Is a Laguna certain to fall to bits

[sierraman]

Seen a lot of mk2 Lagunas about, some dog rough with bits hanging off etc others with service history look to have been looked after. I know reputation suggests they are unreliable but in reality if you get one that's looked after is reliability as bad as suggested? Saw an 05 plate DCI looked immaculate with new decent tyres all round as FSH on at £800 with a private seller.

[carlo]

Doesn't that price tell you everything you need to know?

[panhard65]

Yes it will explode within seconds of buying it. I am just about to scrap a megane dci due to a rear main oil seal. This is the last straw for the customer after 2 years of ownership. Even though this one has been looked after the carbon build up in the sump was surprising.

[dave21478]

I dont know anyone who has owned a Laguna II and not had massive hassles with it.

 

Also, the large number for sale locally at suspiciously cheap prices tells me everything I need to know.

[fordperv]

As certain as night follows day

[andy18s]

Certain Renault engined Nissan's are starting to go the same way

[Bren]

 

I don't know about falling to bits, but fire is a realistic proposition.

 

Even if you bought a pez example, which does not have the hassle of a grenading dci under the bonnet, you will still have issues.

 

They are cheap for a reason - even traders are reluctant to take them.

 

The big one, for me, is that Renault do not sell them here any more.

 

Having said that, I have a neighbour with a pristine 53 plate example, that he regularly drives to France in.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Lagunas?  I ran a 1.9DCi for 6 months and it was fine. It was a late 2004 pre facelift Tourer (Estate) with close to 100'000 miles. Still largely original it had a couple of standard Lagooner issues - buggered window regulator (cheap and easy fix) and it liked headlight bulbs. I contacted the previous owner who had it 5 years and traded against a Hyundai and he had little trouble with it - it did break a front coil spring and the end speared the tyre sidewall. I did a few jobs on it such as the cam belt and found it relatively easy to work on and surprisingly well made - much better than a Ford.

 

However, I wouldn't have a 1.9DCi simply because it's a diesel and old diesels are shit. Instead, a 1.8 petrol would be okay. They have issues (sticking throttle body due to carbon build up, electrics etc) but they drive SO well - easily the most comfortable car I've driven in years due to having proper seats and something called 'suspension' - having driven BMW's for years I had almost forgotten what it was for, i.e soaking up bumps. They are also very handsome beast and the Estate is a looker IMO. They are immune to rust and the running gear is all tough and straightforward.

 

Downsides? Electrical gremlins, that fucking keycard, broken front coils (common on most cars now it seems) and window regulators. Avoid the IDE model like a scabby Dog - they're trouble. I hated Lagunas until I actually had one and I found that it had many virtues - and they're only 500 quid for a clean one.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Never had a Laguna, but my 2005 DCi Espace went bang at 60,000 miles and 4 years despite FSH and one owner before me. That was after 6 months of throwing money at it obviously.

[cort16]

I think you need to buy one then we can do an official autoshite type scientific study into when and if it blows up and what bits will fall off in what order.

 

I'd have a petrol one as a cheap old snotter but I'd avoid the diesel or anything with an autobox. 

[sierraman]

Lagunas? I ran a 1.9DCi for 6 months and it was fine. It was a late 2004 pre facelift Tourer (Estate) with close to 100'000 miles. Still largely original it had a couple of standard Lagooner issues - buggered window regulator (cheap and easy fix) and it liked headlight bulbs. I contacted the previous owner who had it 5 years and traded against a Hyundai and he had little trouble with it - it did break a front coil spring and the end speared the tyre sidewall. I did a few jobs on it such as the cam belt and found it relatively easy to work on and surprisingly well made - much better than a Ford.

 

However, I wouldn't have a 1.9DCi simply because it's a diesel and old diesels are shit. Instead, a 1.8 petrol would be okay. They have issues (sticking throttle body due to carbon build up, electrics etc) but they drive SO well - easily the most comfortable car I've driven in years due to having proper seats and something called 'suspension' - having driven BMW's for years I had almost forgotten what it was for, i.e soaking up bumps. They are also very handsome beast and the Estate is a looker IMO. They are immune to rust and the running gear is all tough and straightforward.

 

Downsides? Electrical gremlins, that fucking keycard, broken front coils (common on most cars now it seems) and window regulators. Avoid the IDE model like a scabby Dog - they're trouble. I hated Lagunas until I actually had one and I found that it had many virtues - and they're only 500 quid for a clean one.

Car Mechanics did one the same... It didn't blow up I don't think.

[bub2006]

Funnily enough I have just seen a really smart looking laguna on a 03 plate for 500 or nearest offer parked up at side of road

[sierraman]

It's survived 12 years so it can't have been that bad. For £500 you take your chance, might last 6mths, might last 2 year who knows. At least you won't have lost a lot. Just don't get attached to it and start throwing £££ at it in the name of restoration or preventative work.

