Laguna buying advice needed
Discussion
I need a new daily hack to for the commute to work. Given the ammount of miles I have to do, it needs to be a diesel 
Looking at the classifieds & ebay, a Laguna DCI looks very tempting given the level of standard trim (xenons, climate, half leather, 6speed box, etc, etc.). I've only got a budget of around £3000 and it looks like I might be able to get hold of an 03 or 53 plate 1.9 DCI Dynamique or similar with fairly decent mileage. I've done a bit of homework and it seems I need to watch out for dodgy leccy windows, key cards, blown tubro's and general French electricals.
What I need to know is, what are they like to live with in the real world? Is it going to spend more time in my wallet than on the road? How comfortable are they? - It will mostly be used to transport three adults on a 120 mile round trip.
If its going to be a big no-no, can you suggest any good alternatives? A mate suggested you get a lot for your money with an MG ZR or ZS. Surely a Laguna has got to be better than an MG?!
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers guys
Looking at the classifieds & ebay, a Laguna DCI looks very tempting given the level of standard trim (xenons, climate, half leather, 6speed box, etc, etc.). I've only got a budget of around £3000 and it looks like I might be able to get hold of an 03 or 53 plate 1.9 DCI Dynamique or similar with fairly decent mileage. I've done a bit of homework and it seems I need to watch out for dodgy leccy windows, key cards, blown tubro's and general French electricals.
What I need to know is, what are they like to live with in the real world? Is it going to spend more time in my wallet than on the road? How comfortable are they? - It will mostly be used to transport three adults on a 120 mile round trip.
If its going to be a big no-no, can you suggest any good alternatives? A mate suggested you get a lot for your money with an MG ZR or ZS. Surely a Laguna has got to be better than an MG?!
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers guys
I have an 02 Laguna and I personally couldn't recomend one to anybody else. You do get a lot of car for your money but reliability can be a nightmare.
You are right about equipment levels, mine is an initiale and has Xenons, cruise, heated electric leather seats, Sat Nav, climate, sunroof etc.
Mine has the 17 inch alloys (Most do), the ride is harsh and the tyres are very expensive. Other things to watch out for are tyre sensor problems, engine warning codes, rear bushes (need replacing every 50K) and track rod ends. Rear discs cost over £100 a pair (before fitting) because they have the wheel bearing in the disc.
The 1.9DCi engine is not known for reliability, the EGR valve can stick causing the turbo to overheat, fail and kill the engine.
Mine has been reliable but every time you drive it you just get a feeling that something catastrophic could happen at any time.
I think if I was looking again I would probably go for something like a Vectra.
You are right about equipment levels, mine is an initiale and has Xenons, cruise, heated electric leather seats, Sat Nav, climate, sunroof etc.
Mine has the 17 inch alloys (Most do), the ride is harsh and the tyres are very expensive. Other things to watch out for are tyre sensor problems, engine warning codes, rear bushes (need replacing every 50K) and track rod ends. Rear discs cost over £100 a pair (before fitting) because they have the wheel bearing in the disc.
The 1.9DCi engine is not known for reliability, the EGR valve can stick causing the turbo to overheat, fail and kill the engine.
Mine has been reliable but every time you drive it you just get a feeling that something catastrophic could happen at any time.
I think if I was looking again I would probably go for something like a Vectra.
hi, if it helps i've had an ph2a and a ph2b model. alongside mondeos, vectras etc, the comments "don't" are, probably fair - unless you're lucky...
the 2003 car i had, in top of the range INITIALE spec, was a cheap luxury car, but in truth, a dog in quality, reliability and running costs. it had a new engine fitted at a cost of £5600 the month before i bought it, i then spent about £2k in 6 months on shockers, bushes, egr valve and exhaust. not for the fainthearted, though was comfortbale and far better equipped than any priced - to buy - contemporary.
my 2006 post-facelift INITIALE car is far, far better. one of the lucky ones.
down to two factors really,
- it has the 2.0dCi engine, a far superior machine in power and economy. although later 1.9dCi units were refined (as a consequence of the learning curve renault suffered), they are still blighted by 120 / 130bhp output. the laguna is a heavy car. the 2.0dCi is 150 / 175bhp std - mine is a 150 and has been mapped to 189bhp - good gains available if you wish to go that route.
