Does anyone on here have a Renault Laguna 1.9D from around a 51 plate? I am looking at an estate version with just under 100k miles on it. It seems like a lot of car for not a lot of money. I briefly had a petrol one when they first came out as a company car so I have some idea of what they are like but no idea of the reliabilty of them as they got a few miles on them. Any positive experiences? Any total horror stories?

Sorry for yet another car thread but it looks like a cheap bike carrier.

they are very cheap s/h for what they appear to be because they are woefully unreliable and it costs loads to put them right! gearboxes & clutch are a favourite, as are the electrics.

see here for what I mean!!!!!

honest john

I advised a mate not to touch one and he bought it anyway as it was cheap….

The list of problems is very long. Electrical problems, mechanical problems, problems with the windows, problems with the keyfobs, problems with engine managment, problems with wheels/tyres, problems with starting etc etc etc.

He now can see why I advised him against it – it's cost him a small fortune.

love the bit where the designers forgot to take account of seat thickness for the anchor points for child seats, so renault advised Britax to tell their customers to chop the child seat down!!!!!!!!!!

bodging is about as good as renault design seems to get…

Cheap s/h for a reason…

I had a Laguna a while back, I would never buy one again. Poor handling and various problems with it over 3 years of owning. Ended up selling it mega cheap just to get rid of it.

Since having it I have never heard anyone saying anything good about them.

I got rid of mine two years ago (at a massive loss) for precisely the reasons cp has outlined – the rear wiper stopped working at one stage, and as its an integral part of the rear window, I was quoted about five hundred quid to replace it, and sadly, that was just one of a (long) list of problems. My advice is, dont even think about it.

I have one but mines an 53 plate so a few of the earlier gremlins have been worked out. Mine has done 127k miles so far and hasn't had anything done apart from the norm. The stuff that does go wrong with them often can often be cheaply fixed if you are handy with a spanner and go to http://www.renaultforums.co.uk.

One of my mates could have been a mechanic and AA inspector for 20+ years.

He may have used the phrases ' a victory for style over engineering quality' and '….ing useless' relating to a vehicvle

He recommended (for me who wanted low cost, high mpg, high mileage reliability, don't mind small non major function faults) a pug 306 HDI (182,000 and last 3 MOTS at no faults), cd doesn't play,

Avoid! i had a 52 plate 1.9 diesel.

Both the front springs broke (on seperate occasions) whilst parked, resulting in the suspension collapsing.

then the turbo died, it wasn't worth fixing – i got rid £1500 part ex 77k miles

it was comfortable on motorways etc, but show it a corner too quickly and it didn't like it – cornered like an oil tanker!

How many mechanics does it take to change a Laguna lightbulb?

(Not sure what the punchline is, but I am sure it will be something funny…)

Do you own an MX5 by any chance… just on another forum some one was mentioning buying a Renault Estate.

Why not go for a Mondeo Estate. Huge, reliable and handle well.

MF they cliam you have to take the bummper off to do it but not if you have nice flexable hands you don't.
Like i said a lot of th eproblems can be fixed cheaply Ie the key cards can stop working but if you post it off to some bolek (or fancy doing it your self) then it cost £25 instead of the £180 odd that renault want.
I will admit that there are a lot of problems with them but as they are comman fualts they are normally easy to fix there are also a lot of modern TD that have turbo failers and looking at how most drive them i am not supprised in the slightest by that.

I currently drive a 1998 Ford Focus which is not exactly exciting but has been reliable. It was fine for just the two of us but now we have a baby I was thinking of something a little larger.

If you want cheap, get a Vectra. Nobody seems to want them, loads about, no serious faults. We did 60k in ours and spent about £500 total on it on repairs, about £350 of which could be put down to wear and tear anyway. Was a great motorway car as well.
Solamanda off here bought it off us…..
🙂

It was fine for just the two of us but now we have a baby I was thinking of something a little larger.

We have newborn twins and we are coping with our Mazda 3 – same approx size as the Focus (shares a chassis with it in the last two incarnations).

Take a look around – some seemingly much bigger cars are not that much more capacious in reality. (I must admit that I will be considering a MUCH bigger car when they are a bit older though – a people wagon type thing. I am concerned though, as I think the Espace is the nicest looking one…

I agree we should be fine with the Focus but my GF seems incapable of travelling anywhere without enough luggage to shame a rap star with entourage.

but my GF seems incapable of travelling anywhere without enough luggage to shame a rap star with entourage

🙂
Tell her she comes second to your child now – she is going to be covered in baby-sick for the next 2 years anyway, so it may as well be the same baby-sick on the same clothes for the duration of any trip….