13th Aug 2006, 18:23

Sorry to tell you this, but in Trinidad we do have a dealer and it probably would not have made any difference. interestingly even a salesman at the local distributor told me Renault has a very poor reputation in the caribbean because they were never designed for our road conditions.

Of course if you read the other reviews on this site you kind of wonder exactly where they were designed to operate at all.

9th Nov 2006, 08:31

Since I purchased my brand new 1.9 Dci in 2002, I have only 44,000 miles on the clock to date. Less than 9,000 miles per year! It is regularly serviced and well looked after. I have had cause to replace a brake caliper, brake disc, entire turbo unit & cat., rear axle bushes, ball joints, and now faced with the need to mend a slipping clutch, (something I've never had to do in 31 years of driving experience of any other vehicle I've owned)! If these had been the only problems/faults I'd had with the car, they would have been bad enough, however, throw in the sticky front passenger electric window, faulty CD player, exhaust recycle valve, fault with turbo prior to its replacement, fuel pipe recall, & faulty sun roof.

I've found Renault UK Customer Services to be anything other than customer focused, trotting out the, "well your car is over 4 years old", and not too quick to back-up their assertion that Renault prides itself on building vehicles of "durability and technical excellence"! Considering my car was bought brand new, and fitted with first-line parts, Renault's claim (on their website), of using genuine Renault parts to extend the longevity of their cars is laughable to say the least.

Would I have another Renault? NO! (Not just because of the mechanical faults I've had with the car, but more to do with the lack of customer care/service which I have experienced. It took two days for a customer representative to call me back on one occasion --- well, I suppose they were busy dealing with complaints)!!!

13th Dec 2006, 08:37

For those of you out there with Renaults fitted with turbo's BEWARE!!!

Mine sadly blew, and has now resulted in a very expensive garage bill. My Laguna has done over 60k miles, and is just over 4 years old, and the garage I use has confirmed that all Renaults with turbo's have a fault, of which can lead to a failure, in my case catastrophic. Luckily the garage is fitting me with an upgraded version of the Renault turbo, but not from Renault, and he assures me that this should not happen again (I am sure he had his fingers crossed when he told me).

So Laguna drivers, beware, make sure you get your turbo checked out regularly, as I am sure you do not want to fork out for a replacement.

24th Jan 2007, 13:53

Having read all the comments, I thought it time for a balance. I've had a Laguna expression 1.8 for 3 years now. It is Y reg, thus early in the production line, and has had some problems.

Front suspension components wearing at 30,500 miles, rear suspension bushes wearing at 70,000. Tyre pressure fails to read front wheels despite being 'fixed' - I'm now unprepared to waste more time whilst Renault try to fix it. I've had two occasions where the immobiliser hasn't reset and a quick disconnect of the battery (known in the helicopter engineering world as a Mexican reboot) has fixed it.

But, it is very comfortable to drive, I like the engine, I like the way it thinks for me (wipers stop automatically when not moving; radio volume auto adjusts with speed) which was unusual for cars built around 2001. I am happy to keep it for a few more years.

My recommendations : If you buy new, get the dealer to sign a plain english agreement that if anything goes wrong you will get a courtesy car immediately. Note: Many items (air con controls) are classed as 'trim' and not under warranty - point to bits on the car and say 'is this covered under warranty'.

If you buy 2nd hand, get it inspected.

If you get a mechanically sound car, it is a great car to have. Furthermore, consumer rights give more protection than just the warranty - if something goes wrong and you think its unfair, get some legal advice before giving Renault your money. Enjoy.

7th May 2007, 13:15

My company purchased a Laguna in 2002 1.9 dCi. Up to that point, a number of Renaults had been purchased and had been satisfactory.

This one however was a heart breaker, and required the fuel pump to be replaced EIGHT TIMES. At that point we threatened legal action and eventually were accorded a meeting with Renault's chief engineer in Ireland. We were given all sorts of guarantees that all would be put right.

Recently, one year and ten months later the pump failed again. Just at that point the car required its service and guess what? No mention on the invoice that the pump had been replaced.

Looks like the legal eagles are about to be consulted...

3rd Jul 2007, 10:42

My wife and I were considering buying a Laguna 1.9DCI, but after all the horror stories I've read, I think we will be buying a diesel Vectra. I suppose it's a good job that the Laguna has a 5 star NCAP with a major gearbox failure causing the car to lock up at motorway speeds. It just no longer seems like it would be a safe family car, and after seeing Watchdog regarding the Clio bonnet catches and customer services, I THINK NOT.

15th Aug 2007, 08:03

We have a Laguna Privilege 1.8 16 valve, bought second-hand 3 years ago, and what an absolute nightmare it has been! Last year, we got the classic fuel injection system warning; our local Renault garage did a diagnostic test and came back to us saying that they needed to check all the injection leads and clean the throttle body. All in all this cost us approx £400.00. Our car has never locked correctly; the dealer told us the key was faulty and repairs would cost us £189.00, which we paid.

Now, last week, after the car was OK for about 6 months, the fuel injection warning and limp home mode is happening daily; we took the car in on Friday and had a new throttle body fitted for a cost of £420.00 and were told that the problem was solved. I picked the car up with 2 young kids in the back and guess what? Yep; it started again. I had to turn around and drop the car off, and now they are saying that we need a new fuel injection computer. Whatever that is it will cost us another 490.00. Great! I advise anyone out there NEVER to buy a RENAULT!!!