French Shed. 15 year old Laguna...
Discussion
Hi all.
I came to the realisation that I wanted to keep mileage off my new Rover 75 (<20k miles on the clock) and preserve the bodywork which is pretty much in perfect condition, so I began searching for a shed. I found a Merc C220 CDI which I was very keen on, but by the chance I got time to go and see it, it had sold.
That evening a Gumtree advert appeared, with terrible photos, for a Renault Laguna. I have a bit of a soft spot for these, as I learned to drive in a MK1 Laguna, and had always wanted to revisit the MK2 & MK3. Viewed the car the next day, and it was exactly as described; slightly tatty here and there and a really grubby interior. It started well, had obviously been recently serviced, engine was quiet from cold, and no nasty noises from the suspension while driving.
So here it is... £800 of your finest Renault Laguna "Sport Tourer":
Having put 500 miles on the car this week, I can only find a couple of niggles, which is much better than expected because, y'know, Renault. The aircon doesn't blow cold & the rear nearside window doesn't work. C'est la vie.
The car has various mod cons which I'm not used to, including:
[*] Built-in Sat Nav (which is hilariously out of date - I regularly drive on roads that don't exist)
[*] Keyless entry & start (more on this in a minute!)
[*] Cruise Control & speed limiter
They keyless entry didn't work terribly well when I first got the car, and would often 'forget' to lock itself when I walked away. After some furious googling, this turned out to be a blown bulb in the driver's door courtesy light. The fix is to replace these with a LED bulb, and hey presto, I now have properly functioning keyless locking / unlocking & door light!
The thing I'm most impressed with is the 2.0 DCi engine. I've driven many diesels and this thing is the most petrol-like diesel engine I have ever driven. Incredibly flexible, plenty of power, and pretty incredible MPG. I'm knocking on the door of 50mpg with a week of 'combined cycle' commuting and a bit of motorway. It'll be interesting to do a brim to brim check and see what it's actually doing, but based on how much fuel I've put in, and how many miles I've covered it's pretty good!
The interior was in a pretty shocking state when I got the car, but this is being gradually improved with regular cleaning! The carpets have come up well, and I'm now working on the seats. The grime that came off the steering wheel was totally grim. Pictures as and when I get it looking respectable!
So far so good. My logic is that if this car has lasted 15 years and 111,000 miles, then it's probably going to keep going for a bit yet. We'll see!
I came to the realisation that I wanted to keep mileage off my new Rover 75 (<20k miles on the clock) and preserve the bodywork which is pretty much in perfect condition, so I began searching for a shed. I found a Merc C220 CDI which I was very keen on, but by the chance I got time to go and see it, it had sold.
That evening a Gumtree advert appeared, with terrible photos, for a Renault Laguna. I have a bit of a soft spot for these, as I learned to drive in a MK1 Laguna, and had always wanted to revisit the MK2 & MK3. Viewed the car the next day, and it was exactly as described; slightly tatty here and there and a really grubby interior. It started well, had obviously been recently serviced, engine was quiet from cold, and no nasty noises from the suspension while driving.
So here it is... £800 of your finest Renault Laguna "Sport Tourer":
Having put 500 miles on the car this week, I can only find a couple of niggles, which is much better than expected because, y'know, Renault. The aircon doesn't blow cold & the rear nearside window doesn't work. C'est la vie.
The car has various mod cons which I'm not used to, including:
[*] Built-in Sat Nav (which is hilariously out of date - I regularly drive on roads that don't exist)
[*] Keyless entry & start (more on this in a minute!)
[*] Cruise Control & speed limiter
They keyless entry didn't work terribly well when I first got the car, and would often 'forget' to lock itself when I walked away. After some furious googling, this turned out to be a blown bulb in the driver's door courtesy light. The fix is to replace these with a LED bulb, and hey presto, I now have properly functioning keyless locking / unlocking & door light!
The thing I'm most impressed with is the 2.0 DCi engine. I've driven many diesels and this thing is the most petrol-like diesel engine I have ever driven. Incredibly flexible, plenty of power, and pretty incredible MPG. I'm knocking on the door of 50mpg with a week of 'combined cycle' commuting and a bit of motorway. It'll be interesting to do a brim to brim check and see what it's actually doing, but based on how much fuel I've put in, and how many miles I've covered it's pretty good!
