2001 Renault Laguna Reviews - Page 3 of 14

Turbo-Charger blew at 30,000 miles. Fixed by dealer for £1800.

The Laguna's been through 3 clutches and 2 gearboxes - I drive as I've driven every other car, all of which I've never had any problems with clutches or gearboxes!

Tyre Pressure Monitors fail constantly - system removed at 45,000 miles (£80)

Aircon unit failed - £450 to replace! EXTORTION!

ABS light illuminates randomly - faulty sensors.

EGR Valve sticks all the time - cleaned every 3000 miles.

Rear bushes fail periodically.

Rear Parking sensors failed.

ANYONE ELSE HAVING THESE PROBLEMS!?

Very comfortable, that's where the good points stop. Renault's customer service is apalling. The Laguna requires some SERIOUS work, although there were improvements in 2005 (The wife has a 2005 55 plate Dynamique, none of the problems I've had and she's covered almost 100,000 miles in 3 years!). My advice would be not to touch any of the earlier examples, they're riddled with electrical gremlins!

Tyre Pressure Monitoring System - Complete failure, computer detached itself from the bottom of the car on the dual carriageway at 70mph, removed for £80 at Inveralmond Renault.

Rear bushes failure - SEVERAL occasions.

Airbag warning light illuminates temporarily - dodgy connections under front seats.

ABS warning light constantly illuminated - faulty sensors.

Chipped windscreen causes automatic wipers to behave erratically - chip right on light sensor.

EGR valve replaced 3 times (45667, 58823 and 61002 miles)

EXCESSIVE wear on rear tyres.

If this car wasn't engineered by Renault I'm confident that it would be excellent, but Renault's terrible reliability record compared with sloppy dealer services and ridiculously high repair prices make the Laguna II a terrible investment.

The car is PERFECT for motorway miles and even copes well with winding country roads - although steering is a little too light.

The countless reliability problems make this ideally 'cheap to run' estate car VERY expensive to run.

Don't buy one unless you can get FULL service history.

The electric heating on the right hand mirror is defective.

Periodically the automatic unlock-sensors on the back doors are unstable. Never a big issue, as the front door senors always work.

Both faults fixed at no cost at my local Renault dealer, even considering the car was about five and a half years old.

When I bought this car, I was told from almost everybody I know that this would be a complete disaster. Luckily for me, no one told my Laguna that it was supposed to cause a lot of problems.

Because after nearly a year of ownership it hasn't caused much headache, despite the Norwegian climate (cold, wet) often can cause problems on cars loaded with electronics. And the few problems that have surfaced, my local Renault dealer have fixed at no cost for me. And they offer excellent customer-service, so I've become a loyal customer (I also have a Volvo V50 that I bought new from the same dealer).

Instead I've enjoyed excellent comfort, very good seats that fit my 187 cm long body perfectly, good economics, loads of space and a lots of practical equipment.

Within weeks of purchase:

- Rear axle bushes replaced; £200 inc labour

- EGR valve replaced; £150 + Labour

- Air flow sensor replaced; £150 + Labour

- Aircon system stopped working

- Turbo and intercooler now need to be replaced

I have only owned the car for three months, and it has turned out to be the biggest heap of junk I have ever owned.

I previously had an Audi 100, which had done 135,000 miles and had all manner of the whistles and bells, and despite its age, everything without exception worked and continued to work well for the 5 years we had it, until a Skania truck drove in the back of it!

This Laguna however has proved to be a huge money pit. I started to notice a knocking from the back of the car only a couple of weeks after I'd bought it. This turned out to be the rear axle bushes.

Shortly after this the engine management light started to come on coupled with a loss of power. Turning the engine off and on again would briefly cure the problem. The investigations revealed that the EGR valve was faulty, and then the air flow sensor and eventually the turbo and intercooler. On top of this the aircon has lost its gas and so doesn't work.

All in all, as soon as I can afford it, I'll get rid and buy another Audi. I wish I'd read all of the reviews first.