Hi! DF> I've heard a story, several times from different people, that I'm DF> wondering if you can confirm or refute. Supposedly there was a very DF> cheap car manufactured in the USSR, intended for regular people. That DF> is, not a Zil or expensive car like that. I guess Lada and Niva are DF> probably the right price bracket. I've heard of Lada, but I'm not DF> familiar with Niva. A car for the apparatchiki, not the commisars.
DF> Anyway, that car supposedly had a statement in the owner's manual, that DF> if smoke started coming out of the heater, to stop the car immediately, DF> turn off the engine, and run as fast as you can. I suppose it must be DF> on the brink of exploding, or something, if that happens. Well, since you ask in public, I am going to answer in public. I am afraid you were subject to a practical joke or rather sick sense of humor. Lada is a reasonably good car. Niva is a small jeep (a-la Suzuki Samurai) produced by the same factory. Indeed, both have certain problems, mechanical etc. But you don't have to run fast if it smokes from beneath the bonnet, you really don't. By the way, if you go to Yahoo Autos and add VW Golf '92 to your cars you'd see that some of them were recalled due to some defect that could potentially cause fire beneath the bonnet. And of course, numerous recalls from numerous auto makers are common practice these days. So Lada (and Niva) are both normal cars... They are not as good and reliable as Hondas, but nevertheless they are sound. I hope next time you'd be more critical to what you hear about Soviet engineering... --- Boris Liberman www.geocities.com/dunno57 www.photosig.com/viewuser.php?id=38625
