Defects of Lada
Lada Vesta has recently rolled off the assembly line and not all warranty workshops have experience in solving problems on how to eliminate knocking noises that occur in the suspension. The manufacturer constantly maintains contact with the service station and makes changes to the design. Let's consider possible malfunctions and methods for eliminating them in the front suspension of the Lada.
Car enthusiasts may be disappointed by a new car almost immediately. An unpleasant creaking and knocking sound appears when passing speed bumps. Upon analysis, it turned out that the problem was in the stabilizer bar bushings.
It is not recommended to lubricate them with grease; they will stop squeaking, but for a very short period of time, so they only need to be changed. They can be replaced with polyurethane ones from Niva Chevrolet. The bushing has catalog number 17012680. After replacement, the squeaking sound disappears.
You should know that these are not all problems; a characteristic knocking sound may occur from the front right.
Lada Vesta Cross: advantages and disadvantages
Vesta Cross in our hands !!! I have already looked at this car and I can authoritatively tell you that this is the best Lada that we now have in Russia. Externally, guys, it’s fire! First of all, look at the proportions: they have finally corrected the very thing that made the Vesta sedan a little barrel-shaped. It was impossible to look at it from the side - there was no harmony in the lines... Now it’s really stylish: AvtoVAZ finally added these X-squiggles to the side view.
Secondly: the wheels have become bigger and there’s also a body kit... Everything you need for happiness! Now Lada Vesta looks complete and cool. Really cool! Now not just the front view, not just the back view, but the whole thing, Karl! And I want to look at it from all sides and really admire it. And with the body kit it’s generally “cool”.
Of course, the Lada Vesta Cross will not need to force anything, because, firstly: front-wheel drive, so far there are no alternatives.. If there is all-wheel drive, then I feel that at least in some kind of restyling, in about five years.
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Off-road tires? Do you think these are really off-road wheels? Unfortunately no. It's all for beauty. 17-inch standard wheels and tires are another feature of the Lada Vesta Cross. And everything seems to be fine, but again... We made the wheels big, cool - 17 inches, but the brake discs remained so small. Fail profit, damn it.
How the doors are made on the Lada Vesta Cross. Nobody thought that this was a crossover. Naturally, those doors that were on regular Vestas simply migrated to SW and Cross. Most likely all the stamps are all the same.
They simply stuck the pads on so that the door would not hit some object, a nearby car, or a curb, or a pole. There are seals on the threshold: one internal one and a small skirt, but it doesn’t help, because it almost falls off. This means that everything here will most likely be in the mud, unfortunately...
Let's go back! Look at the thickening on the body that was saved from sandblasting - this is the only thing that can rot on the Lada Vesta Cross. But it’s unlikely, because SW and Cross are galvanized cars.
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We move on to the most important thing, for which we actually gathered here! We open the door with a great button on the door! And what awaits us here? Firstly: a normal curtain. Look, which one rolls, which one retracts, which one is made well!
Secondly: a bunch of nets, some compartments, different drawers, niches and other things. Thirdly: look - hard pop. And he is not alone! It is made of two parts and they are both the same. You won't confuse them and probably break them. They have a decent weight, it feels like they were filled with lead. These shields will not wrinkle, will not bend, nothing will happen to them. Now I will show you what you will like the most. Tomatoes, potatoes...
In general, seedlings, anything fits into this station wagon. Everything will fit and you will take it to the dacha. Next is the same soft floor that we are used to seeing in many cars of the concern.
Pay attention to sound and vibration insulation. And again, some additional niches made of foam plastic and dokatka. In general, a beautiful trunk plus comfortable handles. Why does comparison with Skoda immediately come to mind? Because, damn it, there are so many hooks, so many nets, so many different niches, and it’s all conveniently done! Have Lada started thinking about you? Yeah, but not every day...
Another feature that remains from the sedan is the threshold on the trunk. It is quite big and uncomfortable.
Let's fold down the seat on the Lada Vesta Cross. As you understand, there will not be a flat floor here. There is a small springboard for takeoff, so to speak. But in principle it’s normal, few station wagons can boast of a flat platform.