[bub2006]

I do like the style of them and apparently they are very comfy. I'm not sure I could own one though. Be too scared to go far from home from what folks have said about them.

[sierraman]

Join the RAC. You will get 5 call outs a year under the fair usage policy. I once did exceed this on a 2004 Transit.

[rml2345]

I'd say take the chance but it might be best as a second car just in case it does grenade in spectacular fashion. I've got the 1.9dci lump in the Carisma and it seems fine at nearly 150k but there's an ever present worry that today is the day it goes boom.

[Bobthebeard]

I had a low mileage Laguna 1.9 diesel estate in 2005. It was a 51 plate so hardly old. Had all sorts of trouble with it keep going into limp mode and then not running properly, failing to accelerate past 30mph or cutting out completely. The garage from where I bought it tried repeatedly to repair it under warranty then gave up and offered me all my money back as a trade in against another car. A great looking car but properly unreliable in this case.

[Slappy]

So, hopelessly unreliable, with a propensity to either grenade its engine or become an early Bonfire Night device, not sold here anymore, and unfashionable.

 

When are you buying it?

[Vince70]

DONT DO IT please for your your own sanity or unless you can remortgage your house to pay for repairs..

 

We had one when it was only 3/4 years old with low mileage etc (2.0 petrol ide) and everything on that car ended up either failing or breaking.

 

The cars were so bad that even Renault main dealers wouldn't take them back as Part Ex as apparently most dealers had a graveyard of Lagunas round back broken.

 

I can't give you a description of what went wrong on the car as it would take about 10 pages but it spent most of the time off the road and if you were lucky enough to get it moving from A to B ( very rare) most of the electrics would pack up on the way and it wouldn't do more than 30 because it liked to be in constant safe mode.

 

I remember once having to have a sensor on back order from France for 6 months and when I finally fitted it the car fired up (the sensor packed up again 3 days later) and I went to drive it off the driveway only for the suspension to collapse (again) and put a spring through a tyre.

 

It ended up as scrap fodder when it was about 5 years old as I swapped it for a very rusty 18 year old fiesta and I got the better part of the deal I would say.

 

No wonder most were low mileage.

Shame of it was it replaced a Laguna MK1 which was the complete opposite hence why we bought the MK2.

 

And after the blatant lies that Renault Customer services would tell you (apparently ours must of been a one off lol) I wouldn't drive a Renault again as it was only fit as a garden ornament.

[Junkman]

Sounds like a prime Shiter choice to me.

[sierraman]

I've got to get one! I wasn't contemplating buying one, I was just curious to find out if anyone had had one and had decent service from it. Obviously not!

[Honey Badger]

isnt buying a Laguna 2 the shiters equivalent of the KLF burning a million pounds for a laugh. Beautiful to look at for a while but at some point your going to wish you hadn't done it.

 

My neighbor had one from new and serviced it fastidiously yet he still fucked it off after a new turbo and expensive suspension work to get it on the road was followed by the heater core rotting out due to several issues, he gave up at this point and traded it in for an X-trail with a renner engine....

 

Car was a 52 plate and he chopped it in after 5 years, low mileage as well.

[warren t claim]

I dont know anyone who has owned a Laguna II and not had massive hassles with it.

 

 

My ex CAVCRAFT 1.8 gave me no trouble at all.

[Junkman]

When we had our famous* accident in Germany in 2011, we got a Renault hire car for the return journey. It was some kind of Clio on steroids, don't ask.

Nothing broke though, which made me hate it even more. If a Methane II is half as awful as that hateful thing was, I'm going to buy one.

If nothing else, it will give me more ammo to give out on newfangled tosh.

[Cavcraft]

I saw a Mk1 Laguna this morning, and almost felt sorry for it.

[Talbotman]

Saw a 51 plate tourer last week towing a broken down 03 plate Audi TT. I've got to say that gave me an enormous sence of satisfaction. I've seen quite a few really well kept mk2 lagunas around recently so there must be a few tidy ones left.

[Cavcraft]

My ex CAVCRAFT 1.8 gave me no trouble at all.

 

 

Nor me, but I only owned it for about three minutes.

[D Spares & Tyres]

I would say get one

 

Great cars when going right especially the 6 speed DCi. Get a good one for £500 or under and if it throws a wobbly just auction it or weigh it in, you will loose £400 max

 

Not the end of the world, some people are paying £200 a month in finance and at least you will have got it out of your system

[Richard]

£800 seems a bit steep for a ten year old unfashionable car.

[bub2006]

I would rather have a mk1. Ex Mrs had a executive 2.0 8v on a p plate. Lovely place to be,comfy smooth and quiet economical