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

[panhard65]

For a Megane horror story nothing beats this one.

I bought it about 6 years ago as a non runner for about £800. It was top of the range and he told me it was an injector fault. When I got it home and started looking into it there was a brand new turbo on it and although it turned over it didn't sound right. I then found a broken bottom pulley (£100 for a new one) At this point I decided to strip the engine. 2 pistons had melted and both of the cam belt pulleys were buggered. I presume it ran away on it's oil until it self destructed (it was a dci). I then stupidly though oh well it is a nice car I will get a recon engine. I done a deal with a bloke who re-cons them and gave him about 4 blown Laguna engines as part of a deal which got  the price of the "new" engine down to 700 quid.

I fitted the new lump and a new clutch replaced all the pulley's and it was running lovely. It owed me nearly 2k at this point but they were still selling for good money at the time so I wasn't too worried. 300 miles later the turbo blew. I suspected it was just a cheap turbo so did a deal on a recon one and fitted that with all new pipes. (another 300 quid)

Bet you can't guess what happened 300 miles later ? Yeap the turbo let go again. At this point I was moving house so it got loaded up and delivered down to Somerset where it sat fora year before I had another go at it. I was a little concerned about the oil pressure, so checked it to find that although it had decent pressure the flow rate at higher engine speeds wasn't much higher than on tickover. I then found a write off Laguna with a good engine. The engines are different but I got it to fit eventually. So at this point I have spent getting on for 3k on a car that's value was plumeting by the second fitted with a secondhand engine and turbo, surely nothing else could go wrong.

It did though the bloody thing would fire then run for 30 seconds and cut out. It would start again and do exactly the same thing. I then left it for another year before having another go. I swapped every sensor, the injectors, fuel pump the lot and still the same. I did evenually manage to get a code reader on it and watch the live data. It showed the fuel pressure going to over 500 bar when it cut out which lead me to belive that the ecu was getting some incorrect data as at that pressure it would of blown the injectors apart. A secondhand engine loom was fitted and that cured it. By this time it had been off the road so long the mot had expired and the brakes were all rusted along with a spring that broke whilst it had been parked up. I finally decided enough was enough as I lost storage for it as well so sold it for spares at 200 quid. I haven't had another Renault since that horrid fucking thing just ruined Renaults for me.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

LOL what a nightmare, I must say I don’t think even I would ever chance a 1.9 or 2.2 Renault DCi. I wonder what was going on with the ‘recon’ engine? Presumably it had a dodgy oil pump or something. How did you establish the flow rate was low?

[Burnside]

The one mentioned earlier in the thread is back!

 

and still not MOT'd

 

I feel some sheddery in the offing...

 

Oh dear!

 

I forgot till earlier that I myself drove a then brand new Megane Estate on a 03 reg. Had less than 20 miles on the clock and was a 1.6 pez. Had to deliver it out to a customer for hire. Stopped on route to fill it up and the engine refused to turn itself off. Fantastic that and bits of trim falling off after a 1,000 miles.

 

Maybe they could beat the Lagunas reliabilty record after all ?

 

A chap at a local scrapyard in Cannock has loads of these shape Meganes and Lagunas in for breaking and told us that you usually get a car with either loads of electrical problems and a good engine or a duff engine but the electrics are ok.

 

I'll guess in due course we find out which one we got!

[Burnside]

LOL what a nightmare, I must say I don’t think even I would ever chance a 1.9 or 2.2 Renault DCi. I wonder what was going on with the ‘recon’ engine? Presumably it had a dodgy oil pump or something. How did you establish the flow rate was low?

 

After reading all the horror stories on here about the DCI engines I'm a worried man as ours is the 1.9 DCI.

 

Anybody fancy a Laguna II 1.9 DCI Tourer? Yer thought not.

 

If this is still going by April and makes it through another Mot there a good chance my brother may consider selling it. So if anybody likes the sound of some misery and pain though hopefully we brunted the worse then keep your eyes peeled for an For Sale ad on here in the future.

 

Or not.

[R9UKE]

Bloody hell Panhard. Mégane II is one of the best cars I've ever run. Put 50k miles on it and all it needed was a boot catch, MAP sensor and window regulator. Shows what difference an engine can make! Mine was the 2.0 VVT petrol. They're lovely cars when they're working

[Sigmund Fraud]

They're lovely cars when they're working

 

PMSL, this needs to become the new Renault marketing slogan !

[Burnside]

Right I sure some of you been dying to know how the mighty Merde Wagon is fairing?

 

Well an overdue update is here at last!

 

Tailgate still doesn't work from the outside so still using the little glass hatch first to get it open from the inside.

 

The Key still hasn't been fixed so the unlock button still doesn't work, though weirdly for a Laguna this car self healed its none working drivers door locking mechanism one night after my brother decided to lock it. So had the shame of removing the passenger door lock cover and used the 'key' [remember those?] to unlock it. We have left the cover off for now.

 

The heater motor stopped working before the new year resulting in a £25 replacement resistor which is a fun affair in the passenger front footwell under the dash. It fixed the thing for about 3 weeks. Now the 1-3 speeds work but 4 only works if you keep holding the switch in place.