Let's go to the salon and rejoice! Our Lada Vesta Cross roof is raised by two and a half centimeters! Let's see how much space we have in the cabin now. This was a problem on sedans. We all remember perfectly well the place was wide and long enough for legs, but for the head it was “sad”. Now the ceiling here is higher, friends, there is about 3-4 centimeters of head room. Yes, not five centimeters, of course, but still - finally freedom!
What else? Now the Lada Vesta Cross has a Mars color, for which, of course, you will also pay extra. And again! Well, the “color” turned out not bad. But why did our super designers come up with these ugly inserts in the interior? Steve Mattin, pay attention!
The funny thing is that these inserts on the seats are made of artificial leather, but they are so-so... When I first got into the Lada Vesta Cross I immediately remembered the Chinese Cherry. There you just get stuck into the seats, it’s the same feeling here. Cheap, completely artificial and not very high quality...
But from the cool category: both the station wagon and the Cross version have armrests! Almost none of our competitors have them, B class at least!
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Almost luxury. Even the Vesta Exclusive doesn’t have this, but the station wagon and cross station wagon have it. And one more thing: heated seats and USB! This is an absolutely brilliant creation, I think... And a full-fledged armrest-organizer in front: no need to bend anything here. A normal armrest and a normal box - what everyone was waiting for has finally happened.
I sit on the steering wheel - the fit is comfortable, I like the armrest at hand. Just the same as they say. He is soft and good.
The backlighting of the instrument panel and the dials themselves in general... I can’t say that it has become better. Readability has not increased, that's for sure: the risks are still stupid, the font, the arrows.
Heated seats. Front 3 positions of heated seats: indication by lights. Well, what is it? AvtoVAZ, who is doing this for you? I didn't understand this joke...
The super-mega premium glove compartment opening on the Lada Vesta Cross is generally “trash”... It almost always doesn’t work correctly: it either falls right into your lap, or it can get stuck at first, but then fall too hard. Work and work on it, comrades.
We get out of the cabin and open the hood. It's nice, damn it - here where the opening lever is now clean! Everything on the sedan is covered in mud, but on the station wagon they installed a seal. Well done!
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We look under the bottom of the station wagon. Firstly, what is actually surprising is the flat bottom of the entire car. Basically, they do this to protect the car off-road, so that you can’t damage yourself. In Russia, everything is almost offroad. This is a huge plus. The clearance of the Lada Vesta Cross has become 25 millimeters higher and some suspension elements have been changed: shock absorbers and springs. In the engine protection there are two cutouts for the crankcase and where the box connects to the engine. Otherwise, everything is like a sedan.
Gas tank flap. Friends, a feature of the Lada Vesta Cross is a really interesting feature: how they made the opening. A simple press and... It really works every other time. Moreover, the effort with which you need to press is not small. I don't know how many times this will work... Another feature is that the taillights are the same as on the sedan. In principle, it is normal to save money when replacing.
Alas, it is not yet possible to drive a production Lada Vesta Cross... We were constantly being watched and were not allowed to do this on the territory of AvtoVAZ. Let's put this test aside until future times... What about the filling in general: there is no automatic, there is not even a variator... When it will appear, no one knows - everything is extremely simple. The engines are standard as on a sedan. The gearbox-engine combination is still the same... There is no point in talking about them, since there is nothing new.
As a result
What did you immediately like about the Lada Vesta Cross? I liked the look. Finally, the design of the car has become organic and holistic. This is great.
Off-road features. This car really doesn’t have a single normal competitor right now. Kia Rio Cross? Only in the future... It’s bad, of course, that there is no all-wheel drive yet. Therefore, fans of Dusters and Capturs will most likely not appreciate the Lada Vesta Cross.
What didn't you like about the Lada Vesta Cross? You can’t drive it yet, the old “jambs” will come out in front of your eyes, and the new ones have yet to prove themselves.
Other articles to read:
- Lada Vesta Cross: sales start in Russia is scheduled for June
- How does the current Lada Vesta differ from the first copies?