- as well as mechanical leaps, facelifted cars have far superior interior trim; esp the carminat bluetooth nav, fantastic for the money.
for £3k i'd certainly go for a post-facelift car. you may struggle for an INITALE, though a DYNAMIC NAV may be within reach. these would be over 100k i'd imagine at your budget.
note that my car was bought at 110k, now on 145k - new clutch (£1k) has been spent on it, but i see this sole cost as a pitfall of a high mileage car, and not restricted "just because its a laguna".
they need to be careuflly selected - but later models are far over and above those that gained the - fair - reputations they have here...
EDITED TO ADD eBay 160398107282 as an example.
the 2003 car i had, in top of the range INITIALE spec, was a cheap luxury car, but in truth, a dog in quality, reliability and running costs. it had a new engine fitted at a cost of £5600 the month before i bought it, i then spent about £2k in 6 months on shockers, bushes, egr valve and exhaust. not for the fainthearted, though was comfortbale and far better equipped than any priced - to buy - contemporary.
my 2006 post-facelift INITIALE car is far, far better. one of the lucky ones.
down to two factors really,
- it has the 2.0dCi engine, a far superior machine in power and economy. although later 1.9dCi units were refined (as a consequence of the learning curve renault suffered), they are still blighted by 120 / 130bhp output. the laguna is a heavy car. the 2.0dCi is 150 / 175bhp std - mine is a 150 and has been mapped to 189bhp - good gains available if you wish to go that route.
- as well as mechanical leaps, facelifted cars have far superior interior trim; esp the carminat bluetooth nav, fantastic for the money.
for £3k i'd certainly go for a post-facelift car. you may struggle for an INITALE, though a DYNAMIC NAV may be within reach. these would be over 100k i'd imagine at your budget.
note that my car was bought at 110k, now on 145k - new clutch (£1k) has been spent on it, but i see this sole cost as a pitfall of a high mileage car, and not restricted "just because its a laguna".
they need to be careuflly selected - but later models are far over and above those that gained the - fair - reputations they have here...
EDITED TO ADD eBay 160398107282 as an example.
Edited by D188ERS on Friday 29th January 16:33
Mini1275 said:
"Laguna buying advice"............Don't!
First time I can say I've agreed with you. I work as a mechanic for Renault, Laguna's and Espace's can be a couple of the worst cars to work on. Lower ball joints are rivited in and it takes a masculine angle-grinder to grind them down, then an air chisel to pop them out of their holes...a total arse!
It's a shame to say it, but the typical customer is one who doesn't have a lot of money in the first place. Thus, they arn't willing to put genuine parts on it, or get it serviced regularly. All too often we have customers who have been to qwik-fit then come to us complaining of tyre-pressure sensors broken...
They cost less, require maintenance more often. But prices to repair, shouldn't reflect it's purchase price too, IMO.
GTP rpm said:
Mini1275 said:
"Laguna buying advice"............Don't!
First time I can say I've agreed with you. I work as a mechanic for Renault, Laguna's and Espace's can be a couple of the worst cars to work on. Lower ball joints are rivited in and it takes a masculine angle-grinder to grind them down, then an air chisel to pop them out of their holes...a total arse!
It's a shame to say it, but the typical customer is one who doesn't have a lot of money in the first place. Thus, they arn't willing to put genuine parts on it, or get it serviced regularly. All too often we have customers who have been to qwik-fit then come to us complaining of tyre-pressure sensors broken...
They cost less, require maintenance more often. But prices to repair, shouldn't reflect it's purchase price too, IMO.
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