The review is dedicated to the Lada Granta, but not a simple one, not something special, but an ordinary one. Its peculiarity is that it was used for 2 years in a taxi, and was not parked almost day or night. It has traveled many kilometers and has been thoroughly worn out. Just for those people who plan to buy a Lada Granta for a taxi or intensive use. This information will be very useful.
Today, the owner of the car himself will tell you what is left of it, how much money he invested in repairs, and all the nuances.
Briefly about the car
Model 2022, mileage 160 thousand km, used in a taxi. In the Lada Grant, comfort is better than in the “sevens” or “tens”, but in essence it is also a “bucket”, only updated. But it has its advantages. I like that it is small and tall, and has good cross-country ability. You can drive on a bad road, there were no cases of getting caught on the bottom.
Engine 8-valve 87 hp. p., “comfort” equipment. My friends and I own several cars. There are lucky cars and unlucky cars. If we talk about the engine, then this is the best thing in the car. The master who serves Grant is surprised by her. If you take the exhaust pipe, there is no carbon deposits or oil on it. The engine runs well and the fuel burns completely.
We change the spark plugs every 20 thousand, there is no carbon deposits on them, which indicates the correct operation of the engine. There has been no major engine overhaul, it does not consume oil, we change it every 8 thousand. We only fill up with 95 gasoline, since it is more economical to drive than 92. At 92, the power drops, especially if 2-3 people are sitting in the car. You can feel it right away.
On 92 gasoline you need to accelerate more in order to switch, then on 95 there is more force, and you need to put less pressure on the “slipper”. This results in savings on gasoline. With the air conditioner on, the power doesn't drop too much. If you compare it with the Renault Logan, then its power noticeably drops significantly with air conditioning.
Features of the Yandex service. Taxi and general requirements for vehicles
Before submitting a job application, you need to familiarize yourself with the requirements for cars, as well as decide on the tariff at which you plan to work. By the way, the basic conditions will depend on the tariff.
Until recently, cars were not divided into classes, which is why both a new Mercedes and an old BMW could arrive at an elite rate. Today the service has switched to working according to a special classifier of requirements for cars of different classes.
List of cars by category
Among the general requirements are the following:
- Color. Yandex.Taxi accepts only white, brown or dark gray cars. Blacks may be considered for elite fare.
- Technical condition. The vehicle must be running and pass inspection.
- Year of issue. Considered on an individual basis.
- Appearance. Must be presentable. The car should not show any signs of repair, dents or other damage.
- Salon. It has special requirements. The inside should be comfortable and clean. In any case, the driver will be forced to change the covers to new ones, especially if the old ones have scuffs.
- Stickers and inscriptions. They shouldn’t exist, because there’s no need for extraneous advertising.
Additionally, individual taxi companies may have their own requirements.
On a note! It is also worth paying attention to the fact that Yandex. Taxi considers the release date of a car to be September 1, therefore, the age of a car produced, for example, in 2015 before September 1, 2017 will be determined as 2 years, after this date - 3 years.
All cars 5 years and older are inspected, and a work permit can only be obtained on an individual basis.
Generator bracket broke
There was another problem with the alternator belt tensioner. There is a tension bolt that is attached to the bracket. It just burst, after calling the dealer, they told me to bring the car. If it was a manufacturing defect, they promised to repair it free of charge. But I have a long way to go, and on one battery without a generator. Repairs require time and the availability of spare parts. What if she doesn't exist?
If there are no spare parts, then you need to leave the car and wait. This may take several days or even a week. When working in a taxi, this is unacceptable. In fact, AvtoVAZ lacks the quality of parts. By the way, the bracket cost 350 rubles, plus 500 rubles for labor.
The problem with the bracket was the following. With the required tension, the belt begins to squeak when starting in the morning or when water gets in. This happens often on the Lada Grant. I arrive at a car service center and the mechanic tightens it tighter so that the belt doesn’t squeal. Too much tightening is what causes the bracket to break. I asked if there was a more durable bracket that would not break? They answered no.
Lada Granta is the best seller on the market. Now it is available in two bodies: liftback and sedan. The car is mega popular, and in its initial configuration, it is mainly purchased by security companies and delivery services. So it comes in standard and luxury configurations, and taxi drivers prefer configurations no lower than standard, with a minimum of options in the form of power windows for air conditioning, electric power steering and ABS. It seems that so much has been written about Grant that my article will be lost on the Internet. I will not describe the performance characteristics of the car and the ergonomics of the interior. Let's talk about reliability and popularity. The fact is that due to some circumstances I had to actively use taxis for a month. And what’s interesting is that out of every 5-6 orders per day, two were for Granta in a sedan body; liftbacks are not seen in taxis yet. Taxi drivers are mostly talkative people, and talking about the car is sacred. So I did a little research, the conversation revolved around the reliability of the car. Conventionally, out of 65 drivers, 50 people spoke positively about Grant. There were 40 cars with a mileage of more than 100 thousand, none of them had problems with repairs, standard replacement of consumables and, as a rule, clutches. This means that the quality of AvtoVAZ cars has increased significantly. Or did I just come across lucky owners
perfectly assembled cars? Don't think. And if you take into account that taxi cars are used to the fullest, then the cars behave with dignity. Moreover, all the cars looked like new in appearance, both inside and out. I don't remember any particular creaks in the cabin. The torpedo in all vehicles retained its original appearance. Unlike Logan, where light plastic usually has abrasions and traces of dirt. Of course, this is a matter of caring for the interior. But I'm talking about the practicality of black hard plastic. Even if it looks boring and budget-friendly, it is practical. Many of the taxi drivers with whom I traveled switched to Granta after the Focuses and Logons, well, the question here is rather the economic cost of the car’s mileage. What about the remaining 15? These are those who drive and scold our auto industry, and 3 of them had electronics failures, an on-board computer in two, and a central locking in one case. Before that, out of these 15, 8 drove Logan, and they claim that Logan is better, 5 drove cars from the secondary market. And two of us are on our 14 and claim that 14 is better and in vain it was discontinued. This is the mini survey I came up with... But most people like the car. Reasonable car for reasonable money. This is the opinion of the majority of the interviewed taxi drivers. Thanks to them for the conversations and good luck on the roads!!!
