2005 Renault Laguna Dynamique 1.9 dCi from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Good looking but terrible

Faults:

Lots, mostly electrical. Headlights failed (dangerous, happened at night) spanner light always on, ABS sensors, immobilizer didn't work, locked me out and had to call breakdown. The list goes on. Too much to list.

Usual mechanicals for age and miles - exhaust, suspension, brakes, etc.

Bodywork surprisingly good shape for age.

General Comments:

The Laguna of this generation was a really good looking and performing car. Spacious and comfortable also, drive carefully and get a solid 45 - 50 mpg, but the positive points end there.

The car just had no reliability. Yes I bought it older and used, but it was a cared for car with history and I continued to look after it, yet still had lots of problems.

They weren't exactly popular when new and are now a rare sight on the road. They also depreciated quicker than even a similar Mondeo or Vectra, everybody knew they were unreliable. I only bought it because I got it ridiculously cheap and it was a lower mileage looked after car. It also drove fantastic on test.

I've heard the later Laguna was much improved, but it was too little too late for Renault I think. I sold mine in 2017 - I was sick of it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 24th July, 2023

2005 Renault Laguna Expression 2.0 dCi 130 turbo diesel from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Barge like... yes, French... yes!!

Faults:

"Check injection" light periodically came on along with "check emissions".

One keycard wouldn't start the car.

Rear brake disc seized on after cable needed degreasing and freeing.

Auto lights stayed on permanently.

Auto wipers inoperative.

General Comments:

Piece of French crap? Maybe!! But a good ole workhorse!!

I only bought this as a car as a third car to stuff the dog in the back so our other two didn't get messed up. Bought it for £900 on an 06 55 reg from a trader with a year's MOT on it and a recent service, and managed to sell it for £995 a few months later!! It did about 42 MPG running around locally, and to be fair, apart from the annoying check injection light always coming on, it was pretty much fine.

From reading online, the check injection light was probably just injectors that needed cleaning, and is typical for a Renault of this era.

I found it a very comfortable French barge; it had reasonable in gear pull due to lots of low down torque, and good refinement levels. It handled pretty crap, as in plenty of body roll and breakaway levels in terms of understeer not very high, along with fairly poor damper control, but I didn't buy it for that anyway, that's why I have my other car! Oh, and it was shockingly bad for grip levels in the wet, but that was probably more down to the absolute pants Autogrip tyres fitted to it, which had tons of tread left so I never bothered changing them for something decent like Michelin Efficientgrips.

So if you want a big, cheap to buy, comfy barge with reasonable economy, reasonable performance, and pretty crap handling that has zero street cred and possibly questionable electrics, get one of these!! I should mention that applies to many old rep mobiles you'll be looking to, but for 900 quid!! :D

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th May, 2015

20th Jan 2023, 16:22

For the money, these made a great used buy despite the dodgy reliability. I remember seeing them for as little as £2000 when only six years old. Shocking depreciation on a car that must have been £15,000 - £25,000 new!

24th Jul 2023, 11:11

Similar to my car. The keycard thing was a gimmick and a nightmare on these cars.

2005 Renault Laguna 2.0 turbo from Greece

Summary:

Beautiful, fast, sporty ,family, luxurious car

Faults:

- Gas pedal.

- Turbo needs changing at 1500 euros cost.

- The doors don't lock.

General Comments:

It's a very beautiful, sporty, family trip car. With the 17 inch rims it's more beautiful.

The leather gives a luxury sense.

The engine is powerful with a top speed of 260 km/h.

It's not very economical on fuel... 10 euros runs out after 70 kilometers, and fuel costs 1,65.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd August, 2014

31st Aug 2014, 21:54

I agree with you my man. I have the same car... it's fantastic, but on mine the turbo runs OK with 230,000 miles!

22nd Nov 2015, 07:01

Calculated that you got the English equivalent of 32 MPG over that 70 km, which is probably OK, especially if it's in town stop start km... (I realize that this is a very old post, but what the heck). This is what I would have expected... performance though with that brilliant 2.0 turbo diesel is almost as good as my V6, so in reality it's no slouch either. Wish that they had imported the diesel Laguna II in wagon form here in NZ... would have bought one, but am happy with the 3.0 V6.

Cheers.

20th Jun 2023, 16:10

I loved the look of these cars, shame reliability was well below average.

22nd Jun 2023, 06:35

Reliability wasn’t too bad actually. This particular one had some turbo issues. The other things are minor. The owner left the doors unlocked, and the gas pedal had “lead foot syndrome” like some gas pedals get in cars that are fun to drive.

24th Jun 2023, 14:12

I think he meant the Laguna in general, not just the particular car in this review.

Myself I had one and knew a few people with them. Always a problem. Also the motoring press and customer surveys (in the UK at-least) regularly scored this car well below average for reliability. It was not a dependable car.

Which is a shame, it was good to drive, great looking, and very comfortable to ride in.