2003 Renault Laguna Dynamique (Sport Tourer) 1.9 dCi 120 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Another make next time

Faults:

The biggest problem is the gearbox which snatches badly from 2nd to 3rd especially when it is cold.

The engine has a very bad flat spot at low speed in 2nd gear - makes moving off in 2nd from low speeds into traffic dangerous (I use 1st now!)

Rattles from radio cover and front passenger seat headrest - very annoying.

The car alarm went off every night, until the warranty dealer eventually acknowledges the fault and fixed it.

General Comments:

It's a real shame that the car isn't put together a bit better.

It looks very good, is spacious and is very good on motorways - very relaxed cruising.

Unfortunately there is a real problem with the way that Renault run their customer support. If a dealer (Renault technician) cannot find a fault that a customer says is there, the customer is WRONG! (or can go to another dealer for a second opinion)

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 16th January, 2004

14th Feb 2004, 04:33

Update

Apparently there is a problem with a batch of gearboxes in the Laguna. After complaining again, I was asked to bring my car in so that serial numbers could be obtained and sent to Renault UK. My car goes in next week to get the gearbox stripped and hopefully fixed!

I also have a driver foot well leak that will be getting fixed too :- (

26th Feb 2004, 07:46

This will not be the only recall from Renault. I suspect that in the next few years there will be many others. Air conditioning system will be one for starters. I was extremely glad to part exchange my Laguna after only 9 months of ownership. I found the dealerships to be extremely unhelpful and rude. I have since bought a Honda Accord sport and I am delighted with it. Don't buy Renault I certainly won't again.

9th Feb 2005, 01:27

I bought a new 2.2 Dci Sport Tourer 18 months ago. Had a serious passenger side foot well leak (torrent) within 3 months. The alarm activated constantly, despite 3 attempts at repair, it never was satisfactory. The electric sunroof stuck in the open position in Spain, and a serious oil leak rendered the vehicle immovable for a week leaving me and my family stuck in Southern France. The vehicle was bought in Poland and only had a 1 year warranty. The French episode occurred 2 months after warranty. Renault refused to compensate. Found the garage staff surly and unhelpful and was glad to sell the car 3 months ago. Will never buy Renault again.

2003 Renault Laguna Expression 1.8 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Big, unreliable and pointless French spaceship

Faults:

I had this on a 3 day trial to see if it was suitable car to replace my company Focus. I loved the look of these cars and thought I would love to have one.

BUT...Where to start.

I picked up the demo car from the dealers and was told that the tyre pressure device had been disconnected because of the weather conditions!

Not a great start then, very rude salesman gives me the card and wanders of to talk about his weekend etc with other like minded sales people.

Insert card, scrambled and garbled text comes up on the display, no start, nothing just some odd noises.

Engineer called from coffee break clearly annoyed about having to move, car REBOOTED!!! and then the thing starts. As you can imagine, I'm not convinced by the whole charade at this point.

Finally make it onto the road and I kid you not, after stopping for fuel the car needs to be rebooted again after some warning about the injection system.

After this, the car seems to function correctly for a few hours until the radio which had a mind of its own anyway decided to die, permanently.

Other faults during my "ahem" test drive include detaching trim (passenger side kick trim panel) stuck windows, constant warnings about engine fuel system and a leaky back door.

Car returned to dealer who didn't even seem to give a jot about reported faults. Unbelievable attitude.

Nightmare car, I can only imagine these things when they get older.

On the plus side, car is very comfortable when it goes, has a good turn of speed for large car and lights up like the Enterprise at night.

I would really have to advise against these cars though unless you know that yours is a good one.

General Comments:

Goes well for a 1.8.

Card thing is cool if it worked properly.

Great stereo, again when it works.

Looks a dream, but I wouldn't trust it as far as I could spit a rat.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th December, 2003

21st Dec 2003, 11:48

Great review.

I have been there... Renault that is. I shall never buy another. In general our French bean tin was good.

But reliabilty... I could have wrote a book about the blasted thing, it was literally falling to bits, rather poor for an 18 month old car.

Put it another way, my main dealer was within walking distance, I lost a stone in weight. I used drive the car there, walk home, and then walk back to collect the thing, a four mile round trip.

I even knew the service reception staff on first name terms, although they were useless... just like there product.

I often dreamed that a freak accident destroyed it while it was there, but no such luck.

We thankfully do not own a Renault now, my new car is great, and NOT single fault.

Regards.

17th Mar 2004, 07:15

I have driven works pool car Laguna 2 (6 months old) and I have to say it feels like a 10 year old car.

In 1999 I was involved in the management of the fleet where I worked. Basically we had about 15 Laguna's and a handful of peugeot 406's and audi a4's.

I think in every Laguna apart from 3 we had to replace the gearbox at least once. The worst were the automatics. One car had 4 auto boxes replaced before 100,000 miles (which is when we dispose the cars) 2 or 3 of the Lagunas also suffered major engine failure due to melted pistons, so I would not agree that the Laguna 1 is reliable at all.

15th Jun 2010, 10:21

This car is the biggest pile of rubbish ever made. My two work colleagues own a 1.8, and the dash is a permanent Christmas tree light show. They always have something wrong, fix one problem, and another surfaces. Both main dealers maintained to no avail. Never buy one of these cars at any price!