Diary of a Merde Wagon aka Renault Laguna II Sports Tourer.UPDATE 25/03/16.

[panhard65]

Test expired on it August 14 and the miles were 160000

That was one of my favourite Laguna's I sold it in 2010 to a mate of mine. He put an engine in it before giving up. Here are a few more of my Laguna's I made a few quid on them over the years, they were lovely comfortable cars to drive just a bit unreliable.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

There's a 2.0 turbo one winking at me on t'bay at the mo

[Sloth in a bowl]

After reading this and the other Laguna II thread, I have come to the conclusion that I would rather try to stick one up my arse than keep it on the road.

[conkerman]

There is a 04 plate Auto Derv tourer looking forlorn around the corner from me. MOT expired about 1 month ago.

 

Reckon it's worth a note under the wiper??

[Mr_Bo11ox]

no

[3VOM]

There is a 04 plate Auto Derv tourer looking forlorn around the corner from me. MOT expired about 1 month ago.

 

Reckon it's worth a note under the wiper??

Sounds a fair swap. Were you thinking of £5 or £10?

[conkerman]

I have a broken PS3 and an eighth.

 

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[garethj]

Now we know these Renaults don't have the best rep for reliability

Excellent understatement, like saying Hitler was "a bit cheeky"

[406V6]

I've never owned a Laguna II but I was the custodian of one for a few days on holiday in Spain in 2001. Shock Horror. Everything worked for the whole time I was there, even the key card.  Comfortable car and OK to drive but I thought the 406 (my car at home) beat it in every department except boot space.

[Burnside]

^{There is a 04 plate Auto Derv tourer looking forlorn around the corner from me. MOT expired about 1 month ago.}

 

^{Reckon it's worth a note under the wiper??}

 

^{Oh god. An auto Diesel Laguna II, could it get any worse?}

 

^{In all seriousness if your considering buying a Laguna , I'd suggest buying a Mot'd example for a start. Least that way you got a chance of knowing to some extent what your up against.}

 

^{An if anybody here buys one with everything fully working and it last's more than a week without breaking, well don't tell me about it and good luck to you!}

 

^{It a shame as some days when it's behaving we think there not a bad car then something inevitably goes wrong and it's back to the hating and loathing the sight of it.}

[Burnside]

I've never owned a Laguna II but I was the custodian of one for a few days on holiday in Spain in 2001. Shock Horror. Everything worked for the whole time I was there, even the key card.  Comfortable car and OK to drive but I thought the 406 (my car at home) beat it in every department except boot space.

 

Gotta say having owned a R reg 406 2.0 petrol and knowing a friends dad who still has a late 406 HDI Estate from new I'd say the 406 is the better car overall too.

[R9UKE]

Auto is actually a better option with the Laguna II - the manual boxes are made of Milka, the autos give very few problems.

[Burnside]

Auto is actually a better option with the Laguna II - the manual boxes are made of Milka, the autos give very few problems.

 

Thanks for sharing the info R9UKE, I'm happy to be corrected as I know older Renault Auto boxes didn't have the best rep so I wrongly assumed these would be the same. The manual gearbox in ours seams pretty slick so far just hope I'm not tempting fate saying that now.

[R9UKE]

Indeed, you're right about the older ones! Trying to find a V6 auto first generation Laguna that has survived this far ain't easy!

 

I think the key with the newer ones is that Renault let someone else deal with the auto box

[D Spares & Tyres]

There is a 04 plate Auto Derv tourer looking forlorn around the corner from me. MOT expired about 1 month ago.

 

Reckon it's worth a note under the wiper??

A sympathy card would be more appropriate

[conkerman]

Bloody thing has disappeared, possibly replaced by an insignia estate. Baws.

 

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[scaryoldcortina]

Auto is actually a better option with the Laguna II - the manual boxes are made of Milka, the autos give very few problems.

 

Ugh, really? Now you tell me.... lol.

[Burnside]

_{Indeed, you're right about the older ones! Trying to find a V6 auto first generation Laguna that has survived this far ain't easy!}

 

I think the key with the newer ones is that Renault let someone else deal with the auto box

 

_{Sounds like Renault should have let them have ago at making a few other things while they were at it.}   

 

_{A early shape Laguna V6 in general must be a rare old machine now. My grandad had a then new 98 S reg Laguna hatch as a Company car forget which engine but my dad drove it once and rated it highly even above the Honda Accord that replaced it. I've known people who have owned the first generation Lagunas and have all said they are great cars.}

 

_{Sadly with the Laguna II all people have said is oh dear etc or at least you hadn't brought a similar aged Megane!}

[Burnside]

Bloody thing has disappeared, possibly replaced by an insignia estate. Baws.

 

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Don't worry I'm sure there be another just round the corner !

[conkerman]

I bloody well hope not!

 

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[406V6]

Auto is actually a better option with the Laguna II - the manual boxes are made of Milka, the autos give very few problems.

Yep. My manager at work had a 51 Reg Laguna II manual as his company car from new. Needed a gearbox replacement within a year or so.

[artdjones]

I heard the 6 speed manuals are shimmed too tight.Reconditioners shim them loose and don't seem to get any problems after that.Changing the gear oil every 20k is a good idea as well.At those intervals there's no need to use the special Renault oil.A good 75/90 synthetic will do the job.

