Lada VAZ-11183 / 21126 / 21127

Lada's 1.6 four — the eight-valve VAZ-11183 and the sixteen-valve 21126 and 21127 — in the Kalina, Granta and Priora.

⚑ The valve count decides what a snapped timing belt costs, and it is the first thing to establish. The eight-valve engines are non-interference — a broken belt strands the car and damages nothing. The sixteen-valve engines are interference and a broken belt bends valves. Same displacement, same cars, opposite outcome, and an owner who has heard "Ladas survive a snapped belt" may be quoting the wrong engine.

These descend from the Fiat 124 by way of forty years of development, and their character follows: simple, cheap, tolerant, and easy to work on with ordinary tools.

Their complaints are old-fashioned and physical — vacuum leaks, an idle control valve, a coolant temperature sensor that skews fuelling — and the few codes they set are general enough that testing beats reading them. Parts are cheap and everywhere in the markets these are sold, which is most of why the cars stay on the road.