The Niva

This was my Lada Niva. I had it from about 2004 to 2006. Picked it up in Caracas, and somehow it got us back to Puerto la Cruz without mishap. It was a small miracle after I learned about all the weird quirks of the vehicle as time went on. Cool car but it was always breaking down in one way or another. Never got to use it for its intended purpose, exploring offroad. The one time I tried, it broke down out in the boonies and had to get the help of a local to pull it up a hill with his truck so I could get it going down hill so I could eventually get it to run again. I think that was one of the last times I used it. A guy I worked with wanted it, I tried to warn him about it, but he bought it and flipped it for more money. Lesson learned.

Baby Blanco is Back

I bought Baby Blanco new for about $7000 cash in Nov. of 2003. She's been a great car and she is the car I've owned the longest. Recently I spent of bit of money getting her fixed; brakes, clutch adjustment, new ignition wires/tune-up, etc. Shortly after that, she stopped working due to an electrical failure of some kind. I took it to a battery place and the guy said it was a bad alternator, so not wanting to spend more money I let her sit for about 6 weeks. 

Finally, yesterday, I had contacted a one of our old ELA families who has an electric auto shop. They came over with a technician and he determined it was simply a bad battery. Doh! We got her started, drove it to the shop where they tested the electrical system (okay), and put in a new battery, cleaned the cables, etc. 

So now Baby Blanco is running great! We've ridden in a lot of taxis over the weeks and some have been really uncomfortable. I find Baby Blanco, as basic as she is, a very comfortable car. No weird vibrations, fairly smooth ride (for a car in its class) and kind of peppy (fun). 

She's a little rough around the edges.

You Know You Have a Crooked Mechanic When...

One day you take the car in to the mechanic you've been using for years for a tune-up, e.g., new plugs, wires, fuel filter, and clean the injectors. After a few thousand kilometers, the car runs terrible. Dissatisfied on the mechanic's work, you go and find a better one...an honest one (impossible?). By word-of-mouth we learned about "Chivo". I told my wife to take the car there to get it road worthy again. Besides having a real diagnostic computer, he seems to be an honest guy. This is what he found in our car's engine from our last "tune-up".

Three of the four spark plugs are of different manufacture. Unbelievable!