The pump fell apart
At 35 thousand km the pump failed - a terrible sharp sound, smoke and steam coming from under the hood. It seemed like the car had fallen apart! In fact, the problem was the water pump, which simply fell apart. When everything was taken apart, it turned out that the impeller on the pump was plastic. This run was enough for the plastic to decompose and crumble. In this case, there was a danger that the timing belt would fly off and the valves would bend. But this did not happen, and I was dragged to a car service center.
The plant claims that the new Lada Grant already has “stickless” pistons. But there were cases when cars in a new body arrived at a car dealer with a broken timing belt and bent valves.
During disassembly, it turned out that the engine still had an old “plug-in” piston. This speaks about the quality of assembly at AvtoVAZ. The pump costs about 2,700 rubles, plus 1,500 labor. This shouldn't happen at 30k. I found a pump with a metal impeller. In such cases, it is better not to try to get there yourself, but to use a tug.
Criteria for selecting cars by class
Each vehicle must meet specific requirements, which vary depending on the job class. Basically, the classification occurs into “economy”, “comfort”, “business”. Minivans are in particular demand. Families with children often choose the “Children” tariff. The driver has the right to apply for work simultaneously in several classes; naturally, the car must meet all the requirements.
Start
It is considered the basic level of payment - the minimum. As a rule, a similar tariff is valid in other cities; it is not provided in Moscow. But if you dig deeper, it becomes obvious that Start is nothing more than Economy, at least the price of the trip corresponds to the latter.
Yandex tariffs
Economy
Among the main criteria that a car must meet to operate in such a tariff:
- vehicle age from 2012;
- price from 400,000 rub.
Comfort
The requirements for this category are higher. It is used mainly by wealthy people, for whom it is important not only to quickly get to their destination, but also comfort. Generally speaking, the cost of the vehicle should not be less than 600,000 rubles, and the year of manufacture should not be earlier than 2013.
Comfort+
The requirements are more extensive than for the previous subcategory. Thus, cars belonging to classes D, E, sedans and not older than 2012 can work here. Also, the cabin must have air conditioning, an integrated audio system and electric windows.
Business
Among the main requirements are standard equipment, as well as leather trim (eco-leather is also suitable). Climate control and a center armrest in the rear seat are required.
Led brake discs
When you press the brake, you feel vibration and beating on the steering wheel. It's the front brake discs. They become thinner due to wear and warp when heated. This was at about 50 thousand km. The wheels were changed, now the mileage is already 160 thousand. That is, the new disks are already working for more than a hundred.
The problem may be the quality of the discs, or a bent hub. If you put a brake disc on such a hub, there should be runout immediately. The hub was changed 3 times, found from an expensive company. If you know the exact reason, write in the comments. But this is a real problem.
As a result, we decided to replace the entire wheel, that is, the rim. The beating remains, but it does not intensify. It was not possible to fully find out the reason - the mysteries of AvtoVAZ.
List of cars suitable for working in Yandex. Taxi
The table shows cars by year of manufacture that can work in Yandex.Taxi. “-” means that the machine cannot operate at a certain tariff.
The promised joke
I really like Granta's clearance. Even in Logan I didn’t risk driving on forest roads. You can really drive this car. Friends come to the forest on snowmobiles and drive through the snow. You can't get here in many foreign cars.
Lada Granta after running 5000 km
And now, actually, for fun. I'll show you the VAZ cruise control. We turn on first gear and go. We take our foot off the gas pedal, the car moves quietly at idle. We switch to second gear and also drive without gas. We turn on the third and also move without pressing the pedals. We stick the 4th - the same thing. The speed remains 30-35 km per hour, sometimes even reaching 40. This is a kind of cruise control. In fifth gear the car starts to jerk.
How the Lada Granta drives with the AMT robot - the owner of the car tells.
Many will say that this is a mockery of the car, but it goes! However, no one writes about this on the Internet. Even up a small hill the car goes, although it is difficult. It turns out that idle speed (900) is enough to pull the car. This trick doesn't work on other cars. If anyone has tried it, please write. The review is short, since I haven’t driven it much yet; the Lada Granta is still almost new.