- Crash test of the Lada Vesta SW Cross station wagon. Video
Self-diagnosis of problems
If there is a knocking sound in the steering wheel or the Vesta suspension rattles, you should immediately contact the dealership.
If this is not possible, you can diagnose and identify problems yourself. To do this, just hang up the Lada wheels and do the following work:
- Let's rock the wheels in different planes; if play is felt when the brake pedal is released, this indicates that the hub bearing has failed;
- If there is a problem with the suspension, play is felt regardless of whether the brake pedal is pressed or released;
- If the ball joint is defective or the strut is poorly secured, play is felt in the vertical plane;
- Failed tie rod ends are accompanied by play in the horizontal plane.
Thus, it becomes clear why the front suspension of the Lada Vesta creaks. It is not recommended to drive with such defects; if they are detected, you must contact a service station. And at the dealership they will conduct a full diagnostic of the chassis and not only give recommendations on how to eliminate the crunching sound in the front suspension, but will also carry out the repair work in a qualified manner.
avtoexperts.ru
AvtoVAZ is perhaps the champion of the Russian market in terms of the number of cars with the Cross prefix; almost all Lada models have a Cross modification. On the one hand, this is out of despair - apart from the old Niva (oh, sorry, 4x4), AvtoVAZ does not and does not have any honest crossovers, and consumers are hungry, but on the other hand, small improvements are cheaper than a separate model, and in terms of cross-country ability, any raised Lada not inferior to a front-wheel drive crossover, why pay more? Apparently, Tolyatti marketers consider this compromise the most reasonable. But is this really so? Let's try to figure it out by assessing the main disadvantages of Vesta models with the Cross prefix, both sedan and station wagon.
Lada Vesta SW Cross
But first, let's talk about the features. Unlike Xray, engineers didn't have to work hard to come up with Vesta Cross. The differences from the base car are minimal - a plastic body kit around the perimeter of the body, a raised suspension with new springs and shock absorbers, 17-inch wheels, orange inserts were added to the interior and dashboard, and a couple of exclusive options appeared in the palette of colors, double decorative exhaust pipes, yes, in in general, that's all. At the same time, Cross is approximately 50-60 thousand rubles more expensive than exactly the same car without this prefix.
Lada Vesta SW Cross and Vesta SW
pros
For the consumer, Vesta Cross has two advantages over regular Vesta. Firstly, this is the design. The Cross looks noticeably prettier and there is a logical explanation for this - the plastic body kit visually reduced the body height, and the large wheels fit more harmoniously into the arches. Cross better adheres to classic design proportions, which had to be neglected when designing the regular Vesta. This is why Cross seems prettier to everyone than the regular Vesta, although it would seem the design is the same.
Secondly, increased ground clearance . In a country where there are not roads, but directions, additional clearance will never be superfluous. Regular Vesta is also not that big - 178 mm, but modifications with the Cross prefix are 25 mm higher and exceed 200 mm. Many expensive crossovers have lower ground clearance! Hence the additional off-road capabilities. For example, the Autoreview magazine conducted a cross-country ability test of the Vesta Cross and a single-wheel drive Renault Kaptur, and Vesta was able to drive further!
Lada Vesta Cross sedan
However, being objective, one cannot help but admit that just increasing the ground clearance does not make a car an SUV. Yes, the owner of a Cross is less likely to scratch the bottom in a rut, yes, there is less chance of damaging the sills at changes in the road, yes, the overhangs are better protected, but the owner of a Cross has just as close to go to get a tractor as the owner of a regular Vesta. Without all-wheel drive, cross-country ability cannot be radically improved, but Vesta does not and will not have it.
Minuses
We talked about the advantages, but the Cross modifications also have disadvantages that you will have to endure after overpaying 50-60 thousand rubles for the base car.