 

Tried sorting the incorrect amber bulb that was stuck inside the rear offside light as previously mentioned. That didn't go well as due to it's crap design the clips that hold the bulb holder snapped off during removal so the only way it's gone back on for now is with gaffa tape which is working well!

 

One sidelight bulb stopped working too but we quickly found out there was no access to it without first removing half the car but thankfully after a couple of days the Merde again self healed itself, hopefully it stays that way too.

 

One of the Silverstone 'toffee' made alloys died over the new year thanks in part also to the state of our roads. So had fun trying to get hold of a part worn tyre locally for one of the spare alloys. What was most annoying was it only had a tyre put on it 3 weeks before but because my brother was forced to drive a short distance when it happen it ruined the tyre too.

 

My brother lost an argument with a Lorry one morning on the way to work resulting in the passenger mirror glass getting shattered so he got one in his lunch break at a local GSF for £25 and job done thankfully.

 

Now the major piece of news is that the Merde has been in constant use by my brother since December last year and I hope to Christ I'm not tempting fate here, but.............

 

He put almost 5,000 miles on it.  I hadn't dared post for a while in case I genuinely jinxed it for him but there plenty still broke on it as it's a Laguna II after all.

 

Could this be a record for a manual 1.9 DCI Laguna II or for that matter a Laguna II?

  

The Mot is due in about a Month though so this may determine what happens next, though I keep you all posted of course.

 

He had thought if it goes through another Mot ok that he might sell it and get something newer but there again is it worth anything to sell in the first place?  

[SiC]

No, this must be a strong contender though:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201602201215539

 

Terribly tempted in a masochistic kind of way!

[Burnside]

_{No, this must be a strong contender though:}

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201602201215539

 

Terribly tempted in a masochistic kind of way!

 

If that's made it to 220,000 does that mean ours with 121,000 could make it another 100,000? Bonus is he states it starts and drives too.

 

There a Laguna II hatch that's been dumped near my dads in a layby for about 3 months now and funny enough so far nobody touched it if you wanted one!

[Guest Hooli]

I've done over 1k in mine now & it's only cost £650 to fix so far lol

 

 

Anyone know about the window mechs? Is it worth stripping the NSF door to see why the motor wirrs & the glass doesn't move, or should I just order new parts right away?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

My turbo one has two buggered window winders!!!

[Guest Hooli]

Thanks, that's really helpful!

[Burnside]

I've done over 1k in mine now & it's only cost £650 to fix so far lol

 

 

Anyone know about the window mechs? Is it worth stripping the NSF door to see why the motor wirrs & the glass doesn't move, or should I just order new parts right away?

 

Well we got our Laguna for £400 and all the parts and repairs it's had so far, it got to be nudging well over £600. Could go through all the paperwork and check exactly but to be honest I'd rather not!

 

If you look at Mr B posts about his Laguna SiC mentions about all the common faults on Lagunas including the windows mainly window regulators and clips breaking. 

 

Our drives side one touch on the Drivers window switch stopped working for a few hours today. Would only go up or down in small stages each time having to repress the switch to get it to move the next stage up or down.

 

Tried taking the switch off and cleaning it with contact cleaner. Didn't seam to work. Tried using the rear electric window switches as they seam to be the same but no change. Gave up and left it, then half hour later my brother said it working again fine.........for now.

[Guest Hooli]

 

Well we got our Laguna for £400 and all the parts and repairs it's had so far, it got to be nudging well over £600. Could go through all the paperwork and check exactly but to be honest I'd rather not!

 

If you look at Mr B posts about his Laguna SiC mentions about all the common faults on Lagunas including the windows mainly window regulators and clips breaking. 

 

Our drives side one touch on the Drivers window switch stopped working for a few hours today. Would only go up or down in small stages each time having to repress the switch to get it to move the next stage up or down.

 

Tried taking the switch off and cleaning it with contact cleaner. Didn't seam to work. Tried using the rear electric window switches as they seam to be the same but no change. Gave up and left it, then half hour later my brother said it working again fine.........for now.

 

 

Mine is worse that that. It was FREE & still cost £650 to get through a MOT a few weeks later. Horrible thing is, although I'd never pay for a french car I kind of like it.

[SiC]

Would only go up or down in small stages each time having to repress the switch to get it to move the next stage up or down.switches as they seam to be the same but no change. Gave up and left it, then half hour later my brother said it working again fine.........for now.

Is that not just because the window module has lost its auto-close jam-protection memory? Thats exactly what the Meganes do if they've lost power to the door module.

Once you get to the bottom, push and hold to memories the bottom and then go to the top, pull and hold the switch to memories the top. If it keeps doing it and it is doing what they do when they've lost the auto-close memory, I would hazard a guess its either the module is on the blink, or the connection to the module is intermittent.

[Burnside]

Mine is worse that that. It was FREE & still cost £650 to get through a MOT a few weeks later. Horrible thing is, although I'd never pay for a french car I kind of like it.

