New subscriber here, loving your channel already!! I'm a big car enthusiast, I've driven all over Europe for 18 years, never once been in an accident thankfully. I always have had a passion fir Renaults, my very first car was a red 1984 Renault 11, I took it to Italy, (I'm from Ireland 🇮🇪), twice in 1999 and again in 2000, I took it to Hungary and Ukraine, after Italy. I really loved that car, I even had a name for it, Lindsay!! Great channel by the way!! 😊
I would love to have an R11 on the channel. My grandfather's cousin, who was French, owned an R11 Turbo in the early 1990s. When we used to visit him in Normandy, he would take us out in it, and he was an absolutely manic driver. It was terrifying... I have absolutely masses of other videos on the channel, including something like 500 reviews spread across several playlists, if you are interested. No Budget Reviews has been a popular format over the years.
My dad had a new one in 1995 N541 AAB. I had it in 2000 when I passed my test and had it until 02. Even now we agree it was one of the most comfortable cars we have ever driven, even if it was a little low on power and not much safety.
Yes, the 1.8 8V Lagunas are not the fastest, but they are really rather comfortable. Of course, I would prefer a higher specification one, but this was still good. Thank you for watching, commenting and subscribing!
The Renault Laguna was a very competent and supremely comfortable car with a good range of fine engines. I know these very well because we have had 4 of them in my family as well as 2 of the Laguna II Facelift models. Simply good reliable and comfortable over long distances with a big boot. The Estate model must have been near the very top of the class for carrying capacity.
Love these. My dad had one in metallic grey. Great looking, super comfy ride and a slightly leftfield choice at the time. Its sad that I can't remember the last time I saw one on the road.
Yes, these are very rare now. I had the privilege of seeing a facelifted V6 manual one back in May, and it was a privilege. Absolutely agree about the ride!
A most excellent review. The Laguna was very styling and a decent all-rounder. They look even more slick and sophisticated in darker metallic colours with the higher specification such as Executive and Baccara. Looking back, there were tons of alternatives to the MK1 Mondeo, and realistically, its only saving grace was handling the rest of the Mondeo. It was pretty average, and the competition was much better in other areas.
Sir, we do like the Executive and the Baccara very much... Rather like today with all the SUVs, the market segment for the Laguna was surprisingly crowded back in the day.
Smashing lil' car the basic 1.8 Laguna. I found them quite an eager performer, good on fuel and handled really well- quite a fun drive when pushed ! They still look good IMO- despite being 30 yrs old !
I had a few laguna. Laguna RTX hatched in red . Laguna alize trim estate in red . Laguna RTX hatched in sliver All used for taxis and 406s was amazing as well
Oh yes, in retrospect these are much better cars than I imagined they were back in the day. Thank you again for watching, I have also driven two 406 V6s...
I had a 1996 RXE version a few years back. Had an on-board synthesized computer that told me all sorts of things about the state of the car which could be slightly annoying at times & it also had a tendency to immobilize itself randomly. Rear headrests & AC was standard. Drove well until it was involved in a RTC & written off. 😒
Oh yes, I have seen the RXE in action during an old episode of Top Gear. Sounds really annoying! The immobiliser in this one was also an absolute pain...
The laguna and xantia really stood out as been very unique looking, and believe you me id rather be driving one of those than a modern day fat bulbus ugly suv!
Alloys, fogs and front splitter not standard 1994 RT spec, however great to see this. We had a silver 1994 1.8RT on an M plate from 1995 to 2015, and when it was sadly written off after a minor bump.
I think the comfy ride is mainly due in part to not having stupidly big wheels and low profile tyres. My 156 has only 15s on it and the ride is superb. The mk1 Laguna is definitely a great modern classic
I remember back in '93 the interior 'gimmicks' of the repmobiles was that the Mondeo offered the pen holder and the Laguna offered the sunglasses holder.
