First car - Renault Laguna?

The Edge

The Edge

The Edge

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I'm currently learning to drive (7 Lessons) and a friend of mine who knows cars well (Former chief mechanic) has found me a 1.6 Laguna, S reg for £550.

It's got a small dent in the bonnet and a tiny bit of rust on one of the wings.

Don't know the mileage (He couldn't remember), i'd guess high at that price. Insurance is acceptable as i'm 28. Cheapest quote was £834, pass plus makes £50ish differance.

My main concern is the size of the car, but i'm tempering that with the thought that i need to tow my boat around so even if i did get a small car to get going I probably wouldn't keep it for very long anyway, so is it better to go straight in with a decent size?

I'm quite tall and have got large feet so i was resigned to the idea of a medium sized car but i had in mind a Rover 200 or 400 or a Pug 306.

Is it much harder to dive a larger car?

Thanks :)
 
No, not really. I never noticed a difference moving to a larger car the first time.

The same principles apply, you just need to bear in mind that it is bigger, and not throw it into parking spaces like you can a small car, etc.
 
Not at all, larger cars are excellent.

Unfortunately, the Mk1 Laguna is far from excellent - they are inherently unreliable cars and nothing but trouble. I suggest you look elsewhere :)

Also, with a 1.6 litre engine that Laguna will have enough trouble towing itself, a boat as well is simply out of the question.

Consider a diesel - perhaps a 406 1.9TD?
 
If you want to tow, a 1.6 Laguna is going to be woefully underpowered.

How much can you afford to spend? Ideally you want something with a decent sized diesel engine if you want to tow...
 
Larger cars give you a little extra caution with regards your spacial awareness.. my Lanos is a lot bigger than my old Cinq... its a difference, but you get used to it..
 
I learnt in a corsa, and just pick up my first car, a mondeo, at the weekend. I too was worried about the size of the car, and the fact I hadn't driven at all since passing my test a month ago.

But the intial worry went almost immediately, the power steering meant I didn't have to worry about the weight, and the engine doesn't struggle in the same way the poor corsa did, its effortless in comparison. Plus people make way when you indicate to change lanes, rather than close the door. :) Much happier with a bigger car.
 
Why is everyone assuming its a yacht the guy wants to tow? :D. And as for moving onto a larger car i don't see a problem, however, the amount of people i know who WON'T drive a larger car now because they moved onto something small after passing their test is mad.

As for the Laguna, try and find out when its had its last gearbox fitted :D, and the ignition packs go **** up as well...
:)
 
OllyM said:
If you want to tow, a 1.6 Laguna is going to be woefully underpowered.

How much can you afford to spend? Ideally you want something with a decent sized diesel engine if you want to tow...
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Money wasn't going to change hands on this one so it wasn't a big problem but i'll just get him to look elsewhere.

I work for him during school holidays (I'm a classroom assistant) so up to about £600 will be a summers wages - i'm happy to chip in a bit more for the right car, and he's got loads of contacts so there will be plenty more to choose from and no rush as i've only just started driving.

Boat weighs 90kg, plus the trailer so it's not massively heavy by the way.

Thanks guys :D

I'm learning in a corsa, and they seem quite big actually. I had a Clio as the instructors courtesy car (One of his pupils got rear ended in the corsa) and couldn't work the pedals out with my size 12 feet so that put me off small cars.
 
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The Edge said:
I work for him during school holidays (I'm a classroom assistant) so up to about £600 will be a summers wages.
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£600?

That's top end Mondeo territory! ;)

Seriously, don't buy anything that cheap that is French. Please.

Rover 400 might be alright, but try to avoid HG blowers. Find a Honda engined version (1.6 iirc (?)), and that would make for a nice car I'd imagine. Mondeos too, you could find something OK if you look hard enough.
 
I echo the sentiments about Lagunas not having a particularly good track record for reliability. I'm sure there are a few that have never had any problems, or are likely to have problems, but if you're playing the percentages game, you're likely to run into problems that will cost you £££s to fix.

The 200/400 have the well known head gasket problems unless you go for a Honda engined 1.6 version. A 306 would be good used buy though. Nice cars, and even to this day, in terms of ride and handling, it still competes with current cars. Find a good one and you'll get some good motoring out of it. If you look hard enough you should be able to find one in good mechanical condition for about £1k (or even less). Have a look at the type of buyer that's selling it as well. You're far better off getting one from an old couple that have had it for year rather than some chav who's thrashed it to hell and back. Still a pretty shape as well which is testament how "right" the design of the 205 was.

The other alternative is to go Japanese. They tend to take high mileage, old age and reasonable neglect better than other cars. Not sure if you could get one in budget though. The alternative to the alternative is to buy something thats cheap to repair/replace/run in the event that it goes wrong. An old Mondeo (decent cars to drive with a smooth drivetrain, and easy to drive for a new driver) or something like a Fiesta (if you can fit into it) would be a decent bet.
 
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[TW]Fox said:
Also, with a 1.6 litre engine that Laguna will have enough trouble towing itself, a boat as well is simply out of the question.
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The Laguna probably thinks it's a boat having been towed so many times.
 
I learned to drive and passed my test in a Corsa, then until I had my own car, used to drive my dad's Laguna.

It was by no means a bad car, it was an RXE, so it was a decent enough model, but it wasn't anything special either.

The size of the car wasn't really much of an issue, apart from parking was a little harder, but I soon got used to it.

As far as reliability is concerned, nothing ever went wrong, but it was always serviced at a main dealer, which to be fair, wasn't all that cheap.

Can you get a Mk1 Mondeo Ghia X at your price point?
 
I'm totally flexible and also non snobbish about my first car.

I think i'm looking £1000 excl insurance.

I'm not particularly bothered about this Laguna, my mate who found it had a laguna for two years and no problems, but it was an auto version so might not have the problems that seem associated with this one.

I'm also well aware that - certainly at this price point - there is no "perfect" car.

At the end of the day there is a never ending supply of cheap, used cars so we'll find one sooner or later ;)

The other thought i had was to get a Corsa just until i've passed my test and then sell it and get something better. Then i'd be able to practice in something very similar to my instructor's car, albeit probably without the PAS.
 
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Go for a bigger car definately I'd say, even if not the Laguna. You'll soon get used to the width and length. Only parking can be a pain in some areas but depends on where you park really. When I first passed I landed me a resonably priced V reg, Vauxhall Omega Elite, which even by todays standards was a top notch car and went like hell. Never even considered buying anything smaller since.
 
KurTz said:
When I first passed I landed me a resonably priced V reg, Vauxhall Omega Elite, which even by todays standards was a top notch car and went like hell. Never even considered buying anything smaller since.
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Winnar!
 
Jez said:
That diesel sucks? The V6 ecotek engines are very nice units.
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That diesel is the best diesel Vauxhall have used (i.e. not one of theirs!), along with the Isuzu unit in the Mk3 Astra. The V6 lump is one i would avoid...
:)
 
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