These cars get a terrible slagging but three years ago Car Mechanics had one as a project car.They had just done up a BMW 320d estate which basically needed rebuilding. That included a load of rust repairs.They had spent £1500 to buy it.Then they spent £1500 on a 04 Laguna DCi.It needed a lot less mechanical work than the 320.Mostly the common issues such as window regulators and a front spring.The body was absolutely rust free. So a lot better value for CM's £1500.

These cars are OK when given some care but like a lot of cars,they seem to attract the kind of owners who keep letting issues build up over several years until the car is in a terminal state.The two close acquaintances of mine who have had one have both been very happy with them.

[Slartibartfast]

My first gen (1998) Laguna 1.8RT was boring but endlessly reliable. I was very fond of it. In the end it failed the MOT mostly for the want of a sparkle stick. Estimates for doing all the work it needed were coming in at over £600 and so it got given to a banger racer. Wish I'd known about here at the time, it could have gone to a better home and would probably still be alive now.

[Burnside]

Sorry for the delay people but at last here are some pictures of the Merde in all it's .............., well whatever it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first pictures show the Laguna on the day we brought it in the carpark, just before we found out about the none correct working central locking / card key gate. Note the last two show the Laguna in it's natrual environment outside a garage.

[Burnside]

Right all, now I've got more than 5 mins to myself that doesn't include bloody xmas etc to sit and think clearly I'll update our thrilling story of our Merde Wagon.

 

The day of our Holiday was almost upon us so we had planned to travel down to our friends house the night before and leave early the next morning. My brother was still complaining the back end felt loose and the rear brakes had started to drag making obvious noises that the pads and discs were due.

 

I said it be ok till we get back, erm I was hoping so or this holiday was going down the toliet so it had to be. We loaded the car remenbering to pack my tools and the screwdriver for opening the tailgate.

 

Laguna loaded we headed off and it was clear pretty quickly that are Holiday chances were fading. My brother said the back end felt worse so we pulled up 10 minutes later and I had a turn behind the wheel. Took it steady and it felt ok but as I took a gentle lefthand bend on a A road at 50 mph the backend didn't comply and tried it's best to steer the backend right!

 

Fook that I said after nearly ditching it, there was no way we could risk taking it 130 miles south to our friends house let alone the journey 100 miles to our holiday too. So we did like any sensible person would do.

 

Dump the bastard at my Dads and borrow his Fiat Doblo MPV. Which I've got to say is an excellent motor and gave us a happy holiday which the Renault clearly wouldn't have and tried not to think about it too much.

 

So what were we going to do about our Laguna II?

 

Well it was either cut our losses and sell it as it was at a clear loss.

 

Fix the rear suspension fault and leave the rest and sell it at a loss.

 

Fix what we could and hope it become a decent car again and run it.

 

Set fire to it?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

It looks nice from the outside admittedly

[Burnside]

It looks nice from the outside admittedly

 

Thanks Boll, Yes it's in pretty good shape for 12 years old just a few of the usual carpark dings/ scratches but nothing major. My brother actually replaced a few bits on the outside since we had it which has made it even better.

 

My Mum who normally hates our Car choices even likes it though she keeps thinking it's a Peugeot?

 

I took this to work yesterday and I've got to say I really liked it. It's comfortable and cruises along nicely plus It did the 24 mile trip without it breaking down or of making noises of another imminent failure of any other bits which was nice.

 

My brother has been using this for a few weeks now since it came back from the garage as his daily commute car and he covers nearly 500 miles a week so hopefully it can start returning the favour and repay him for all the hassle and expense we had so far. Though there is plenty of jobs still to do.

[Burnside]

Well in case you hadn't figured after our failure to make it to our holiday in the Merde Wagon there wasn't much love for it upon our return!

 

So as we found ourselves well and truely stuck with it and there was no chance of getting our money back in it's current state. We decided to just get the thing drivable and see if my brother could at least get it safe enough to use for work till next April when the Mot runs out and see what to do with it then.

 

Knowing that the Laguna is a pita and just the name sends most local garages we mentioned it too in fear. We decided to use a local Renault speacialist to tackle the rear suspension issues. His words were that the bushes was so bad that the Car shouldn't be driven on the road as the offside one was just the metal cup left hence it trying to turn right !

 

So they quoted us £200 for supplying and fitting the bushes which they insisted on using genuine Renault bushes as using pattern parts is quote: like puting your cock in a sleeve.

 

My brother told him the many faults this car has and how pissed off he was with it. To which he said it could be worse you could own a Megane.

 

Does anybody on here have any knowledge of horror stories about those?

 

Anyway we left it with him and a week later we got it back one rainy Saturday morning. My brother paid the bill and went to the car which was stuck in the middle of a great big puddle.

He could of got away from getting his feet wet if he could get in through the passanger side but as previously mentioned the unlock button doesn't work and so once someone pressed it like they had your only choice is getting in from the drives door which doesn't lock!

 

So wet feet he got in and was of course really happy to be back behind the wheel of the Laguna again.

[catsinthewelder]

I had a Y reg Megane,  I got it for free at 5 years old and after spending over £3k on repairs over 2 years I couldn't sell it at any price.  I gave it away to a friend after somebody gave me a 16 year old 205 diesel with 190k on the clock and no MOT.

 

I remember his mum coming out of the house and being really confused about which car I was giving him.  I'm glad I gave him the Renault as he got away with a few cuts and bruises after rolling it at 80+mph which wouldn't have been the case if I'd given him the pug.

[conkerman]

The one mentioned earlier in the thread is back!

 

and still not MOT'd

 

I feel some sheddery in the offing...