Renault Laguna??

cee_jay

Looking at this car http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=335774

Just wondering is there anything to be aware of if I were to buy it?

Nuttzz

look for a FSH, the timing belts are normally changed at 40k if this hasnt been down expect to pay about 6-700 (AFAIR) for it to be done very shortly, The electrics can be fiddly (i'm told, had one for 2 years no bother) make sure the tire pressure senors are all working (80 a pop if they arent)

IMHO the 1.6 is a bit under powered and you should look for a 1.9 diesel

GavinPJQuinn

The new Laguna aint a bad motor, just make sure its got a good service history.Rental companies leased a good few Lagunas in 2001 and with this one being Dublin registered theres a good chance it could be and ex-rental.
Thats no bad thing as long as it hasnt been abused by some idiot who had it rented out.Ive bought a few ex rentals and have never had any trouble.Its just something to bear in mind and a good bargaining point.
Try and find out what dealer sold it originally, and maybe they will have the history.A lot of Renault dealers have had the franchise taken off them since 2001/2002 due to block exemption but the garage if still open should have any history.
As with all new models they will have their teething problems, but with that one being 2001 they should be well taken care of now, so just make sure you get a good warranty in writing signed by the salesman and the garage owner
you shouldnt have anything too worry about.The mileage seems good and low for the year so it would be a good idea to chase any history you can wether it be service history or warranty history which Renault Ireland will supply to you, if you have all the cars details.
Hope it goes well.
Gavin.

BrianD3

Looks alright but the model description is wrong, it's not a "prestige" which is the estate version.

If not done already it will need the timing belt doing soon as the car is 5 years old. The cost of the timing belt (incl. tensioners and pulleys) replacement will be around 450 quid from a renault dealer.

Check that the tyres are good as if you need to replace them soon that'll be about 100 quid per tyre or a lot more if you go for a top brand.

Lagunas from 2001 have a poor rep for relability but I think a lot of these problems were with the diesels and in any case you can be lucky or unlucky - same with any car. Check that *everything* works and try to get a good warranty. Also, no mention of any NCT in the ad. The NCT should have been done in 2005. I would not buy this car without an NCT as it could have failed emissions and require a new CAT or something (= big money)

HashSlinging

I am not trying to be patronising here before anyone says anything, but IMO these are junk, I've tested a good few lagunas and found them very badly built, with floaty suspensions and a thirst.

You'd pick up a nice Honda accord for that money just like I did, you might have to go down a year but jubus its worth it. they're stonking good value. This one has leather also

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=313807

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=338602

greglo23

the main things to watch out for are front balljoints as they only last about 20 to 30,000 miles and the rear suspension bushes which cost about 500 Euro per side. make sure you get these checked !!!!

BrianD3

I would be interested to hear more about these rear suspension bushes which cost 500 quid per side. The Laguna has a simple rear suspension setup, beam + coil springs. There isn't a whole lot to go wrong.

As for balljoints - I have never heard of the Laguna or any other Renault eating balljoints every 20k. Balljoints on my car have done nearly 100k and are fine.

.

junkyard

I think you'd be mad to buy a Renault tbh they really are junk, If you want reliability buy Toyota or Subaru or Honda, believe me you'll regret buying a Renault.

fenris

I had a 1.6 02 prestige super sport, very comfey car for sitting in traffic, quite sluggish though on the open road.

I would not buy another one for the following reasons though:

1. Electrics - Fiat style reliability, within the first 2 years on a new car:
Blown dashboard -replaced under warranty.
sunroof - random opening and refusing to close fully at increasingly frequent intervals - never really solved, poltergeists
Blown headlight - €700 to replace (HID lamp)
Standard stereo - rubbish and very expensive to replace as it is built in.
Keycard - replaced twice under warranty - will cost you €120ish

2. Wheels - very low profile, dented and damaged very quickly just by driving to work via Enniskerry/ Stepaside road. Tyres are approx €220 each. Tyres were changed due to damage well before they were worn out.
wheel pressure sensors gave random readings after about a year. (car was written off due to a blowout earlier this year)

on the plus side, when I had my blowout the car was very controllable and stopped very smoothly, the minus was that the headlights - computer controlled, auto leveling etc. come in at about 3.5k, the door panels are very expensive so it is a car very easily written off due to the high parts cost.

colm_mcm

HashSlinging wrote:

IMO these are junk, I've tested a good few lagunas

they actually are junk, just look at any reliability survey, or ask a mechanic, they are loaded up with brilliant technology that invariably goes wrong. That said it's hard to find a car with as much stuff on it for so little money that isn't also French!

colm_mcm

he never said he wanted reliability!

