Car rentals in Vladikavkaz are pretty depressing. There's basically just one company running the whole show – total monopoly. So these guys, without batting an eye, are charging 2,800 a day for... a Lada Granta.

For comparison, the same company in Belgorod rents out a Mazda 3 for 2,500 a day. And a Granta in Naberezhnye Chelny goes for just 1,300. You can instantly see where there's actual competition.

The car comes with an essential seatbelt stopper. Honestly, I have no idea how I ever managed to take a car without one before (:

The locals basically don't wear seatbelts. When I automatically reached for the seatbelt in a taxi, the driver told me: "Please take it off, or the cops will stop us because of you". He himself can't buckle up. So when everyone's wearing seatbelts, the police immediately know there are outsiders in the car. But overall they don't really stop people that much. During my entire time here, I got pulled over at checkpoints twice.