Renault Laguna suspension collapse... has this happened to anybody else?

orinoco

Hello

I was just wondering if people can help me.

Basically, Christmas Day evening we were sitting with the family watching a bit of telly. We heard a big bang outside. My father-in-law and I went outside to have a look but couldn't see anything. Next morning my wife got in the car to go shopping, reversed and heard a horrible grinding sound. I came out to check and it turned out the bang the night before was the driver's side front suspension collapsing. The grinding noise was the wheel on the wheel arch. There were various bits of rubber and plastic on the driveway. It looks to me like the support for the bottom of the suspension spring has failed.

The car had been sitting for over 24 hours before this happened and there was no apparent cause. We live at the end of a very quiet cul-de-sac and the car was on the drive. What worries me is that we had driven to a friend's wedding on the 23rd (200 mile round trip). Had the failure happened a day earlier at 60 miles an hour on the A47 I dread to think what could have happened, I imagine the tyre would have been destroyed by the friction. The car is only 5 years old and has been regularly serviced and passed its MOT last month. Has anyone ever had this happen to them or heard of it? Do I have any grounds for complaint against the manufacturer? Is there any way of getting it independently checked? This could have killed us.:(

Thanks for any help you can give. Hope everyone had a nice christmas and all the best for 2007.

Ori

tiff

Our Laguna is 5 years old and we're worried about the suspension as there is a kind of knocking noise. Not heard of the suspension collapsing though! Very worrying.

orinoco

Thanks. We had a knocking noise too when we first had the car, which we had checked out under warranty and they couldn't find any problems but it still persisted particularly on bumpy roads like country lanes. To be honest we've had quite a few problems with the car since we bought it and I think it may be time to look for an alternative.

It is the arrangement that holds the base of the spring that self-destructed! Might be worth getting them checked out on the next service or MOT I guess.

Ori

arrowsmith

Renaults are very comfortable cars but their reliability is somewhat suspect check out http://www.carsurvey.org/modelyear_Renault_Laguna_2001.html

plane_boy2000

We had a slightly older laguna and although we liked it we got rid because it just felt like it was one thing after another to be fixed.

phalp46

Ori,

Wow, what an amazing coincidence.

I last used our renault laguna y Reg on 30th December. On 2nd Jan I went out to get in the car and found exactly the same problem as you describe - horrible grinding noise and the front of the car about 1 inch off the ground. Same bits of rubber etc on the drive when we tried moving it but we didn't hear a bang as you did.

We too live in a very quiet cul-de-sac and the car hadn't been moved for a couple of days. There was no apparent cause. My husband says that the suspension on both front wheels has collapsed and on speaking to a mechanic friend he said that this was a common problem with the old Ford Anglia - you would have thought this sort of thing would have been fixed over such a long time! He has only ever heard of both sides collapsing once before - again on a Ford Anglia. He has never heard of such collapses on new cars like this always on older cars.

We haven't been away this Christams but could so easily have visited relatives 170 miles away or even gone skiing to France which we did last year.

We are also horrified that this could have happened whilst moving at speed and are now considering whether its worth keeping this car. We also had a problem with a faulty instrument panel which after £400 of "diagnostic" checks by the renault dealer was found to be "faulty" and the whole thing needed replacing at a cost of another £400 plus VAT. On reading this and other renault technical forums I also think that there may be a problem with the misting up of both front and rear windscreens. In addition we have had to replace the ignition coils but beware of being ripped off as the previous owner of our car paid £180.00 for two new coils - we got 4 coils and a Haynes manual off ebay and did it for a fraction of the cost (£40).

If you do take it further with renault then please let us know how you get on.

Regards

P

orinoco

Blimey, Renault Lagunas exploding all over the place. I wonder if it was the same fault. I think it is definitely worth reporting. Unfortunately I am really busy at the moment so probably won't get round to writing to them until the weekend. Have got it fixed (£295.04 for both front springs and one brake flex... there goes the pay rise) and to me it now seems a better ride than before with less road noise.

As you say, however, we are now concerned about the safety of the vehicle particularly with our 2 young children in the car.

As you say, we also had problems with the ignition coils. First time helpfully caused by the dealer steamcleaning the engine before purchase (why do they do that!!!?) so replaced under dealer warranty. Second time after a drive through particularly heavy rain. Our garage at the time helpfully said "don't drive them through puddles" which is pretty much the case with these things.

I will let you know what I am doing.

Orinoco

tjf4375

Hi there, firstly hello to everyone as I've just joined! I felt compelled to write and fight the corner for Laguna here, because I've had mine for 7 years now, and couldn't be more pleased with it. Obviously a full suspension collapse is pretty serious and very dangerous, but I don't think this is something for which Lagunas are renowned. Mine has had a couple of problems but it's done 154,000 miles so I think I've done pretty well out of it. It is still smooth, responsive, quiet, refined and exceptionally reliable. Not once has it refused to start in the 7 years I've had it. Furthermore, I drive mine through puddles and heavy rain on a regular basis and have never experienced a problem!

I really hope you have better luck with yours from now on, and get as much enjoyment and hassle free motoring from it as I have from mine,

All the best,

Tim

orinoco

I hope so too Tim!

Am still following this up with trading standards.

Is yours the Laguna 2 or the old style, you must have been on the border of the 2 given the age.

Ori

curlydog

LagunaII (Y reg 2001)
On Friday night (04/04/07) my F/N/S suspension spring broke and collapsed, thakfully I was only reversing of my driveway.

Not so fortunately the F/O/S collapsed about a month ago and speared the trye. This led to a blow out at 70mph. Replacement spring cost £83, then fitting on top.

For two to go within a month of each other cannot be a coincidence, surely.

As for my other problems with this heap of junk (owned vehicle for 3 years);

• F/O/S electric window steel cable snapped (Renault wanted £200, eBay=£70)
• N/O/S electric window steel cable snapped (within six weeks of above)
• Electronic steering lock failed (£380 for Renault to replace)
• 5 key cards failed (£130 each from Renault)

The car is lovely to drive, when it works, and good looking. Unfortunately it has been made to a price (very cheap). As far as dealers have concerned, they couldn't care less. I threatened them with court over the first two key cards, which failed whilst in their custody. Basically they said go ahead and we'll hammer you for costs.

This is the last Renault I will ever own. I would warn all potential owners to steer well clear.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Its very unlikely you'd have a major accident with a front wheel blow-out. A rear wheel blow-out would be much more serious.

This isn't a problem exclusive to Renault - my Mercedes W210 has an inherent problem with rusting front suspension spring cups.