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

jjst

Was on my way to shops on the 22nd of December. Strange grinding noise so turned around and was fortunately at a small side street to my right when there was a big bang. Thought it was the tire as it truly went pancake; next day after RAC arrived, put it on flatbed, took it to my garage and it turned out to be the suspension which just sheared off and on the right side. I had just done 700 miles in November so feel very lucky to be unhurt, alive, and a bit annoyed at Renault. The mechanic said in 22 years, he'd never seen anything like it. I have been driving for 40 years and I certainly never did. Should have stuck to my 20 year old Saab

dingle68

Same problem here..pulled away yesterday and there was this bang. Driver side spring broke..My laguna 2004..only 42,000 miles on clock ..this will be my last luguna have stayed faithfull to this make of car..but its time for a change after this one..have had a few problems.:mad:

cyclonebri1

dingle68 wrote: »

Same problem here..pulled away yesterday and there was this bang. Driver side spring broke..My laguna 2004..only 42,000 miles on clock ..this will be my last luguna have stayed faithfull to this make of car..but its time for a change after this one..have had a few problems.:mad:

Almost always go on cold start up. It's not limited to Lagunas but they and Meganes do have there fair share;)

barj

Just over a year ago had the FOS coilspring collapse & shred the tyre, on my 53 plate Laguna. 6 months ago had to have both rear suspension bushes replaced. Today just had to fork out to have BOTH snapped rear coil springs replaced . The electrics are notoriously unreliable & can have a mind of their own.... last week the boot lock jammed... this is by far the WORST car I have ever owned.... the moral must surely be...dont touch a Renault....unless of course you are keen to foster a close relationship with your local garage. !

Green.Lander

I had a laguna estate, problem after problem When the fuel tank leaked over a clients car park it was time to go. Less than 4 years old and cost over £16K.

grumpytoo

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

this happens on any car, the components for a renault will be found in lots of other cars, volvos fords etc etc

Just unlucky!

No I completely disagree. I tend to drive older full-size cars (Rover 800 are favourites) and I have NEVER had a broken spring. I suspect that these breakages are due to the French OEM springs being made from inferior steel that contains a lot of "inclusions". I know a little about this because a former colleague used to work in a factory that made engine valve springs and the company was paranoid about getting bad steel that contained "inclusions" (particles of embedded dross). The steel would be assayed by viewing it with a Nikon microscope and counting the number of inclusions in the field of view. Good quality steel would typically have 400 inclusions but the best Swedish electric steel would often have only three! Probably the cars that break springs have springs made from the lowest (barely) acceptable grade of steel. OEM does not mean top quality as often after-market is better (unless one buys "Woolworths" quality "MOT replacement" components). Trouble is that what one is actually buying is all covered up by trade secrets so one is virtually buying a pig-in-a-poke. Even firms that were top-class forty years ago will now have new people so relying on formerly well respected trade marks doesn't assure success either. (guess how I know?) Its a jungle out there - good luck.