23rd Oct 2008, 06:59

I have recently been considering swapping my wife's 2001 Renault Magane Scenic 1.6 Sport for a Laguna II Sport Tourer, as the main family vehicle. However, after reading the 'negative' comments about the Laguna II on this site I am beginning to have second thoughts!. The Megane has (so far? famous last words!) been reliable in the three years we have owned it, apart from replacing the plug coil packs in the first few weeks of ownership.

In the past I have owned two petrol Laguna Sport Mk1's (1997 & 2000 models), which proved very reliable and comfortable cars.

Seems a shame that Renault appeared to have lost their way on the Laguna II.

Incidentally, my current vehicle is a 2004 Skoda Octavia vRS.

Contrary to the previous log comments on reliability of other makes of vehicles, my Octavia is a fantastic car. It's fast, economical and very reliable.

27th Feb 2009, 08:31

Hi, we have a 2001 Renault Laguna Privilege.

Well what can I say, nothing but stress. We have had TWO new turbos, and before each one we had the turbo failures on the motorway with two young kids, very scary.

Also now the fuel injection system light is on, and the car is often sluggish, or doesn't go at all.

We have spent sooooooooo much on the heap, over 3 grand. We are no longer paying out on it, and just waiting for it to finally give up, then hello scrap yard.

The turbo went the week after the guarantee was up, the Renault head office, said, sorry can't help, it's now 4 years old bla bla bla, no help at all, even though they knew the dangerous situation in which it happened.

We've always looked after the car, serviced and used Renault garage's, yet it still turned out to be a crap car.

23rd Mar 2009, 16:54

I have been studying the Laguna's 5 Star Safety awards and various crash test videos. It seemed just the ideal car for us. We have an excellent Berlingo Multispace we use for business but just wanted something that would fly the motorway a lot faster. After seeing so many negative comments about reliability, I've totally abandoned the idea. I also now understand why they are so cheap to buy second hand. So back to the drawing board!

2nd Jun 2009, 04:07

It is quite a comfort to know that I am not alone. Laguna 2002 ESP fault, followed by fuel injection fault, sometimes followed by STOP! Recently cost me £140 to get the car back home. Two of my best friends are car mechanics, and both now have the bit between their teeth! I will post any progress on here. I would also love to hear if you can shed any more light on these problems. All the best. Trevor.

1st Apr 2011, 15:57

With regards to the erratic starting and idle speeds of the 1.8 Laguna, what is the actual fault?? I've replaced the throttle body, and am now considering the pedal, and then it's on to the ECU and the wiring loom. Any ideas would be gratefully appreciated.

31st Jul 2011, 11:43

I too have a 1.8 Laguna; a lovely car, but it has a fuel injection fault. I have taken to a garage, and they replaced the accelerator pedal, and this worked for 2 days, but now the same issue has happened, and also a pollution sensor fault. Has anyone actually repaired this successfully?

18th Oct 2011, 01:28

Hello.

I have the same problems with my Laguna 1.9 DCI 2004. "Fault in fuel injection". Engine loses power, but it's going on. If you have the same problems or a potential solution, please contact me at blazskulj@gmail.com

17th Nov 2011, 01:29

I had a similar fault; fuel injection fault and restricted power. After much searching, I discovered a dry joint on the MAP (turbo boost) sensor plug. Pushing a piece of silver foil into each of the three socket holes cured the problem. Cost £0, time 5 minutes including a cup of tea. The car is now running better than ever.

28th Apr 2012, 09:43

The air pollen fault can be fixed by booting it up the motorway at as high a speed as you're comfortable with, as it clears the filter out. Have done this myself.

1st Nov 2012, 11:36

Yes, I also had to have my gearbox reconditioned. Unfortunately I did keep driving the car until it was totally destroyed, costing me £1240. Seems to be a fault with the original bearings, and is very common with the mk2 Lagunas. The gearbox specialist said he has done an awful lot of Laguna gearboxes, but if you repair it quickly, it usually costs around £600... what a bargain!!!

27th Jun 2013, 07:28

If your Primera is the P12 model, you have a lot of Renault influence in your Nissan. As a result, those Primeras have Renault's crappy reliability infused in. In fact, Renault has lowered Nissan's reliability overall. Any manufacturer that has Renault influence should be avoided unless you want Renault problems. You may not have known this at the time, but the Renault-Nissan merger made Nissans less reliable, while Renault reliability remains just as horrible as ever.

25th Nov 2014, 14:49

Absolutely disgusted by the quality of this car. After less than 50k miles, everything that could go wrong did. Renaults are designed to last up to warranty and that's it. If you are buying one out of warranty or just going out, beware, they're an absolute nightmare. The Renault workshop want you to keep on coming back; you'll be on first name terms with everyone, and before you know it, you'll be shelling out thousands.

10th Aug 2016, 02:42

Well I've had four Renaults over the years and I really like them. Had a Renault 11, Clio, 1996 Laguna 2.0 MK1, and now a 2003 Laguna Mk2 2.0 16v Tourer. Still have the Clio too.

All very reliable, start first time and each drove very well.

Never use a main dealer for servicing... way TOO expensive and only put my nose in the door for a part if I can't get it anywhere else.

Luckily I worked for Renault Parts as my first job so know a bit about French logic and their cars' little foibles! Turbos used to blow up then on the 5, 25 and 21 then so nothing's changed, so never wanted a turbo car.

I do all my own repairs and servicing, and know that Renaults are no different from any other car. Get a Friday afternoon one and it's gonna be trouble... get a good one and it'll keep going like a Duracell bunny!

My Laguna 2 is very comfortable, easy to drive and built like a tank... backed up by the same comments from the dealer that sold it new, Mitchells of Lowestoft, who have been helpful in providing past history.

I'm now giving it a much needed overhaul and sorting out a few problems that all Renaults have... radiator, PAS pump and springs. It's just age related maintenance and to be expected from a car of its age. And I just love fixing things! This car cost £250 from Fleabay and was destined for the scrap, but it's way too good for that. Nothing needed apart from new tyres when I bought it and a couple of 2nd hand alloys as the previous owner had kerbed them.

Then it's off to France for a few weeks camping.

I think once you've had a Renault you get to know what's likely to go and that they have some silly electrical problems, but these are generally straightforward to fix. Not as bad as the Fiat I had once... used spaghetti for wiring LOL.

Thing is I like the car and am quite prepared to fix the thing if it goes wrong rather than throw it away... such a waste of a good car... why do people do this? Too much money perhaps??