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I have seen a 1999 Renault Laguna RT 1.9 TD estate on ebay that looks absolutely mint. It has only covered 54,000 miles from new, with no service history unfortunately but all previous MOT's to substantiate the mileage. I have spoken to the vendor, who seems genuine enough, and he has a good, albeit low, feedback score. I don't know why but I did an HPI check on the car today and it has come back that the car was a category D write off in August 1999, i.e. when it was just 5 months old. The seller has told me he knew nothing about the cars history and will speak to me tomorrow after he has spoken to the chap he bought it from (he does a bit of buying and selling cars on ebay by the looks of it). I have said to him that I need to check with my insurers tomorrow to see what their view (and premium) will be in light of this. Should I forget about this car now and start looking for another? Or would the car still be a good buy if the price was right (and if so, what is a good price?) TIA, Mark.
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Is this the Renault engine that runs on its own engine oil and revs to destruction?
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Laguna 1.9D = avoid.
Laguna 1.9D on VCAR = avoid-squared.
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Is this the Renault engine that runs on its own engine oil and revs to destruction?
No
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Its only covered 54,000 miles
Reason; because its been off the road for repairsfor most of its life?
Yes, avoid!
The seller would need to pay you to take this lemon home!
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Think your all being too hard on it to be honest
It was categorised in 99 which is at least 6 years ago so if the wheels were going to fall off it they would have by now
It was probably broken into back then for a playstation one or nintendo etc
If car drives right and the price is right then it wouldnt bother me
The insurance company wont be interested either as all hpi marked cars flag up as you insure them so they know anyway
Ok?
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Thanks Oldman. Only thing is now I'm worried about the 1.9 Renault diesel bit. I thought French diesels were supposedly some of the best in their field but now I'm havind 2nd thoughts. I've looked at the write-up in the Car by Car breakdown on here and it doesn't make nice reading, but then the review on the Yahoo Motoring pages is the total opposite and really sings its praises. Now I'm confused!
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i dont like that engine but if the car feels right and runs right there is basically nothing wrong with them just treat it for what it is a bit of an old design and im sure it will last for many years.(ie dont ever thrash it like some on here would ,but treat her like a lady)
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The insurance company wont be interested either as all hpi marked cars flag up as you insure them so they know anyway Ok?
Is this true for all companys ? Asking them the hpi status work out cheaper than a hpi check ?
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I'm sure they will be interested in taking your premium.
Its when you go to make a claim that the Hpi status may arise
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I largely agree with Oldman in that if the wheels were going to fall off the it would have happened by now. If the engine was going to fall apart that would have happened by now as well.
Depends why you're buying it. If you're buying it to sell soon then probably a mistake. However, if you're buying it becasue you wan tit, then sure there are other cars out there, some of them will be lemons as well and you might not detect what's wrong with them.
I'd say the seller knew about the HPI thing. Seemingly all his other cars are HPI'd and quoted as having clean history whereas on this one he simply doesn't mention. Strikes me as a reasonable bloke who chanced it a bit on the history.
I can't say any of that would put me off. If I really wanted the car, or if it was a really good bargain, or rare, or something then I'd probably buy it. If I wasn't really fussed about the car one way or the other then I probably wouldn't buy it.
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1.9 TD no service history it has come back that the car was a category D write off in August 1999,
Personally I'd walk on by. Probably due up for a cambelt soon as well.
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£1,420 with nearly three days left? Not to mention that any clean car will look mint in photos that size if it's just been washed and valeted. Finally there's no mention of its HPI status on the ad (if it's the same car) - hence the previous "time waster" so how much do you really want to trust the rest of the description?
Even if this car was on fire, I wouldn't be any less likely to buy it.
