2003 Renault Laguna Reviews - Page 4 of 12

Virtually nothing wrong with the car in the full 57k miles I have driven it from new. It has been extremely reliable. The only slight moan I have is the poor quality finish of some of the interior items. Two items in particular.

1. The cover that drops down over the radio/CD section broke very early on, but is so poorly secured I am not surprised.

2. The two plastic covers in the boot section fall off with such regularity I just leave them there.

There is slight feel of a cheap "clunk click" quickly fitted together car that looks good new, but in actual use things start to fall off or break.

Overall I rate the car as extremely reliable, very comfortable to drive (especially long distance on motorways - as a sales rep it gets a lot of distance driving, 40k this year) but I have never got out of it feeling uncomfortable). The 2.2 diesel engine is very responsive with one major exception of a quick pull away from a standing start, e.g. joining a road at a junction it is sluggish and you have to really judge the approaching traffic speed carefully.

Radio/CD/SAT NAV started jumping 2 months ago. Renault replaced under warranty!

Slight rattle from engine bay. Traced to loose battery cover, small self tapping screw secured.

Passenger door lock just started making strange noise.

Very good looking car with nice set of 17" alloys.

Trim level on this edition is very good.

45-48 mpg and I drive fairly hard seems good to me, my Audi used to do 30 mpg, if I was lucky, from a 1.8 petrol.

Only a warning light came on for the brakes, but this was a bad connection and not a problem with them.

This is our second Laguna and replaced a very reliable MK1 Laguna. The 1.9 dCi feels faster than the figures suggest and it is economical with the fuel which is good as I do about 30K a year.

The ride is very comy, typically French. Handling is sharp, but most of my driving is motorway.

The interior has reamined solid, there aren't any squeaks or rattles from the trim.

I like the ignition card, saves having to have a bunch of keys in your pocket.

Nice big boot, useful for holidays.

CD player jammed in first week - would not release the CD - had to return car to dealer where it was removed and reinitialized in the workshop.

Leather seats have a triangular plastic stud on drivers seat - this ripped out after 6 months and had to be replaced under warranty (thankfully) as it cost 128 Euros for a new set (4 in a set). Dealer was unaware of this problem ever occurring before.

Ignition coils: one failed after 21 months rendering the car un-drivable. Dealer replaced all four coils under warranty - this was probably the beginning of our troubles with the Laguna.

Several small problems covered by 2 year warranty which were caught on the first service - I thankfully scheduled this service just prior to the 2 year warranty running out! Leak in power steering fluid system.

Car wouldn't start - the card keys were working OK, could see the red led illuminating on the cards, but nil from the car when trying to start it. Car doors were not locked therefore access was available to insert the card into the card reader in the console. Car had to be towed to the dealer twice and no fault found. Believe the problem to have been a flat electrical system as a reading light had been left on over night. This doesn't fully cover the issue as the speedo-dash lights dimmed and brightened the evening before while the car was driving. All this happened two weeks after the warranty expired - all on our dime! Dealership did not charge us for looking at the car, but the towing cost 130 Euro for the two instances.

We were entitled to a courtesy car, but nothing was offered. We discovered our entitlement when Renault Ireland called us for a satisfaction survey.

Our Laguna is treated with great care and kept in truly immaculate condition. Usually town driving, but used regularly on 100 mile + journeys. Extremely disappointed that it is giving the trouble it is in the past few months.

Likes: Really like the Laguna, would have bought another one, but based on these problems will shy away from another one.

Comfort: Extremely comfortable car, the full leather is great, loads of space inside, big boot space.

Tires: 205 / 55 / 16 Michelin Pilot Primacy - VERY EXPENSIVE! Replaced one and the average price for replacement was 200 euros.

Reliability: First 24 months were perfect, never a single problem until after the first service. Service interval of 18,000 miles is too much if I had these problems at 12,000 miles in 2 years. If I had not booked the service prior to the warranty expiration I would have been stung for a lot of money.

Looks: Handsome looking vehicle.

Performance: The 1.6L 16V will not set your pulse racing whatsoever, but for low mileage users it is fine. Very good on long journeys, quite economical, but notice it costs more to run than the Rover 400 1.6i Twin Cam.