 

If we hadn't been desperate for a car last summer for a holiday then we wouldn't have brought it in the first place either. Though got to say despite it being so utterly irritating at times with it's problems we do like it, well at least till something else goes wrong.

 

 

Is that not just because the window module has lost its auto-close jam-protection memory? Thats exactly what the Meganes do if they've lost power to the door module.

Once you get to the bottom, push and hold to memories the bottom and then go to the top, pull and hold the switch to memories the top. If it keeps doing it and it is doing what they do when they've lost the auto-close memory, I would hazard a guess its either the module is on the blink, or the connection to the module is intermittent.

 

Thanks Sic for the advice that's appreciated. We hadn't disturbed anything recently such as the battery to maybe explain the sudden interference with the memory. My brother did as per Owners Manual with resetting the Switch memory but it didn't seam to work. Then as I say he came back in the house half hour later and said it started working correctly again?

[Guest Hooli]

If we hadn't been desperate for a car last summer for a holiday then we wouldn't have brought it in the first place either. Though got to say despite it being so utterly irritating at times with it's problems we do like it, well at least till something else goes wrong.

 

 

Mine was an unexpected 'bonus' of my missus' brother dying. Seemed rude to say no to a free car (how bad could it be?) even with the leaky sunroof (important bits sorted by a plastic bag over the fusebox) it's drier than a motorbike in winter.

[Burnside]

Agree a free car is always a win in my book, the only free car we had was funny enough a Renault thought it was a J reg 19 GTD 1.9 diesel. Was a great car apart from the cracked head! That set me back about £400 all in.

[Guest Hooli]

The last free car I had I left at work after quiting. A Rover dieseal with a cracked head, I forget the model.

[puntopaul]

Hi,

 

          I thought I'd join this fine forum and unmask myself as the poor sod who own's the 'Merde Wagon'.

 

 

Appreciate this thread was last updated just over a year ago, but would anyone like to hear an update on how the Laguna has done since?

 

 

Which in a nutshell is badly... quite badly in fact. Not only in reliability, but also the toll to my mental well being and finances. 

 

But if you want to hear the gory details, I'll gladly share!!

[beko1987]

Yes, please share! Might make me feel better about mine! Which needs an mot and will technically fail as there's a front side light out that I'll get round to this weekend!

[The Moog]

Glory details always welcome.

[Guest Hooli]

The more goona doom the better!

[puntopaul]

Yes, please share! Might make me feel better about mine! Which needs an mot and will technically fail as there's a front side light out that I'll get round to this weekend!

 

Ah the dreaded Mot you have my sympathy, owning a goona is like being part of a automotive alcoholic anonymous. At first you think your the only one with a problem, until you meet others and realize that there are more of you out there than you first thought!!

 

 

If it's the drivers side light, you can remove the screen washer filler neck. As it tells you to do in the Renault owners handbook / swear bible, unlike Haynes an there book of lies which tells me I need to take the bumper off!! For the passenger side you have to squeeze you hand in a small gap, between the headlamp & the battery.

[Burnside]

The misery of seeing it's inability first hand, time and again has scarred me for life! 

[puntopaul]

Right-O, I'll start roughly where we left off!!

 

After the suspension incident, I let myself get lulled into a false sense of security that the Renault might be a decent car.

 

NO!! that was my first mistake right after buying the pile of $#*! When you own a Laguna, you don't own it.. it owns you...

 

So what was my first bit of grief you may ask, I swiftly found this out within days of enjoying suspension that wasn't trying do a bad impression of a Rear Wheel Steer Honda Prelude!

 

Keycard, yes that really stupidly annoying thing you need to get the thing to start. They are without doubt the most crappy invention, I bought a kit off eBay to replace the buttons as they wasn't working.

 

I got a mate to solder the new switches into place, problem solved... so I thought.

 

Didn't last two days, before the thing packed up completely!! Turns out I needed a new keycard, but as it still started the car I thought I'd just not leave anything in the car.

 

I didn't realize until a long while after, you can lock the doors individually on a Goona. They have a small round slot, you can put the emergency key from the card in or any key it turns out!! And turn clock wise locks the doors, serves me right for not reading the handbook.

 

Good thing was least the boot couldn't be opened, still the whole point of having an estate car was it's big boot. That's what my hacksaw blade was for, it does the job as a serious looking boot key.

[puntopaul]

I'll get all the receipts etc.. out this week, ( I have a box full now! ) and give a detailed list of what exactly has gone wrong with the Goona from purchase to date!!

[stuboy]

i nearly purchased a 2nd gen laguna diesel from a collegue, screen said needed cambelt change, and was due full service took for a drive and there was a whiney noise from the box, tempting at 500 sheckles but i declined.

[beko1987]

Blimey mine isnt that bad

 

 

Yet...

 

Sidelight was fine. Pass side, I just about got my hand infront of the battery and changed it. My main keycard is battered and the lock button doesn't work. But it's keyless so just lives in my wallet, the better card stashed at home waiting for the fateful day its needed!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

A local handyman has an old Laguna 5 door. Leaves the keycard under the seat when parked and never locks it.

 

Car's worthless, so why bother?