Almost forgotten Yet they were everywhere in the 90s Looks ok….not overly dynamic but better than average. Love those interior clip covers to hide the radio…very good idea so long as basic controls duplicated on steering wheel. …the performance thing. Over 13s to 60mph….thats about the same as my first corsa. Yet, if you put them next to each other….the 1.8 Renault would be notably quicker. And this is not specific to corsa and that specific Renault. Certainly with, older engines, larger engines will outperform smaller ones even if the 0-60 is about the same. I can only assume this due to better mid range acceleration and more torque in those larger engines. You can even compare some older cars with those “other” engines which on paper are slower than a smaller petrol unit, and the “wrong” engine will win.
It felt OK in terms of speed. A lot of the base models of cars of this size (normally with 1.6 engines) had about the same amount of power, so I don't think that this would have been unusual back in the day. The P10 Primera with the GA16 engine was a bit more characterful and a bit more powerful by 1994, though, especially given it was 200cc down.
My uncle had one of these years ago, he let me borrow it for a short while I was between cars. It was the 1.9 d****l, still remember how comfy those seats were and it rode well in typical Frenchie fashion. Sadly it croaked about a year later when the turbo failed and it wasn't worth fixing. Nice car though.
I'm rather fond of rep cars of this era and don't really understand why they've gone out of fashion so drastically. Laguna's had a bit of a rep for unreliability when new if I recall correctly, but this car shows that if you look after almost any car they can last I suppose. The Mk2's are perhaps a little more interesting as the styling was more adventurous to my eye.
We tried a Mark II back in 2022, sir! I have actually tried all generations of Laguna now, and they were all quite interesting. As you say, virtually none of this type of car left on the market now.
Fun fact, your secret documents would have fit on a European spec car. RHD cars’ fuse box encroached into the glovebox and reduced the capacity. Loved the video!
I had one of these in fantastic condition about 6 years ago but the water pump went and caused the timing to go and all the problems that entails. was written off sadly.
Oh my gosh, that sounds absolutely awful! I imagine that would require a new engine, and I am not sure that these are worth enough to merit doing a job like that, sadly.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting I never found one, even at higher prices. Always needs service, brakes, suspension, repairs. Maybe cars that are really unpopular?
It's very hard to buy a decent car for under £1,000 these days. Time was that it was easily possible to get a decent one for under £500, of course. It does still happen sometimes, but, yes, they do tend to need work.
Thanks for this video. Childhood BTCC viewing memories unlocked! Very rare in New Zealand! You must have felt great getting hold of a manual.
I think getting hold of any Mark I Laguna is quite an achievement these days, sir!
SUPERB. I have a peugoet 406v6sadan 2003 love it joy to drive thanks from NewZealand 😊
I have driven two 406 V6 Saloons and a 406 V6 Coupé on the channel, all of which were manual, and loved them all!
New subscriber here, loving your channel already!! I'm a big car enthusiast, I've driven all over Europe for 18 years, never once been in an accident thankfully. I always have had a passion fir Renaults, my very first car was a red 1984 Renault 11, I took it to Italy, (I'm from Ireland 🇮🇪), twice in 1999 and again in 2000, I took it to Hungary and Ukraine, after Italy. I really loved that car, I even had a name for it, Lindsay!! Great channel by the way!! 😊
I would love to have an R11 on the channel. My grandfather's cousin, who was French, owned an R11 Turbo in the early 1990s. When we used to visit him in Normandy, he would take us out in it, and he was an absolutely manic driver. It was terrifying... I have absolutely masses of other videos on the channel, including something like 500 reviews spread across several playlists, if you are interested. No Budget Reviews has been a popular format over the years.
An excellent review Sir, peak Renault in this era, a lovely example of a Laguna.
Thank you very much indeed for watching once again, Mr Watters!
My dad had a new one in 1995 N541 AAB. I had it in 2000 when I passed my test and had it until 02. Even now we agree it was one of the most comfortable cars we have ever driven, even if it was a little low on power and not much safety.
Yes, the 1.8 8V Lagunas are not the fastest, but they are really rather comfortable. Of course, I would prefer a higher specification one, but this was still good. Thank you for watching, commenting and subscribing!
I had a 2 litre RN, my first "big car". Lovely to drive and quite economical
That's an interesting specification... Sounds like it had a bit more power than this one!
