase a brand new 4x4 manual transmission light SUV in the US. Sadly it no longer exists.

Suzuki Jimny is in similar 4x4 category, it can be an alternative for the rest of the world.

Ah, my dad owned one of these. Rudimentary reliable car that can go anywhere. He used it mainly in back roads with no tarmac whatsoever. The damn thing worked like a clock. You can find parts everywhere and they're cheap, any mechanic can work on the car, and it's build like a tank. It's not fast, or particularly comfortable, but it's the epitome of reliability and dependency.

Lada? O_o

Isn't that the brand of car I usually see shatter like glass in a crash in dashcam videos from Russia?

They are cheap for a reason. Incredibly unreliable, if you are a mechanic it's OK because you can fix it with a clip and duck tape. But if you can't DIY, be ready to have the car for repair five times more often than a "normal" car.

They are simple, yes. So simple they don't care if the simplicity cost you your life, and maybe your family if you are brave enough to put them in that. But hey, you saved a couple of thousands when you bought it, so maybe it's worth it.

And the saddest part is that the new models have electric mirrors, rear cam, parking radar, a 7" display, electric windows front and rear... The whole package you specifically didn't want in your Lada.

In Lada, you are the crumple zone.

Or the base model Dacia Duster.

I am discovering so many neat cars in this thread.

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