1998 Renault Laguna RT Sport review from UK and Ireland

Excessive wind noise from driver's door seal.

CD player sometimes wouldn't load a CD and would stop when playing.

On several occasions poor starting (usually after the car had been started in the morning, and on returning to it in the evening)

Excessive speedo fluctuation between 50-70mph.

Steering wheel wobble (despite wheels being balanced twice)

Brake judder on light applications from speed.

Clonking noise from offside front of car over mostly speed bumps.

Drivers door stays click on opening.

Front passenger door did the same, but it mysteriously disappeared!

This was my second Laguna and I really like these cars.

I think this car could give some modern motors a run for their money on handling, especially if it had ESP fitted. My drive to work is half on twisty country roads, and this was a very secure and enjoyable car to whack down them, and I never felt like I was going to lose it.

Steering feel is also good; the old Lagunas have a hydraulic and not electric system; it's certainly better than my wife's 2005 Saab!

Another plus is the ride, the car soaked up bumps and ruts very smoothly, but also rode well at speed on the motorway. Renault certainly lived up to their French ride reputation on these. I'd go as far as to say it outrides a lot of the modern cars in this class, especially those with sport suspension and big alloys/ultra low profile tyres.

Roomy, spacious interior; actually a lot bigger inside than competition of its day like Vectras and Mondeos, and it's still half modern inside too, and hasn't dated as badly as some.

These cars do have a strange driving position though; you can't adjust the steering wheel for tilt, only reach, and for me the only comfortable position is seat on its lowest setting and the steering wheel pulled right out, otherwise I find my foot is at too much of an angle to the gas pedal. I've never had this problem in any other car.

Another negative is the old 8v engine; whilst it's very torquey for a 2.0 litre, it was a bit short on power, and when pushed the engine gets very raucous, and is also a bit unrefined over say 80mph.

Main thing that drove me nuts was wind noise from the driver's door seal though, which was a high pitched rustling noise from 40-50 mph on, that would sometimes go away if you got the window in just the right position. My old Laguna definitely didn't have this noise, so it must've been a corrupt door seal.

Overall a good motor, and I never had any of Renault's supposed electrical problems with either of my Lagunas. I'd happily have another.