The Renault Laguna was a very competent and supremely comfortable car with a good range of fine engines. I know these very well because we have had 4 of them in my family as well as 2 of the Laguna II Facelift models.
Simply good reliable and comfortable over long distances with a big boot.
The Estate model must have been near the very top of the class for carrying capacity.
Sir, the 1.8 was a bit slow, but it was OK. Very comfortable ride, even if it isn't necessarily the most dynamic car. The Laguna II was...interesting!
Love these. My dad had one in metallic grey. Great looking, super comfy ride and a slightly leftfield choice at the time. Its sad that I can't remember the last time I saw one on the road.
Yes, these are very rare now. I had the privilege of seeing a facelifted V6 manual one back in May, and it was a privilege. Absolutely agree about the ride!
A most excellent review. The Laguna was very styling and a decent all-rounder. They look even more slick and sophisticated in darker metallic colours with the higher specification such as Executive and Baccara. Looking back, there were tons of alternatives to the MK1 Mondeo, and realistically, its only saving grace was handling the rest of the Mondeo. It was pretty average, and the competition was much better in other areas.
Sir, we do like the Executive and the Baccara very much... Rather like today with all the SUVs, the market segment for the Laguna was surprisingly crowded back in the day.
Smashing lil' car the basic 1.8 Laguna.
I found them quite an eager performer, good on fuel and handled really well- quite a fun drive when pushed !
They still look good IMO- despite being 30 yrs old !
These do seem to have aged quite well, actually. It does not feel quite as slow as I thought it would, but I would prefer the 2.0 Volvo engine.
I had a few laguna.
Laguna RTX hatched in red .
Laguna alize trim estate in red .
Laguna RTX hatched in sliver
All used for taxis and 406s was amazing as well
Oh yes, in retrospect these are much better cars than I imagined they were back in the day. Thank you again for watching, I have also driven two 406 V6s...
Very stylish looking car even 30 years on. Love those velour seats.
Glad you enjoyed it, sir!
I had a 1996 RXE version a few years back. Had an on-board synthesized computer that told me all sorts of things about the state of the car which could be slightly annoying at times & it also had a tendency to immobilize itself randomly. Rear headrests & AC was standard. Drove well until it was involved in a RTC & written off. 😒
Oh yes, I have seen the RXE in action during an old episode of Top Gear. Sounds really annoying! The immobiliser in this one was also an absolute pain...
My first car in 08 was 97 1.8. think it was RN spec lowest spec with black bumpers. It was so comfortable but wollowed when at speed on country roads.
Oh yes, not the sharpest handling car, but incredibly comfortable. I think you are right, the RN had the black bumpers...
A great era, Laguna, Xantia and 406, you couldn't really go wrong Mondeo, Primera, Mazda 6, Rover 600, Avensis, literally spoilt,
Would have been the Carina E in 1994. I actually drove a Carina E of this age last year.
The laguna and xantia really stood out as been very unique looking, and believe you me id rather be driving one of those than a modern day fat bulbus ugly suv!
A lot of people seem to be saying that at the moment, and I do understand.
Alloys, fogs and front splitter not standard 1994 RT spec, however great to see this. We had a silver 1994 1.8RT on an M plate from 1995 to 2015, and when it was sadly written off after a minor bump.
I imagine this may have either been a demonstrator or just specified like it from new. That is a shame about your Laguna, sounds like a nice car.
Nice review of a good-looking car. Hard to believe it's 30 years old! The wheels look absolutely tiny...
There is a lot of tyre sidewall there, which means that the ride was nice and comfortable... Thank you for watching, sir!
Had a metallic green on N plate, very nice car fast too.
I like the metallic green that these came in. Was it a 2.0?
I think the comfy ride is mainly due in part to not having stupidly big wheels and low profile tyres. My 156 has only 15s on it and the ride is superb. The mk1 Laguna is definitely a great modern classic
Oh yes, very small wheels and plenty of tyre sidewall, so very comfortable indeed... Still have yet to try a 156, unfortunately!
Now, this is when YT comes into its own....'they have a nice friendly charm to them' 👍Always liked the Peugeot 306s-very pretty cars.