1. Stiffer suspension.
The new Cross chassis has not lost its characteristics in terms of energy intensity and controllability. The raised car drives no worse than usual on a dead dirt road and takes turns with passion. But there is a problem - passengers began to receive more impacts from small irregularities . Yes, large potholes in Vesta Cross are not scary, but asphalt joints and small things are reflected in detail into the cabin, although this is not observed in a regular Vesta. This change is associated with a new modification of the springs and shock absorbers; in order to maintain the controllability of the car with an increased center of gravity, the engineers had to make the suspension more rigid - and this is the result.
It’s clear that we can only talk about the rigidity of the Vesta Cross in comparison with the base car; if we focus on some competitors (let’s not point fingers at the Kia Rio), even the Cross will seem soft, but for owners of a regular Vesta, the transition to the Cross may not be very pleasant.
2. No alternative 17-inch wheels
Large wheels refined the design of the Cross, but added headaches to car owners. We are not talking about the cost of tires size 205/50R17, everything is clear here - if you bought large wheels, get ready to overpay for tires. However, the profile of these “semnashki” is too low for a quiet ride in Russia . In regions with poor coverage, wheels and tires almost become consumables - you can immediately buy a subscription to a tire shop, it will still pay off.
Standard tire size: 205/50 R17
It would seem that we found the problem out of nowhere and there is nothing easier than changing the wheels to those that are more suitable. But there are two “buts”. First, AvtoVAZ does not officially allow the installation of wheels and tires of a different size on the Cross (although R15 and R16 wheels are allowed for a regular Vesta), if you install it and go to the dealer, then goodbye warranty on the suspension. Moving two sets of tires and rims back and forth is painfully tedious.
The second “but” is ground clearance. The increase of 25 millimeters is largely due to the large wheels. If you put the R15 or R16 on the Cross from the regular Vesta, then their ground clearance will differ by a maximum of 10 millimeters. Is it then worth buying the raised version at all? Then it’s better to immediately choose the regular Vesta.
3. There are no cheap packages
Naturally, there was bound to be room for marketing in the production and sales of Cross. Unlike the regular Vesta, crossovers are not available in basic configurations. For station wagons, the difference is not very big - the regular one gets the Classic package, and the Cross starts with Comfort, while for sedans the gap is huge: basic cars come with modest equipment and even without air conditioning, and the Cross sedan starts with the Luxe package and even the cheapest one is expensive. Naturally, there are no technological restrictions on the production of poor configurations for Cross; these are purely marketing games.
Photos of the interior
This does not mean that the Vesta Cross does not have other shortcomings, but they are the same as the base car, and we have already written about it; we would not like to repeat it.
In our article we did not differentiate between the station wagon and the Vesta sedan, and all because they are practically the same, just like the two bodies of the usual modification, and the two Cross bodies are unified down to the glazing line, differing only in the shape of the trunk and the ceiling height in the second row (for the station wagon she is taller). Otherwise, all the pros and cons are the same.
In general, it’s good that AvtoVAZ made a cross-version of Vesta. The car looks really nice, and the ground clearance may not be too much. True, we wouldn’t advise everyone to buy Cross; after all, the difference is 50-60 thousand rubles in similar configurations, and that’s also money, despite the fact that there are no truly “poor” Crosses. The regular Vesta, whether sedan or station wagon, lacks some of the polish of the Cross version, but is cheaper and better suited to the role of a “workhorse”.
Problems with noise and squeaking from the rear of the car
Creaking from the rear of the car Malfunctions can also manifest themselves as a knocking sound in the rear suspension when driving over uneven surfaces or a creaking noise from the rear. All these sounds signal a problem that needs to be solved. In order to remove it, as recommended by the factory, it is necessary to cut out the gasket and install it on the upper shock absorber support. This will eliminate knocking in the Lada Vesta suspension.
How many breakdowns did the Lada Vesta Cross have in the first 50 thousand km? (Spoiler, a little)
By today's standards, a mileage of 50,000 km is not a lot. In such a short period of operation, it is extremely problematic to understand anything specific about the car, because if breakdowns occur, they will usually be associated with so-called “childhood diseases”, that is, engineering failures that occur and which all owners know about specific model. Sudden force majeure during operation occurs extremely rarely, but that is why they do not cease to be a good indicator of the quality of the model. Even if a car breaks down over a trifle, this can become the very “litmus test” that characterizes the model as unreliable.
