Laguna advice please

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Tue 9 Aug 2005 22:47
Laguna advice please - MancRover
you guys have dealt me some good advice in the past,so here's me asking again.

I'm test driving a 120ps Laguna Priviledge on a 52 plate tomorrow. It's done 86000 miles, which the owner says are mainly motorway miles.

What should I be particularly wary of? I've read HJ's rundown of potential problems and got those noted, but do any of you guys know of anything more I should look for? (Or even if I am wise considering this car considering it's been pretty low in most reliability surveys in the past 3 years?)

I will get an HPI check and I think I will pay to have a mechanic look at it before I buy as it's a private buyer - any suggestions? - are the AA or RAC checks worth the money?

Thanks.
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Tue 9 Aug 2005 23:29
Laguna advice please - Altea Ego
See the car cold, and warm it up to hot with your test drive.

1/ Clutch pedal. Make sure it springs right back to the top (put you foot under it and see if you can pull it up more) any symptoms here means master or slave cylinder going.

2/ If it has the low profile silverstone wheels, check for any signs of being bent.

3/ climate control. check it works, the panel assembly fails.

4/ sun roof. make sure it works in all modes.

5/ Being a priviledge make sure all the electrical goodies work.

6/ make sure you have two working cards (140 quid for a spare)

7/ hold the trip computer button in, put the key card in and the instruments will go into self test mode. Press it a few times and you will get a 4 digit display. It should have 4 dashes. Anything else means it has a fault logged


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Wed 10 Aug 2005 12:18
Laguna advice please - MancRover
thanks RF, knew you'd give some good advice. Will let you know how I get on tonight.
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Thu 11 Aug 2005 14:33
Laguna advice please - MancRover
well, drove the car last night and it was great. Checked all the items on your list and all ticked off. I am getting a mechanic to check it over before I buy, but we agreed a price of £4.6k if it passes the HPI and nechanical check.
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Thu 11 Aug 2005 14:50
Laguna advice please - Altea Ego
Ok, If you are getting someone with oily hands to check it over, get him to look at the rear brake calipers, they get a bit sticky. If it starts and drives well with no smoke there is no EGR problem (to be frank I think its an over hyped problem on these cars)

Nice drive init, the 120dci is a lovely lump when on song......Welcome to the goona club.
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Thu 11 Aug 2005 14:56
Laguna advice please - Happy Blue!
I think it would be difficult to rack up 86,000 miles in three years without spending a great deal of time on the motorway or fast trunk routes.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Thu 11 Aug 2005 15:05
Laguna advice please - Xileno {P}
The first sign of an EGR valve playing up is usually slightly lumpy running. You have obviously driven this car and are happy with it so I wouldn't worry about the valve.

Incidentally, Renault dealers are being issued with a new tool to help assess the operation of these valves and to clean them out. So if it has a full service history, this might have been done.

I would strongly recommend that you have the oil changed more regularly than the specified 18K, unless you do a lot of miles in a short space of time. Also a good fully synthetic oil is best. Euro4 dCi engines have reverted to 9K services although this may be due to tighter emissions.

Otherwise enjoy the world of diesel. You should get approximately 50mpg out of it.
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