Chevrolet Niva - from dirt to city. One owner experience

Here are the problems you will encounter if you take a Chevrolet Niva: Top 6

Chevrolet Niva began production 17 years ago, in 2002. The model has come all this long way without even changing the first generation. Restyling, however, did not bypass it in 2009, but you definitely won’t find any great differences in the two versions of the same compact SUV. By the way, the update was implemented by the well-known car studio Bertone.

Nevertheless, the car remains in demand among compatriots due to its affordability and good consumer performance. With a cost of less than 700 thousand rubles and a “ceiling” of 810,000 rubles at the moment, as well as a 4x4 wheel arrangement with very reasonable all-terrain properties, it is difficult to find a better budget compact SUV. And, unlike the same UAZ Patriot, the Cehvy-Niva is comfortable both in the city and on the highway on the way to the dacha.

Yes, there are drum brakes at the rear, yes, the “maximum speed” is 140 km/h, and the consumption in the city is about 14 liters of AI-95 from a modest 1.7-liter engine (80 hp, 127.5 Nm of torque), and this is with standard driving mode on an undamaged engine.
Yes, the interior is old... and there are many other “buts” in this car. But it’s cheap, accessible, and easy to repair. See also Top 5 most terrifying facts about Hyundai Creta
The buyer still votes with rubles for the old man. This can be seen even in model sales in April 2022. The SUV is included in the Top 25 best-selling cars with the number of SUVs sold in the amount of 1,853 units.

Moreover, it didn’t work out with the new product, but that’s a separate conversation.

Content

Chevrolet Niva was the most purchased SUV in Russia in 2004-2008. The car won two prestigious awards - “SUV of the Year 2009” and “SUV of the Year 2015”. By 2015, more than 550 thousand cars were produced, of which about 40 thousand were exported to the CIS countries.

Is it worth buying this car today? What to expect from Chevrolet Niva in the secondary car market? We asked these questions to Stas, the owner of a 2003 Chevrolet Niva.

Before meeting with Stas, we checked his car by license plate through the Autocode service. The report showed that the car has no legal problems. Also, the car was not involved in an accident, and the mileage on it was not adjusted.

The owner himself said that he bought the car in July 2022. He needed a car to drive around the city and sometimes go off-road.

Stas claims that the car is easy to maintain. The simple design and cheap spare parts make it quite repairable.

“Childhood diseases” of the Chevrolet Niva SUV

Let's look at the top seven most common malfunctions that occur with the Chevrolet Niva. But before that, let’s clarify that the “sores” greatly depend not only on the restyling and pre-restyling, but also on the year of manufacture of the car. We must pay tribute to AvtoVAZ - it did not abandon its joint brainchild with GM, but constantly made adjustments, improvements, looked for, constrained by the cooperation that had become a burden, inexpensive and capacious solutions acceptable with the foreign giant. Honestly, well done Tolyatti people!

But even the modernization of ten years ago could not overcome all the problems, but today it is becoming even more difficult. But there is still something to work on.

See also Officially: Chevrolet Niva received a new multimedia system

Yes, it’s impossible to compare the first-born of some 2006 model, which is already old and has had a whole bunch of shortcomings since new, with a 2-3-year-old Chevy Niva, so let’s just go over the main problems that owners face newer copies.

Is it worth taking this Niva?

It’s worth it, but you’ll have to set aside some money for subsequent repairs. You can find a good device for this money, but you have to be very picky about sellers. There are a lot of them who are trying to sell a very “tired” all-terrain vehicle. Fortunately, the market is now teeming with these machines and there is a wide choice.

It is worth considering that this car is, first of all, an SUV. It is chosen by outdoor enthusiasts, hunters and fishermen. Cross-country ability is important to them, and they put everything else in the background. Therefore, you should be prepared that most of these cars on the market will not be in the best condition.

Do not forget that the year of manufacture must be fresh, the body must be rust-free, and the mileage must be low. This is the only way a good specimen looks like.

Rust on the body

We probably won’t discover “America,” but the fact, as they say, is obvious. Alas, as the owners write on the forums, the paintwork still leaves much to be desired. Varnish and paint gradually give way under the pressure of weather conditions, “salty” winters, and the scorching sun. The result is microcracks, the air begins to oxidize the metal, and unpleasant brown areas of corrosion appear.

But this is not so bad, the worse thing is that under the pressure of weather conditions and reagents in large cities, anti-corrosion protection gives weakness. This is where the most unpleasant things begin - rot spreads in closed cavities, under the bottom and in other hard-to-reach places.

According to users, rust may appear in the third or fourth year of operation.

In this regard, we advise you to update the anti-crust layer once a year by pouring the composition into the closed cavities of the underbody.

Mechanical transmission and transfer case breakdowns

“The most common problem with these gearboxes is fifth and reverse gears slipping out. There is only one reason - the gear selector mechanism is not adjusted. The input shaft bearing may “die” in the region of 50-60 thousand km,” - this is an example of problems with the gearbox given on the website polomkiauto.ru

Sometimes a hole leaks in the area where the speedometer cable drives.

According to the advice of experienced people, it is better to change the gearbox oil more often, once every 50 thousand km.

In a transfer case, it is normal for the seals to leak. In fact, the oil itself on the gearbox, drives and transfer case housing does not indicate a big problem. The seals on many cars “sweat” oil, including foreign premium models. The main thing is not to leak.