Everyone seems to love No Budget Reviews!
I remember back in '93 the interior 'gimmicks' of the repmobiles was that the Mondeo offered the pen holder and the Laguna offered the sunglasses holder.
Oh yes, sir! It was one of the easiest ways to tell them apart, apparently.
Almost forgotten
Yet they were everywhere in the 90s
Looks ok….not overly dynamic but better than average.
Love those interior clip covers to hide the radio…very good idea so long as basic controls duplicated on steering wheel.
…the performance thing.
Over 13s to 60mph….thats about the same as my first corsa. Yet, if you put them next to each other….the 1.8 Renault would be notably quicker. And this is not specific to corsa and that specific Renault. Certainly with, older engines, larger engines will outperform smaller ones even if the 0-60 is about the same. I can only assume this due to better mid range acceleration and more torque in those larger engines. You can even compare some older cars with those “other” engines which on paper are slower than a smaller petrol unit, and the “wrong” engine will win.
It felt OK in terms of speed. A lot of the base models of cars of this size (normally with 1.6 engines) had about the same amount of power, so I don't think that this would have been unusual back in the day. The P10 Primera with the GA16 engine was a bit more characterful and a bit more powerful by 1994, though, especially given it was 200cc down.
My uncle had one of these years ago, he let me borrow it for a short while I was between cars. It was the 1.9 d****l, still remember how comfy those seats were and it rode well in typical Frenchie fashion. Sadly it croaked about a year later when the turbo failed and it wasn't worth fixing. Nice car though.
Thank you for your self-censorship, sir! The depreciation on these was pretty catastrophic back in the day, wasn't it?
I'm rather fond of rep cars of this era and don't really understand why they've gone out of fashion so drastically. Laguna's had a bit of a rep for unreliability when new if I recall correctly, but this car shows that if you look after almost any car they can last I suppose. The Mk2's are perhaps a little more interesting as the styling was more adventurous to my eye.
We tried a Mark II back in 2022, sir! I have actually tried all generations of Laguna now, and they were all quite interesting. As you say, virtually none of this type of car left on the market now.
Don't know if this is relevant but a later generation Laguna is going for over NZ$5,900 in a local car yard here.
We still have some really cheap cars in this country, sir...
The styling looks much younger than it is. On the exterior anyway. The inside reeks of "One foot in the grave".
I think a lot of 1990s hatchback interiors at the lower end of the trim hierachy do now look a bit bland, don't they?
This one was in Scotland I was bidding on it but it was to far away 😢
It certainly was in Scotland just before the chaps bought it! I think I drove it a couple of days after it arrived...
Fun fact, your secret documents would have fit on a European spec car. RHD cars’ fuse box encroached into the glovebox and reduced the capacity. Loved the video!
It's clearly not something new for the French in that case... Thank you very much indeed for watching and commenting!
I had one of these in fantastic condition about 6 years ago but the water pump went and caused the timing to go and all the problems that entails. was written off sadly.
Oh my gosh, that sounds absolutely awful! I imagine that would require a new engine, and I am not sure that these are worth enough to merit doing a job like that, sadly.
I like this.
Glad you enjoyed it, sir!
Cant seem to find any turbo channel any body to help ?
It's called NA Turbo if that helps... Thank you for watching!
I had a Laguna 2 paid £200 for it with 8 months mot I used it daily put mot on It and used it for another year
Well, I actually filmed a Laguna II on No Budget Reviews about two and a half years ago!
Hello Joseph.
Good Evening, sir!
How many £1000 cars have a "good" service history?
I suppose it depends what you deem a "good" service history....
@@lloydvehicleconsulting I never found one, even at higher prices. Always needs service, brakes, suspension, repairs. Maybe cars that are really unpopular?
It's very hard to buy a decent car for under £1,000 these days. Time was that it was easily possible to get a decent one for under £500, of course. It does still happen sometimes, but, yes, they do tend to need work.
7:15 Oh quel dommage 😂
Indeed, sir!
I'm not an Eric
I would be worried if you were, sir!
Bargain for a £1.000
I think the chaps did quite well with this one!
Xplod
We remember those, sir...