I have the offer of a Renault Laguna 2 Dynamique estate with a 1.9 DCi engine and 6 speed gearbox. It is a 2002, 52 model and has 73k on the clock with a full service history. It would be available I estimate at a little under £7k. Whilst high miles it is in excellent condition with metallic paint and has a full set of extras including sat nav, air con, keyless entry and igntion and lots of other toys. It seemed like a reasonable deal to me, and with the Audi knocking on to 130k trouble free (so far) miles I thought it might be time to move on. However a quick google search looking for user opinions suggests a long list of potential problems, largely associated with complex electrics, a fragile clutch not up to diesel style torque and general dodgy quality control. I was actually rather taken aback at the negative comments, and the CBC breakdown certainly doesnt inspire confidence. Can these cars really be that bad or is it that everybody who has had a problem feels the need to burst into electronic print? Perhaps the later models are better - or not? I would welcome any comments based on experience. At the moment I am inclined to hang on to the Audi diesel I have rather than spend more to buy problems. Any insghts welcome!
Many thanks MGs
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I can sense RF is typing away ..........
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am inclined to hang on to the Audi diesel I have rather than spend more to buy problems.
You have answered you own question.
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Handsome practicle 2 year old car for 7k, sounds good to me, probably just the age where someone else has had sorted the problems for you.
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Tell you what. I will let the renault bashers have some breathing space, then I shall tell you what gone wrong with one in 32k miles and 18 months..
It will be a very short note.
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No Renault Bashing?
Ok you had your chance.
Had a Lagnuna 1.9dCi Dynamique saloon Since May 2003. In that time it has done 31k miles.
I went over the car with a fine toothcomb on arrival and everything seemed in order. In that time nothing has dropped off, or gone wrong. At the 18k miles service nothing outside the normal service items was replaced. It still feels as sweet and as tight as the day it was made.
I had one scare with the brakes when i had a minor accident (which by the way wrecked a nissan but left the luguna with a slight scratch on the bumper) But it turns out that the brakes were working perfectly its just that when EBA/EBD/ABS kicks in it takes away feel from the pedal.
At 31k the engine is sweet and punchy, using no oil and delivering between 44 and 56 mpg. The gearbox and clutch are still as nice to use as they were new. It will need a new set of front tyres soon.
There are a few design niggles like appaling rear vision (- not a problem in the tourer) an indicator warning beep that is too quiet, But on the whole I still like the car as much as I did when I chose it.
The quality of the paintwork is stunning, best I have ever had -no trace of blemishes, orange peel, thinness. Its very tough and has very very few chips and seems to shrug off supermarket car park incidents with ease.
Its been a quiet, comfortable, well balanced, fast, economical, reliable and enjoyable experience to date.
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From Dec 01 to Apr 03, 37K miles, my diesel Privilige Tourer suffered multiple losses of power (solved by computer upgrade), clutch slip (due to slave cylinder leakage), handbrake cable came adrift 3 times, buzzing in engine bay due to wear in air intake joints (cured by self-tapper in offending joint), rubbish bass in 'top-of-the-range' sound system, rear seat belts slow to retract ('they are all like that' - more truthful would have been 'many are like that'), 6mpg worse than my Passat (though RF gets much better fuel consumption than me - perhaps I should have been less gentle during running-in...). It was also quite noisy (road and general noise, the engine was very refined).
Front tyres lasted 27k (ok), rear tyres needed replacing not long after (Passet/Golf rear tyres last forever...)
My gripe would have been that it took many visits to the dealer to get the problems sorted out... (once I got past Recepton to speak to one of the chief technicians things started to move) my current Golf is no parigon of reliabilty (!) but my Vag dealer is reasonably good.
I was sorry to change it for the Golf (for financial reasons), something that I'd never think I'd say about about a Renault.
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What can I tell ya? I had the Estate version. Had standard low profile tyres which punctured 4 times (including once on way to catch ferry for honeymoon, then wheel brace broke when trying to get wheel off)Sun roof would open, but then wouldn't shut. Sun roof wouldn't open. Door locks wouldn't unlock, or having unlocked wouldn't then lock. Diesel injector packed in on autoroute to Lyon. Gremlins, Gremlins, gremlins!
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AA website suggests £7,495 for retail at 70,000 miles (down to £5,100 trade below average). But I wouldn't!
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Many thanks indeed for the responses to my original enquiry. I did go back this weekend and take another look and whilst everything seemed to work satisfactorily I am not sufficiently convinced to purchase. There seem to be too many negative stories around and the one thing we all need as a minimum is reasonable assurance of reliability. It doesnt seem to be that much of a bargain to take the risk. At least my 31 year old MG doesnt suffer from sun roof problems, injector malfunctions and playful central locking even if it did come with the non-optional extra of rust trap design. The Audi will soldier on for a while yet as day to day transport.
Thanks folks, MGs
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