See also: 5 minuses and 5 pluses of the Lada Vesta Cross station wagon
Here, for example, is the Lada Vesta Cross. The car looks very attractive. Quite powerful. Comfortable, as the owners say. But is it reliable? This question was answered by the Dromovites, who tested the new domestic station wagon and made their intermediate conclusion, which will certainly be useful to all those using the Cross version or car enthusiasts who want to purchase it. We put a link to the full study on drom.ru here. Be sure to check it out, there is a lot of important and unique information here that you are unlikely to find anywhere else: www.drom.ru/lada/vesta_cross
Well, we will present from the study only the most important facts regarding breakdowns, which Drom also spoke about in great detail, with mileage and price calculations.
So, the Lada VESTA Cross car broke down 7 times over 50 thousand km of operation and once lost decorative caps from the disks. The breakdowns were local in nature and had virtually no effect on the performance characteristics of the model.
Drom.ru provides the following operational data on problems:
4038 km – glass washer tube. Paid – 1800 rub.
14,997 km – drive oil seal. Guarantee – 0 rub.
22,189 km – drive oil seal. Guarantee – 0 rub.
25,330 km – fuel line. Factory recall campaign – 0 rub.
25,576 km – gearbox. Guarantee – 0 rub.
32,720 km – door limiter. Paid – 1250 rub.
44,476 km – right repeater. Factory recall campaign – 0 rub.
44,476 km – disk caps, 4 pcs. Paid – 200 rub.
However, there were still some nuances, and if not for maintenance (the cost of three completed in a year was a little more than 22 thousand rubles) and not a guarantee, it is quite possible that a minor breakdown could have resulted in a large paid repair.
Replaced gearbox. No leak visible. Photo taken from the site drom.ru
For example, they write on Drom that “ The leakage of the drive oil seal, noticed during maintenance-1, after 10,000 km resulted in the replacement of the gearbox assembly .” Ha! It's not bad that the oil seal leaked! Perhaps, if this was not a warranty repair, the seal could have been replaced separately, but for some reason the warranty workers decided to replace the expensive unit entirely. Maybe they are still studying breakdowns by collecting data this way? Nevertheless, honor and praise to them for such an attitude! Details here: www.drom.ru
This, of course, is not a fun breakdown, but the very first one causes both a smile and disappointment in the service personnel of our service stations at the same time. Just listen:
“...preparing the machine for operation immediately turned into unscheduled repairs and a waste of money. The installer of the additional equipment, when laying the cable to the DVR, “successfully” returned the trim of the right windshield pillar into place, damaging the washer hose on the rear window.” As they say – facepalm!
Work on recall campaigns was carried out twice with the replacement of parts:
in the first case there was a fuel line
in the second - the repeater lamp in the right mirror (the lamp was cracked and began to sweat from the inside. The short circuit did not have time to occur)
Photo taken from the site drom.ru
“Trifle”, but unpleasant!
The center caps fell off and didn't even promise to come back. And both from the front wheels. Perhaps this is due to greater centrifugal force or the load on the front wheels during slipping, etc. Maybe “grab” the plastic decorative and protective covers a little with glue? It’s a shame to lose beauty.
Breakdowns also occurred due to inattention or, better said, due to a coincidence: “at our own expense, we replaced the driver’s door stopper.” The sad story of the “death” of the door stop – the slightly open door was swung open by a sharp gust of wind.
Where has Vesta Cross visited in a year? Both in the city and beyond it. Photo taken from the site drom.ru
Otherwise, as Drom experts say, there were no problems with the car, neither in the engine, nor in the suspension, nor in the electrics. This makes me happy. But nevertheless, I would like to hope that the works of test journalists will be taken into account by AvtoVAZ employees and some shortcomings will be corrected. This applies to a leaking gearbox. Although marriage can occur in any car, and “childhood car diseases” is an international concept.
