is it worth getting recon engine forrenault laguna

caris

Hi

Daughter has had to be towed back via the AA, they have told her the cam belt has gone on her renault laguna, would it be worth getting a recon engine and what roughly should it cost? Its an "n" reg

caris

BillScarab

Why not just repair the one that's in it? It's going to be expensive either way but I would have thought repairing the existing one would be cheaper than swapping the engine.

vansboy

At the age of the car, it'd not be cost effective to do an engine swap. Expect to pay £500ish for a used (not re-con) engine, by the time VAT & deliver cost applied, Then you'd need as much again to fit it & service/cambelt it before you're on your way, again.

Depending on the damage caused by the belt failure, you might end up with a £3-400 minimum bill to cure it.

So if the cars a bit scruffy, needs some £$£$ spending soon, tyres etc, better off looking for a newer one instread & get £50+ for it's scrap value.

VB

anewman

You could even strip this one of all potentially useful parts and store them, then weigh it in as scrap metal - and get another of the same car.

No doubt the cam belt has not been replaced recently which is why it went.

hewhoisnotintheknow

i would do the same as anewman

AdrianHi

I've just check on parkers and at best this Laguna would be worth £500 in working condition.

Your daughter is practising "bangeromics" (someone wrote a book on this published in 1993 IIRC) which is a great way to have the use of a decent car never loosing a packet of cash on depreciation.
The rules of "bangeromics" say when you get a repair bill of any significance ditch the car and start again with a car in the £500 to £1000 price bracket.
By all means scavenge some parts of it, especially if you know what sort of thing goes wrong, then get another old Laguna or something completely different. Don't throw good money as this now bad car.

hewhoisnotintheknow

engine sensors and electric window swithces, keys locks lights etc are worth a suprising amount