Otherwise, transmission breakdowns do occur, but generally not critical. Although, if you don’t like tinkering with your car, the following list of breakdowns will seem like a disaster to you (the list is taken from the website www.drive2.ru, from the page of a user under the nickname wladimir1990)

32,000 km – replacement of the rear oil seal

at 34,000 km vibration appeared at a speed of 90 km/h (it was not felt when cold), accordingly the following was done:

wheel balancing and wheel alignment (didn’t help)

39,900 km - replacing the shaft with a 2-CV joint hammer and sickle (did not help)

balancing drive shafts (normal)

46,200 km – replacing the transfer case (did not help)

in the end, the vibration was not defeated - I resigned myself (58,000 km - the front gearbox was rebuilt, because it was leaking from all the seals, the result was that it began to leak through the gasket)

STRONG ENGINE VIBRATION

Motor

The engine, although old in design, has been modernized many times. Therefore, the resource is taking care of it quite vigorously and is ready to provide careful owners with 250-300 thousand km without major repairs.

The main problem with the engine is the cooling system. They say it works to the limit, hence all the problems that arise, in the literal sense. Watch for leaks and do not turn the motor so as not to overheat it and overload the heat removal system.

The thermostat and expansion tank may fail (it bursts from the cold). Tip: Carry a spare one in your trunk.

The second known problem is the timing chain (it stretches and can jump over the teeth). The result is a major engine overhaul. A hint about a possible problem can be obtained when the engine is running. If the chain is loose, mechanical noise appears when the engine runs.

See also Cylinder head gasket defects, causes, consequences and how to avoid them

A breakdown of the throttle sensor also does not add reliability points to the Chevrolet Niva.

Of the least big problems: the knocking of hydraulic compensators can be heard.

Problem solving

Therefore, you need to find the reason why the engine is not working correctly and fix it as quickly as possible. In order to understand what exactly has gone wrong, you need to start the engine at idle and listen to how it works; if regular popping sounds are heard from the exhaust system, this indicates that there are problems with the operation of one of the cylinders. This may be due to several reasons:

1. No spark to spark plugs
2. The injector may have failed
3. Low compression in one of the cylinders, or there is a strong air leak into it

If the popping does not appear evenly, you can try replacing all existing spark plugs, even if they seem normal. If popping noises occur regularly, you should turn off the engine and open the hood, and check the condition of all existing ignition wires; they should not have any damage or oxidation of the tips.

To check the condition of the spark plugs, you need to remove the wire ends and unscrew the spark plugs with a special wrench. Check what condition they are in, if they look good, then put them in place, the main thing is that they are absolutely dry, if there are any drips, you can throw them away, also check what kind of gap they have, it should be from zero eight to zero nine millimeters.

If the engine does not operate smoothly at idle, you need to check the spark at the spark plugs. You can do this in the following way

1. We take the spark plug, fix it on the engine so that the thread is on the body
2. We connect the wire from the first cylinder to the spark plug, start the engine, if the interruption does not get worse, replace the spark plug with a new part. If after replacement there is an increase in interruptions, then it is necessary to check all the cylinders sequentially to understand which spark plug is faulty.

If, after following all the above recommendations, the problem remains, then you should contact a specialized car service center, where they will measure the engine compression. If the compression readings are more than one MPa, this is considered normal; if the reading is more than zero one MPa in one of the cylinders, then the engine needs to be repaired.

If during diagnostics a malfunction of the third cylinder is detected, you need to remove the hose that connects the engine and the vacuum brake booster, and then plug the hole in the hose, then start the engine; if the problem goes away, then you need to diagnose and most likely replace the vacuum brake booster.

Suspension and hubs

Ball and wheel bearings, bushings, silent blocks, steering linkage parts - all of this suffers from potholes on the roads and can break very quickly over time. Depends on the quality of the roads. The saddest thing is that even tires with high sides do not help.

We tried to look at the most expensive and common problems that SUV owners may encounter. This doesn't mean you won't encounter other inconveniences. There are plenty of them. But experienced Chevy Niva owners prefer not to pay attention to the little things. Overall, the car is quite reliable for the money. And he performs the tasks assigned to him with a solid B!

Necessary improvements

SUV owners usually prepare their vehicle for off-road use. The Chevrolet Niva in question was no exception. Stas told us what he changed in the car so that the Chevrolet Niva could use its full potential:

• Reinforced cardan shafts and reinforced axle thrust rods were installed;
• A 5-inch body lift was performed using non-standard springs;
• 29" wheels for dirt are installed. The turning radius of the car has increased, making it harder for the engine to turn the wheels. It is necessary to install a 4.3 main pair instead of the standard 3.9 - this will compensate for the load on the engine due to the large wheels;
• Installed HBO to save fuel. Gas consumption is approximately 13 liters per hundred. Gasoline is consumed the same way. But gas costs about 22 rubles, and gasoline - 40 rubles per liter of 1992;
• An expeditionary trunk, or rather a platform, was installed. The spare tire has been moved to the top. When the spare tire is installed normally, the door hinges quickly sag. Some people make a special “gate” for the spare tire.

Like any other car, the Shniva has weaknesses. We'll talk about them further.