No question about it, the Laguna’s interior is its biggest strength. The level of equipment in here is excellent, and the style and finish of what’s inside equally good. From the flamboyant but classy looking dash to the soft touch satin material used to trim that dash and, in the Dynamique S’s case, the part-suede, part-leather front seats, this is a car aimed at the fleet market that has a genuine touch of luxury to it.
But it has flaws, and one of them is the infuriating digitised ‘tick-tock’ made by the indicators. Another is the driving position, which many of our testers found too high. Some of us didn’t like the position of the brake pedal in relation to the seat, either, and although it is possible to fit three adults across the rear bench seat in relative comfort, you’ll squeeze much more luggage into the tail of a Mondeo.
Having said that, we like the Laguna’s cabin, like its sense of upmarket style mated to a considerable degree of function. Take, for instance, the new optional multimedia sat nav system fitted to the test car. This is an option that no self-respecting sales manager will go without, acting as it does like a less complex, more usable version of BMW’s iDrive, and it works very well. Other aspects such as the stereo are also of a higher quality than you’ll find in the competition.
Renault is desperate to make amends for the underachievement of the previous Laguna when it comes to reliability, owning and depreciation, hence the reason it is offering the car with a 100,000 mile, three year warranty, the first two years of which are unlimited in terms of mileage.
It also claims the residual value forecast is already some 7.2 per cent better this time round over three years (at 32.1 per cent of original value after three years) while even the insurance ratings are up to two groups lower than before. Average fuel economy was 39.8mpg with best and worst figures of 47.8/18.8mpg.
