Renault Laguna

mr jamez · 17 Mar 2006 at 16:50

Looking at buying one of these as a cheap runabout. £600 for a 1996 2.0 8v RXE, Air con, leccy everything doesn't seem too shabby to me

The main contender is the (drum roll) Ford mondeo, but they are all 16v? so the insurance seems to be up considerably higher compared to the slaguna. I reckon the mondeo is the better car, but it is more expensive to buy and insure.

There is little info on the net, so I was wondering if anybody has proper experience with them? Not interested in "OMG its French crap, three years ago my uncles clio blew up" stories

The_Dark_Side · 17 Mar 2006 at 17:26

they're cheap for a reason mate.
parts are pricey,build quality was an optional extra and these cars CAN turn into money pits really quickly to the point where i would actively advise a friend against buying one.

robbiemc · 17 Mar 2006 at 17:48

I had a lease Laguna for 3 years and although I really liked the car, it caused me quite a few problems.
I had the drive shaft shear of not once, not twice, but THREE times.
Luckily the lease company paid all the repair bills otherwise it would've cost many thousands in total to fix.

mr jamez · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:00

Its a gamble, but with a budget of £600 and cars with 100,000+ on the clock I haven't got much choice.

Might have a better search around for mondeo insurance

penski · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:05

I quite like mk1 Lagunas...

Slammed on big multispokes...Supertourer-style. Nice.

*n

Dogbreath · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:36

Avoid at all costs. It's a lot better looking than a Mk1 Mondeo, but it is one of the most unreliable cars Renault have ever made. They really do have a terrible reputation.

The_Dark_Side · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:38

Dogbreath said:
Avoid at all costs. It's a lot better looking than a Mk1 Mondeo, but it is one of the most unreliable cars Renault have ever made. They really do have a terrible reputation.

at this point i'd like to say the current model is so much better.
however i'd be lying.
better, but FULL of gremlins.

danza · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:46

A mate of mine had an N plate 8v 1.8. It lasted to about 120k, but things kept going wrong with the electrics. Mechanically the car was ok, but did have quite a few niggles.

He sold that and bought a 3.0l V6 S plate Laguna with reasonably low mileage. It goes like stink for what it is, but again, the electrics are a bit shabby. Also the sat nav has been up the spout since he's owned it.

I'd possibly consider one if it was low miles, but ~100k I'd avoid like the plague tbh.

tb2000 · 17 Mar 2006 at 19:01

The Mondeo's are all 16 valve unless you get a turbo diesel which is 8 valve (or a V6 which is 24 valve

).

In my experience, Lagunas aren't a bad motor, but one thing they do seem to suffer with is the heater matrix blocking up (but so do quite a few Peugeots i've worked on as well). So if you go to see any I'd advise you checking to see if you get at least some warm air come from the heater. They're not a major pain to fix, a lot of the time it can be cured by backflushing the matrix a few times, but it's better if you don't have to do it!

[TW]Fox · 18 Mar 2006 at 03:05

Dogbreath said:
Avoid at all costs. It's a lot better looking than a Mk1 Mondeo, but it is one of the most unreliable cars Renault have ever made. They really do have a terrible reputation.

This is pretty much spot on. The Mk1 Mondeo is not a pretty car, it's hopelessly bland to look at in anything other than rare RS kitted form. Cars like the Renault Laguna are tempting alternatives becuase the Laguna was a decent looking car when released and has stood the test of time well in design faults.

Unfortunately, a Laguna will be plauged with issues and cost whilst looking nice, yet a Mondeo will probably be a very faithful servant thats better built and better to drive, whilst looking bland.

For £600, you'd probably prefer the latter rather than the former.

rG-tom · 18 Mar 2006 at 04:44

for 600 quid consider the peugeot 406 too, some are sneaking down to 500 ish and are imo better looking than both

700 will get you a reasonable mileage one with aircon etc.

Tom.

atpbx · 18 Mar 2006 at 10:41

The NEW laguna's, the square shaped ones, are very nice to drive, lots of toys, handle well, smooth engines etc etc.

They are however, dreadfully unreliable.

The old ones are the same, except they are uglier.

GlasgowTitan · 18 Mar 2006 at 12:07

Dont touch a Laguna with a barge pole!! My dad has a R reg one and things go wrong with it all the time. 2 wheel bearings have gone, the cabin heater has broke 3 times, the downpipe came off (loud as ****!!!) and the handbrake doesn't secure the car.

[TW]Fox · 18 Mar 2006 at 12:16

rG-tom said:
for 600 quid consider the peugeot 406 too, some are sneaking down to 500 ish and are imo better looking than both 700 will get you a reasonable mileage one with aircon etc.

Tom.

Personally I think the situation with these is similar to that of the Mk2 Mondeo. Whilst you CAN find £600 examples, they are not the best and will probably be a bit problematic.

Bennah · 18 Mar 2006 at 12:27

Dare I say it, ever thought about a Vectra?

There is a local garage around here thats selling a W plate white 406. Very clean car by the looks of things. Only seen it from the front as Ive gone past a few times. Not sure what engine its got or mileage, but @ £800 its seems a good car for the price. Might be something I'd go for, for my first ride

el_dazza · 18 Mar 2006 at 12:40

My dad's had 2 lagunas and both of them were fine :confused:

1996 1.6 and a 1998 1.8 RT sport, both were ok, apart from the '96 one, but that was my dad's fault

Bennah · 18 Mar 2006 at 12:51

What happened?

Dolph · 18 Mar 2006 at 13:04

atpbx said:
The NEW laguna's, the square shaped ones, are very nice to drive, lots of toys, handle well, smooth engines etc etc.

They are however, dreadfully unreliable.

The old ones are the same, except they are uglier.

I'd strongly disagree there. I had one as a hire car about a month ago and it was the most hateful thing I've driven in ages.

Horrible to drive, stupid gimmicks (the automatic handbrake being one of the most infuriating), gutless, the power band was tiny, handled like a barge on jelly......

It scares me to say that the nearly 15 year old car I drove back was significantly better, and that has a shocking reputation in itself...

el_dazza · 18 Mar 2006 at 13:27

Bennah said:
What happened?

Forgot to put the cap back when he was topping up oil

atpbx · 18 Mar 2006 at 13:37

Dolph said:
I'd strongly disagree there. I had one as a hire car about a month ago and it was the most hateful thing I've driven in ages.

Horrible to drive, stupid gimmicks (the automatic handbrake being one of the most infuriating), gutless, the power band was tiny, handled like a barge on jelly......

It scares me to say that the nearly 15 year old car I drove back was significantly better, and that has a shocking reputation in itself...

Hmm, I had a day in a 2.0 litre Laguna, and thought it was a nice drive.
I wouldnt buy one, but the overall experience was far from dreadfull.