2004 Renault Laguna Privilege review from UK and Ireland

Owned the vehicle for 3 years, previously a dealer sales demonstrator. Problems include excessive wear of rear tyres - I'm told there's a known design/build fault on rear axles.

Also, tyre pressure sensors have corroded - replacements (X2 so far) have been expensive and fitters have been unable to reset system to activate sensor readout on dashboard. Frustrating!

Dashboard advisory/warning sensors occasionally illuminate for no apparent reason.

For a 2.2 diesel it's surprisingly nippy - both from a standing start and when accelerating in the cruise, and fairly good on fuel consumption - typically mid to top forties on mostly urban/slow rural driving with seldom a chance to get into 5th let alone 6th gear.

Comfortable to drive and for passengers.

Split tailgate useful, but mine rattles annoyingly and I can't seem to cure it.

Plenty of room for rear seat passengers and good load space, especially with the rear seats folded/removed.

Local dealer has flashy showrooms and talks the talk, but hasn't been particularly helpful with above problems, which doesn't make me warm to considering another Renault (this is my second) - shame because I like the new Laguna Coupe due out in Jan 09.