Buy A Laguna

cantdecide

A mate of mine rang me today to ask if I'd go with him to look at a '95 1.8Laguna fo €550.

The mileage is a hundred and something- the starter is faulty and is supplied but not fitted and the pass. E/W is 'not working'.

Bangernomics is the key here because his missus and himself are saving for a house and tbh, neither of them are overpaid so they need something functional. They both use it for work so they're both stuffed if it fecks up regularly. Insurance/ tax/ fuel etc, ie the budgetable stuff isn't a big deal- they know a cheap car when they see it but it's just surprise repairs they have to worry about.

Please be objective- I know there's a lot of anti-Renault sentiment but I believe the mk1s are relatively reliable and I really need to find a car that will do the business as cheaply as possible.

Any other advice??

maidhc

Meh. You should be getting it for nothing or close to. You won't be long spending €1000+ getting it servicable... that is the problem with most of these cars.

They generally are being offloaded because the owner doesn't see the sense in repairing them.

quarryman

spend a grand on something japanese. If it needs to be functional a sub 1k euro french car could break your heart.

mixervilla

tell them to buy a Daewoo Lanos, you'd get one for under a grand and although they are a pile of sh1te to drive with an awful gearbox they will go forever with little or no maintenance, the 1.4 obviously wont drink as much as a 1.8 guzzler either.

Tails142

I helped the gf buy a car there several months ago - wasnt in great nick needed a few repairs done/engine work but we got some money knocked off the price. To be honest its been nothing but hassle and one thing after another. Now ok, with most cars its one thing after another but if you buy with faults it's only an uphill struggle.

My advice is to not buy someone elses problems.

maidhc

mixervilla wrote: »

tell them to buy a Daewoo Lanos, you'd get one for under a grand and although they are a pile of sh1te to drive with an awful gearbox they will go forever with little or no maintenance, the 1.4 obviously wont drink as much as a 1.8 guzzler either.

Good advice that.

(CH3)2CHOH

I had a Mk1 Laguna and honestly had no problems with it for the year I kept it.

Very nice to drive and one of the most comfortable cars I have ever driven.

If they need a big comfortable car then yes,

If they just need a runabout I'd be tempted to look for something smaller.


World of warning though, they are very poorly designed for working on. I never changed the starter but I did the cylinder head gasket for a friend and it took me 2 full days:eek:. Nightmare.

I'd find out how much the starter will cost to be fitted.

vectra

Tell them look at some 95 or so vectras..
Ultra reliable and economical as well.

unkel

cantdecide wrote: »

They both use it for work so they're both stuffed if it fecks up regularly

Your answer is right there. It is unlikely to be reliable enough and it is way overpriced too. I'll third the Daewoo advice. You can get a relatively young / low mileage one for a grand. Alternatively an older / higher mileage Japanese car. There's €1,000 heaps of sh!te out there and €1,000 decent good working order cars. I'm gonna state the obvious, but make sure you pick one of the latter. Have it checked over thoroughly

JHMEG

My mother-in-law is the only person I know with a Lanos, and she has had her fair share of problems with it. Stuff like the heater stopping working and the garage not able to find out why etc. Mechically it's been fine tho, but it's fierce basic.

My advice is spend a bit more on an Almera or Carina E, or even an Accord. The 2.0 from that era would be pretty cheap, well specced, will go forever, but is heavy on petrol.

unkel

JHMEG wrote: »

My mother-in-law is the only person I know with a Lanos, and she has had her fair share of problems with it. Stuff like the heater stopping working and the garage not able to find out why etc. Mechically it's been fine tho, but it's fierce basic

I'd expect someone into bangernomics to just want a car that reliably drives from A to B whenever you want to. Anything else is optional

JHMEG

unkel wrote: »

I'd expect someone into bangernomics to just want a car that reliably drives from A to B whenever you want to. Anything else is optional

Heater isn't optional in this weather! What's worse is that in order to clear the windscreen one has to drive with the windows open!

maidhc

JHMEG wrote: »

Heater isn't optional in this weather! What's worse is that in order to clear the windscreen one has to drive with the windows open!

beggars can't be choosers etc.

If you pay €500 for a car then
starts = good
won't start = bad

GERMAN ROCKS

ya i always loved those lagunas. i always thought they were classy cars and well equipped eg electric windows and remote locking. none of the toyotas or vws had these as standard around then

mixervilla

maidhc wrote: »

beggars can't be choosers etc.

If you pay €500 for a car then
starts = good
won't start = bad

precisely, for €500 and reliability i wouldn't be too concerned about a heater. These usually go on the windscreen setting, 1st gear is horrible too, better take off with a lawnmower! I had a '99 one with 85k miles & sold it 6 months ago for a grand & i still see it around the place.

cantdecide

(CH3)2CHOH wrote: »

If they just need a runabout I'd be tempted to look for something smaller

Can't afford a small, cheap runabout;)

JHMEG wrote: »

My advice is spend a bit more on an Almera or Carina E, or even an Accord. The 2.0 from that era would be pretty cheap, well specced, will go forever, but is heavy on petrol.

Laguna's off- I was ringing him to advise against it and he told me he had a call back about it and it was sold.

Accord is the first car that jumped to mind when he rang me. I know someone who bought a '92 Accord 2.0 for €500 over a year ago. Burns some oil but hasn't missed a beat. My mate doesn't do enough mileage to really make a difference to the fuel bill either as they don't do much urban driving.

pburns

I know a guy with a 120k plus on a Lanos. It's been as far afield as Poland, Germany etc. Hateful thing though...

An old Nissan might do the trick - or an old 626 or Carina E...

E92

What is needed here is something Japanese. The Carina E is absolutely rubbish by any normal criteria(and I should know since the parents had one for nearly 8 years) but is super reliable so would be my choice.

moe_sizlak

mixervilla wrote: »

tell them to buy a Daewoo Lanos, you'd get one for under a grand and although they are a pile of sh1te to drive with an awful gearbox they will go forever with little or no maintenance, the 1.4 obviously wont drink as much as a 1.8 guzzler either.

yeah and you will get a 5 yr old dawoo for that money too

JHMEG

E92 wrote: »

The Carina E is absolutely rubbish by any normal criteria(and I should know since the parents had one for nearly 8 years) but is super reliable so would be my choice.

Judged by the standards of the day (1992) it was above average. 1.6 Lean Burn was able to do 50mpg as long as you didn't mind the huge amounts of NOx coming out the tailpipe. Emissions standards brought in in 1994 made NOx untrendy.

Great car tho, very easy to work on (only tool need to do a service is 1 spanner), plentiful parts. CV joints are a fscker for the home mechanic tho, deeper than normal 32 socket needed, and then lower wishbone springs up not down...