15th Jun 2017, 07:56
This last batch of pencil coils that I got from China Aliexpress ended up being junk. The original ones from China I bought 60 thou km ago were fantastic, so have sourced them again from the original supplier. The good ones can be identified by a group of numbers on the top and a bare metal uncoloured strip running down the side. Also light grey plastic at the end just before the rubber seal. The rubbish ones I bought had no numbers and the metal strip down the side was black painted. Also no light grey plastic at the spark plug connector end - all black top to bottom.
So now I have to redo the whole lot again... well at least I get to see whether I have resealed the troublesome cam covers properly at the rear under the inlet manifold.
Still love it... It's a pity with dense modern apartment living that people don't have the space to do car repairs and end up paying an arm and a leg from garages for basic stuff.
27th Oct 2017, 08:14
Hmmm just realized this Carsurvey has become a bit of a car diary...
Latest news are the aircon just needed a 300 gram top up... not bad for 15 years and 150,000 km. Is working fine again.
Solved ABS problem - due to corrosion on ATE ABS computer (common style unit used by many many manufacturers) so cannot fault Renault on this. Was solved eventually and enjoyed the learning curve. 2nd hand unit installed and original ABS unit code installed into replacement unit so the main ECU could see it... solved. Apparently a mechanic must have a Renault CLIP (computer programming tool) for this...
The car is ageing nicely and I am so happy with any replacement parts I need to buy... Good quality generally or 2nd hand, and all are cheap on eBay. Postage is OK when the original price is taken into consideration.
Tried out front gas shocks and went back to the original standard oil shocks as the ride deteriorated around town rather badly.
Solved oil leaks from the motor once and for all as I got rid of all the cam cover gaskets and just used good quality silicone gasket maker. And my Renault CLIP mechanic has thankfully disabled the pain in the ass tire pressure sensor system, which due to the batteries getting old in the wheel sensors, is continually needing attention.
In all it's been and still is a great car, and it's a shame that so many people got a raw deal from bad mechanics / dealers and very expensive spares when the car was young.
17th Jul 2019, 10:43
Update. No problems over the last year... intermittent airbag light problem was finally solved completely by using decent electrical contact cleaner and spraying the connection/contacts under the seat and then sliding them in and out of the socket about 50 times. Just spraying contact cleaner on is not enough it seems... need to actually slide them in and out to scrape clean the contacts. That took about 3 years to work out...and was so simple... Otherwise all good.
Might need to get the driver's seat re-padded as the lower area is not supporting as well as a few years ago... not urgent as using a thin cushion.
Paint in fine condition for the age of the car.
Overall I have had Japanese cars harder to fix than this car... I think an awful lot of easy to blame on the brand culture that exists with french cars... probably due to people getting stung at the garage and on poor repairs. Still happy that I still own it. Drives like a train... and looks great even today at 17 years old. Even my brother's last year Mondeo is not a markedly better drive, but has more gadgets like stop start which he hates. Info system is the best thing really. His Mondeo though is cheaper to drive due to it being diesel, but not amazingly much cheaper... and when considering depreciation... the V6 Laguna looks fine... Plus that awful black coal mine interior of the Mondeo... Bought some Volvo S50 alloys which look modern and fit well... very smart and takes 5 years off the age.
18th Jul 2019, 12:08
Thanks for all the updates. It's always good to hear about an owner's experiences long term. Myself I prefer the first gen 1994-2000 Laguna; had a 1997 model one and it was OK, averagely reliable, but was put off the newer one due to hearing about lots of issues, but good to know there are decent ones out there.
22nd Jan 2020, 09:05
Update time.
Really removed seats and cleaned the seat contacts under the seat runners. Also placed some closed cell plastic under the floor socket because I reckon that its slightly weak plastic mount is a bit to blame for the intermittent contact that these connectors seem to suffer from. Anyway it's much better now.
Also replaced the headlining as started to droop, so now I definitely have to keep it. Bit of an investment ($500 NZD).
No other real problems. Although I had positive camber by 1 degree on both sides?? Supposed to be 0 degrees... Anyway got two camber adjustment bolts and got an alignment. Small and worthwhile improvement that probably only I would notice... My OCD is satisfied...
Have noticed on renaultforum that these motors when started up have what sounds to be a knock... What it is seems to be the VVT mechanism starved of oil, so a small increase in revs at start up to raise the oil pressure for about 5-10 seconds (say 1500 RPM) feeds oil to the mech and it ceases... Not a failure, just a particular thing with the V6 engine. Common to Peugeot and Citroen VVT motors as well.
Otherwise still a good drive. Still a good drive long distance. Have a wee car for the town stuff... Nissan Micra...
29th Jan 2023, 05:58
Final entry Laguna Trek log... written off New Year's eve by someone pulling out from a bottlestore exit without looking... airbags went off and was thoroughly dazed for 30 secs... bit bruised on my chest but all worked as it should. Very sad to see it go in this fashion because it was 20 years old but only 10 in condition... very happy experience... missing it since... not all cars are SO effortless doing long distance like a Laguna V6... a lot more may have more power... more flash but more comfortable...? Maybe not except for maybe a big Citroen.
25th May 2017, 08:28
I agree that they got better after about 2005-6, and they went from one of the worst to one of the best European cars on the market... I wonder if Nissan know how on quality was transplanted... anyway, still going good, although today I replaced some pencil coils, but that's only because I had an oil leak from a rear cam cover, which I fixed at the same time.
Otherwise pretty good still. Did a driver's window mech recently, but it's 15 years old... can't complain... was so cheap via eBay that I am definitely not selling or moving it on. I cannot believe the low cost of basic parts on this car. Warehouses clearing out obviously, and eventually there will be no cheap parts...
Still performs as good as the day I bought it and is good on gas. Will need some aircon work soon though, which may cost... wait till early summer I think. Done 150000 km now.