BrianD3

Oh Christ, here we go again

Just to pick up on a few points
1) The Laguna on carzone has 16 inch alloys. As I said tyres for these wheels are about 100 quid. These tyres and wheels are not prone to damage by potholes etc.. It may be a different story with the 17" alloys as fitted to some cars. These do damage a lot more easily and the tyres are more expensive lower profile and also more easily damaged.

2) The Laguna on carzone does not have a sunroof or Xenon lights. In any case I don't understand how a Xenon light could blow and cost 700 quid to fix.

3) Anyone who condemns the Laguna for being floaty is confusing floatiness with suppleness and ride comfort.

4) The Laguna is not at all thristy for this class of car.

5) The car has a fair amount of computer technology for critical systems. So does every other modern car. The suspensions, petrol engines, gearboxes etc. are actually less complex than in many cars in this class.

fenris

HID = high intensity discharge,
They are supposed to have a lifetime warranty, but that warranty is from the bulb manufacturer not Renault, Renault Ireland do not hold spares in country, they are not something you can or should change yourself even if you could get at it!

if you are really bored ring renault or check out a spares website.

I suppose it is only human nature for you to want to convince yourself that a bad buy was really an astute acquisition

I just write it off as the worst 30 grand I ever spent.

BrianD3

fenris wrote:

HID = high intensity discharge,
They are supposed to have a lifetime warranty, but that warranty is from the bulb manufacturer not Renault, Renault Ireland do not hold spares in country, they are not something you can or should change yourself even if you could get at it!

if you are really bored ring renault or check out a spares website.

I suppose it is only human nature for you to want to convince yourself that a bad buy was really an astute acquisition

I just write it off as the worst 30 grand I ever spent.

OK well I know nothing about HID lights but what you describe sounds like craziness. Will check it out for myself from Renault and a couple of other sources.

Glad now that I didn't go for these lights which were an option (standard on prestige IIRC) Just standard H7 bulbs in mine, about a fiver each. Even a complete new headlight unit for a Laguna II is 75 UKP from GSF car parts.

greglo23

BrianD3 wrote:

I would be interested to hear more about these rear suspension bushes which cost 500 quid per side. The Laguna has a simple rear suspension setup, beam + coil springs. There isn't a whole lot to go wrong.

As for balljoints - I have never heard of the Laguna or any other Renault eating balljoints every 20k. Balljoints on my car have done nearly 100k and are fine.


i have personally seen a 01 laguna with 32,000 miles on and the balljoint pulled out of the socket by hand. this is one of many i've seen !! a friend who works for the AA told me his company laguna l/h/f joint started making noise at 17,500 miles.
as for the rear suspension there are a pair of 4 inch diameter bushes locating the rear units on each side which split and get very loose and need replacing. check it out for yourself !!

johnnyrotten

I have a 02 Laguna SuperSport

Pros;
- Comfort
- Safety ( 1st car in its class to get 5* NCAP award)
- High level of extras as standard
- Plenty of Space

Cons,
- Thirst ( Mines a 1.6L and IMO its underpowered)
- Sluggish around town ( again probably underpowered)
- Tyre Pressure sensors can act up
- Parts are expensive
- Power Steering is the Heaviest i've experienced

All in all its not a bad car. Very Solid,Safe and Comforable. It seems reasonably priced but get it fully checked first

colm_mcm

BrianD3 wrote:

The suspensions, petrol engines, gearboxes etc. are actually less complex than in many cars in this class.

why do they break so much?

cee_jay

Thanks for all the opinions - actually posted this for my cousin - he's looking at it. His mechanic said to keep away but he liked it so wasn't too sure what to do.

Apparently the car has no NCT but he has asked the garage to do this before he buys it.
The owner says it is so cheap as it was repossessed by a finance company.
Don't know how true that is?
Anyway he's thinking bout it till the weekend and if it's still there then he'll ask for it to be put through the NCT.

Thanks again!

