2002 Laguna diesels... How cheap do they need to be?

[threadlock]

I want a £1000 diesel estate as a winter hack and transport for my mountainbike. I'd like a Mondeo TDCi, but...

There are plenty- of- threads- describing- how bad the Mk2 Laguna is, but for every thread there is a very cheap Laguna for sale on Autotrader.

How cheap does a 2002 Laguna diesel need to be before it's worth the risk? I don't need this car to be 100% reliable; I have another car. £350?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laguna-Privilege-1-9-Dci...

[threadlock]

Oh, and to davemac250, who said:

davemac250 said:

We have/had one as a pool car.
It would have been better at being a pool.
Hateful thing, with the temperament of a pre-menstrual French woman who has just caught her tit in a rusty fridge door.

[k-ink]

£350 wouldn't even buy a decent rc car. What do you expect at that level? If the engine runs and it has four wheels get on with it.

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

They are given away almost free for a reason. They are the most unreliable cars ever made.

[HTP99]

Laguna's of that vintage are either shockingly bad or brilliant and will never give you any trouble, it's a lottery really, but for £350 what have you got to lose, if it comes to it you'll be able to get £150 scrap for it.

[CampDavid]

A mate of mine has a 2005 car which he's taken from 50k to north of 150k. He's gentle with it and services it on the button and it's only fault has been a relay behind the dash.

Be aware that the rear brakes effectively require new hubs.

Personally if buy one with leather and enjoy a superb ride, better than my 7 series Sport

[skyrover]

you couldn't give me one

[PoleDriver]

Our company had 3 (2002) in their fleet. They all lunched their turbos! One at 65,000 miles, one at 82,000 miles and one at 140,000 miles. All were scrapped as uneconomical to repair.

[HTP99]

CampDavid said:

A mate of mine has a 2005 car which he's taken from 50k to north of 150k. He's gentle with it and services it on the button and it's only fault has been a relay behind the dash.

Be aware that the rear brakes effectively require new hubs.

Personally if buy one with leather and enjoy a superb ride, better than my 7 series Sport

That'll be the facelift and they are a marked improvement over the original Laguna II, I wouldn't hesitate in recommending one of those to anyone; must be the 2.0 dCi though.

[Pistom]

Why is it that in France, these cars go on for hundreds of thousands of Km without issue yet in the UK they rarely get through their first set of tyres.

Do we abuse them or are our mechanics muppets?

[PoleDriver]

Pistom said:

Why is it that in France, these cars go on for hundreds of thousands of Km without issue yet in the UK they rarely get through their first set of tyres.

Do we abuse them or are our mechanics muppets?

The cheese-eating surrender-monkeys bolt all the crap parts on the RHD export models!

[cologne2792]

Think I'd sooner have a 406 from that era !
Local taxi company ran a few of them in the early 2000's. One needed a new head at 2 years old which worked out at nearly £2,000 or about 4 x Equivalent PSA Unit.

[threadlock]

cologne2792 said:

Think I'd sooner have a 406 from that era !

True. 406 are smaller and less well-equipped (usually no climate control or cruise control, both of which are on my wish-list). I'm a lot more confident about the 406 HDI and if one comes up with the features I want at the right price then I'll buy it. The Mondeo ticks most boxes but in the few days I've been looking I haven't seen one locally that is right. Lagunas are plentiful, for some reason

[cologne2792]

threadlock said:

True. 406 are smaller and less well-equipped (usually no climate control or cruise control, both of which are on my wish-list). I'm a lot more confident about the 406 HDI and if one comes up with the features I want at the right price then I'll buy it. The Mondeo ticks most boxes but in the few days I've been looking I haven't seen one locally that is right. Lagunas are plentiful, for some reason

Our current 406 hdi has 216k and drives great - nice and tight and 60 mpg - though could use a DMF soon - and is £135 annual VED

[cossy400]

Pistom said:

Why is it that in France, these cars go on for hundreds of thousands of Km without issue yet in the UK they rarely get through their first set of tyres.

Do we abuse them or are our mechanics muppets?

My opinion was the problems were created when they chained them all together and dragged them thru the sea over to our shores.

Hateful things.

[BrownBottle]

Toying between a 2002 Laguna or Mondeo diesel, you're really stuck between a rock and a hard place with that one.

[daemon]

threadlock said:

How cheap does a 2002 Laguna diesel need to be before it's worth the risk? I don't need this car to be 100% reliable; I have another car. £350?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laguna-Privilege-1-9-Dci...

You're not owning that car for £350. Thats just an opening bid. Someone will bid that up.

Are you doing the miles to warrant a diesel?

I actively look for petrol lagunas and scenics at auction because they are as cheap as chips and reasonably reliable. I check for long mot, all the windows are working, the keycard works, the clutch is good, that it starts from cold quietly, and that it runs nicely. Bought an 04 one owner car with 77K miles for £550 including fees. Have bought 2 02 cars recently, for £250 and £280.

[confused_buyer]

Pistom said:

Why is it that in France, these cars go on for hundreds of thousands of Km without issue yet in the UK they rarely get through their first set of tyres.

Do we abuse them or are our mechanics muppets?

They don't. The pre-2004 1.9dci's all lunched their turbos in France as well to the point groups of owners tried to take Renault to court. In the end Renault extended the warranty on the quiet without ever annoucing it officially.

[406highlander]

threadlock said:

True. 406 are smaller and less well-equipped (usually no climate control or cruise control, both of which are on my wish-list).

I had a 1999 V-reg 406 with a 1.8 petrol engine, in LX trim (second-from-lowest), and it had air conditioning and climate control as standard. It had front electric windows, and rear manual wind ones, and cloth seats, but it was *VERY* reliable.

If you can lay your hands on a 2000 - 2002 HDi 110 version, it'll likely never die, just check it's had its cambelt done (9 years or 80,000 miles) and you'll be fine.

The 2.2 HDi 136HP version has some nice remap potential - ecuedit.com have been remapping them to about 180 HP (plus extra torque) for a while, but I've recently heard they've developed a 200+ HP map for it. I've never heard of anyone having problems with their massively-remapped HDi.

Worth checking out the 406 Owners Club if you have questions (http://www.406oc.co.uk) or to see if anyone's got one for sale.

[matthias73]

I can vouch for the 406. Fantastic car.

Pretty good fun to drive too. Not as good as a 3 series in terms of cornering but inspire confidence on the twistys for sure.