The interior was in a pretty shocking state when I got the car, but this is being gradually improved with regular cleaning! The carpets have come up well, and I'm now working on the seats. The grime that came off the steering wheel was totally grim. Pictures as and when I get it looking respectable!
So far so good. My logic is that if this car has lasted 15 years and 111,000 miles, then it's probably going to keep going for a bit yet. We'll see!
Nice brave pill! 
They didn't have the best reputation for reliability when new! Maybe the earlier ones were worse though, and common niggles hopefully resolved by the end of the mk2. Renault had a big market share in the early '00s. They sold shedloads of Lagunas, Clios, Meganes and Scenics but ropey build quality probably did a lot of damage. The Lagunas have mostly vanished now so it is good to see a survivor!
They didn't have the best reputation for reliability when new! Maybe the earlier ones were worse though, and common niggles hopefully resolved by the end of the mk2. Renault had a big market share in the early '00s. They sold shedloads of Lagunas, Clios, Meganes and Scenics but ropey build quality probably did a lot of damage. The Lagunas have mostly vanished now so it is good to see a survivor!
Thanks for the replies, chaps.
I'm very pleased with the car so far!
I must admit the 2.0 DCi is so very refined compared with how I remember the 1.9 being. Nice engine for a daily driver.
This isn't the sort of car that I could ever love in the same way as some of my other vehicles, but I suppose that's the point. It's comfy, rides ok, and I'm happy to leave it in supermarket car parks etc...
I do think this generation of Laguna was a good looking car though.
I'm very pleased with the car so far!
I must admit the 2.0 DCi is so very refined compared with how I remember the 1.9 being. Nice engine for a daily driver.
This isn't the sort of car that I could ever love in the same way as some of my other vehicles, but I suppose that's the point. It's comfy, rides ok, and I'm happy to leave it in supermarket car parks etc...
I do think this generation of Laguna was a good looking car though.
A mate of mine had one of these in grey for years. It was a lovely car. He was regularly up and down the country in it and he was forever fixing some minor (or occasionally major) issue with it. Replacing a turbo as it went on towards 150,000 miles was probably the biggest job. He had it fourteen years, loved it, and only moved it once the jobs started coming more regularly.
SebastienClement said:
Thanks for the replies, chaps.
I'm very pleased with the car so far!
I must admit the 2.0 DCi is so very refined compared with how I remember the 1.9 being. Nice engine for a daily driver.
This isn't the sort of car that I could ever love in the same way as some of my other vehicles, but I suppose that's the point. It's comfy, rides ok, and I'm happy to leave it in supermarket car parks etc...
I do think this generation of Laguna was a good looking car though.
I bet this car will diligently keep going for years to come, wanting nothing more than routine servicing. Got to love a decent shed. I'm very pleased with the car so far!
I must admit the 2.0 DCi is so very refined compared with how I remember the 1.9 being. Nice engine for a daily driver.
This isn't the sort of car that I could ever love in the same way as some of my other vehicles, but I suppose that's the point. It's comfy, rides ok, and I'm happy to leave it in supermarket car parks etc...
I do think this generation of Laguna was a good looking car though.
All good so far!
Had this in the garage yesterday for a couple of bits. Despite the service counter showing that it had completed less than 1000 miles since the last oil change, I opted to have it done again for peace of mind. There was also an "advisory" for brake pads on the receipt with the car, so got front discs and pads done too. £220 all in - can't grumble really.
I did ask them to have a look while they were under there, and by all accounts it's pretty clean and nothing obvious outstanding.
Should just be able to plonk mileage on it now
Had this in the garage yesterday for a couple of bits. Despite the service counter showing that it had completed less than 1000 miles since the last oil change, I opted to have it done again for peace of mind. There was also an "advisory" for brake pads on the receipt with the car, so got front discs and pads done too. £220 all in - can't grumble really.
I did ask them to have a look while they were under there, and by all accounts it's pretty clean and nothing obvious outstanding.
Should just be able to plonk mileage on it now
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