ROVER

Take a look at the Top Gear survey submitted by the general public. Renault Laguna comes in 156th worst out of 159 cars. In fact all the French cars are at the bottom of the table.

http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/2005/11/stories/01/1.html

mondeoman

my friend bought a 2001 laguna 1.6 from a main dealer (rochestown renault,dun laoghaire) just before they closed down,they gave him a 1 year warrenty under written by some insurance company in the U.K.
it has 22'000 miles & BOTH lower balljoints were so badly worn there was 1/2"
of play on each one, also both rear shocks needed relacing,that crazy for the milage my mondeo has 103'000 & just passed the nct(original shocks)

he went up to sandyford Renault thinking he could get this work done under warrenty but no it was'nt covered (wear & tear is not covered they said)
make sure you get a proper warrenty m8,if this is the car for you;)

BrianD3

This balljoint problem is crazy alright, first time I've ever heard of it though and as I said my own are fine after just about 100k. For a balljoint to wear that quickly something serious is amiss. Maybe a bad batch of balljoints or something. Or maybe there are a few clocked Lagunas going around

As for the HID lights problem mentioned earlier, i looked into this and yes the lights are extremely expensive if they fail. Figure I saw was 168 sterling for one HID "bulb" plus a lot of dismantling of trim to get at the "bulbs". Lots of other electical bits associated with the HID system too.

But this is not just in Lagunas - it's a similar story with any other car fitted with HID lights. Also, very few cars in the Lagunas price range would have these type of lights.

BTW 99% of Laguna hatchbacks in Ireland do not have the HID lights so it's not a big issue. Most/all of the estates would have HID though. The estates are far less common here anyway.

attavalla

I've a 2001 Laguna 1.8 with 50k kms. On the positive side it's very good on the open road, comfortable, spacious and well equiped e.t.c. It also has xenon lights, parking sensors and 17" alloys..........but........ I've had to replace the driver's and rear passengers electric windows, also the air conditioning went twice, luckily this was covered by warranty.
So, would I recomend the Laguna.
With all the extras, gadgets and gizmo's it should be the dogs b.....x, but my next car will be an Avensis, Primera or A4.

Regards

fenris

Attavalla sums it up nicely, it should be a great car, we all thought it would be when we bought it, but it wasn't a great car or even a good car!

Renaults service was excellent, but unfortunatly it needed to be, give me a reliable car any day over a car that ensures that I see the service team on a quarterly basis, however nice they are. It made me think that this must be what it would be like to own a fiat, but with proper customer service.

Try asking a renault dealer about HID bulb replacement prices, they were as stunned as I was!
Fair play if you could get it shipped, fitted and working for £168, but 4 months of searching with the various partfinder sites and phone services (Ireland, UK and France) yielded nothing near that for me, best I got would have saved me less that €40 on the official renault offering and would have needed me to dismantle the front of the car myself.

From now on it is Jap or German type cars with a comfey seat and a minimum of fancy bits, even when everything worked in the laguna it did not make sitting in traffic on the N11 or sandyford gridlock and easier or more pleasent.

Esel

Your cousin will probably talk him/herself into buying this car anyway. After reading the thread, I would be very wary. Renault service/repair costs are reputed to be *very* high. It's diesel (has it got full service history?).

The car is nearly 10 years old. If your cousin really wants to buy it, they should offer a *lot* less than asking.

If it is such a good car, why has it not been sold already? :rolleyes:

BrianD3

fenris wrote:

Fair play if you could get it shipped, fitted and working for £168

I didn't say anything about getting it shipped or fitted for that price Very likely this price doesn't include VAT either.

johnnyrotten

esel wrote:

Your cousin will probably talk him/herself into buying this car anyway. After reading the thread, I would be very wary. Renault service/repair costs are reputed to be *very* high. It's diesel (has it got full service history?).

The car is nearly 10 years old. If your cousin really wants to buy it, they should offer a *lot* less than asking.

If it is such a good car, why has it not been sold already? :rolleyes:

Eh!, the car is 2001, I think thats nearly 5 years old!

Esel

johnnyrotten wrote:

Eh!, the car is 2001, I think thats nearly 5 years old!

That's odd! When I clicked on the link last night, it showed me a 1998 diesel with 100,000 miles for €2,800???

BrianD3

esel wrote:

That's odd! When I clicked on the link last night, it showed me a 1998 diesel with 100,000 miles for €2,800???

I saw that too, was odd alright.

johnnyrotten

esel wrote:

That's odd! When I clicked on the link last night, it showed me a 1998 diesel with 100,000 miles for €2,800???

Try again:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=335774

Esel

johnnyrotten wrote:

Try again:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=335774

Jeez Johnny, I know the link now shows a 2001 car! My point, which BrianD3 validated, is that it originally showed a different one (somehow).

lomb

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=335774
looks like it was sold, i wish the new owner good luck, they are probably going to need it:D