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Bought in from auction or a from a dealer trade in,mot's but no service history is fishy,air con does not work if it only needs regasing why has he not done it costs pennies in the trade,part of the rear seat set up missing why?.I would run a mile .With so many genuine cars on the market why go for one thats suspect if you must buy it speak to the last owner(s) before you buy,check he is registered because he is a dealer and you should have the full consumer protection. Personally I think its an iffy auction car given a good clean bought in for around a 1k that you will have real trouble with in the future, the low mileage if genuine and I doubt that tells me the troubles are about to start
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Thanks guys, maybe I should just walk away then ... not the answer I wanted to hear if I'm honest but the advice given above makes sense. Problem is I can only find one other diesel model (but in a hatchback) for similar model with low mileage, thats at a dealer in Croydon. I thought there'd be loads of these to choose from, but they're all petrol engines.
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My neighbour has just spent vast sums on money on getting his 1.9 Laguna diesel back on the road. A saga of incompetent diagnostics and big bills. The pump, was replaced and after 6 weeks on and off the road the fault was traced to one faulty injector! If you buy this car and it has almost any engine problem it wouldn't be worth repairing.
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My exes did 2 cambelts in quick succession, the bills were eyewatering! Mind you they had a Rover 800 before & now run a MG ZS!
Why do people always go away and ask their insurance Co. when buying a Cat D or C, mine don't know & it makes no difference!
Personally as a Goona I'd run a mile, Car Mechanics mag has a piece this month & the list of problems is endless, as are some of the spares prices, & people on here have the temerity to call Alfa's unreliable!
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The MK1 Laguna was a quite tough and reliable car. It was the early MK2's that let the side down. A colleague runs a '96 Laguna estate and has been very pleased with it. The only gripe recently has been the expensive replacement of the immobiliser.
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Why do some people insist on USING CAPITALS on Ebay. It drives me nuts. I'd avoid the car for that reason alone - he's clearly a numskull.
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For the same reason that you just did - to get people's attention!
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with all teh cars available, why would you buy a damage repaired from a bloke on ebay who looks a bit like a trader and has failed to disclose the hpi entry. Now that you have told him, has he added this information to the site?
How many warning signs do you need for goodness sake?
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>>How many warning signs do you need for goodness sake?
Remember the car salesman's old adage to get rid of a lemon:
Another idiot (buyer) will be along shortly.
Just do not let it be you in this instance markengland.
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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>>It was categorised in 99 which is at least 6 years ago so if the wheels were going to fall off it they would have
>>by now
>>It was probably broken into back then for a playstation one or nintendo etc
No it wasn't broken into back then for a playstation one or a nintendo. We are talking about a five month old car being written off back then, a car that would have been pushing towards £15,000 to buy new and which would have taken a lot of money's worth of damage to write it off.
Admitedly there is a slim chance that it was stolen, and recovered some while later after the claim had been processed and paid out but my money would be on that it has had a fairly hefty whack and one hell of a lot of repair work. Don't forget that back in 1999 the insurance companies didn't have such a stringent means of recording categories of write offs (ie A, B, C & D) they were just classed as being the result of a total loss claim. Hence although they may call it a category D, it may have been substantially damaged originally.
My advice is steer clear of it, there are always better buys out there somewhere, and this is just based on the fact that it has been a write off in 1999. And couple that with the fact that it is a Renault, steer doubly clear!!!
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I seem to remember in the distant past looking at a car that was an insurance write off but I could not see any of the tell tale signs of damage repair it transpired it was flood damage and after the floods in Dresden cars were being sold for peanuts that were full of mud and other non mentionables I'll bet these were all dried and cleaned and put back on the road.
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There used to be an unwritten rule that clean water up to the sill was cat d and worth repairing and dirty water or salt water over the sill was cat c and these are never worth repairing ever
Im sure simon can elaborate further on this one -
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I had a car once that had been for a salt water swim - perhaps obvious to say that it was a waste of space, but the speed of deterioration form the inside out was quite amazing - especially given that there was no obvious or visible sign of its aquatic history in the beginning.
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What damage does up to the sill water do? As long as the water didn't reach the doors it shoud be OK shouldn't it?
I'm sure I've driven through 'sill deep' water before.
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I think he means the car is full inside upto sill level.
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If sea water goes anywhere near the wiring loom big trouble in a few months time
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Interesting in that Ebay does not reconise the listing number.
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