Time for an update and an introduction of, dare I say it,
another permanent fleet member.
A 1998 Renault Laguna 3.0 V6 RTi
manual, with the optional full leather interior. I spotted the car on Gumtree and nearly had a stroke - it's not too often a big French V6 appears on Belfast's Gumtree! Traded in to a dealership down in Newry and being sold off.
Now... is it perfect? Not by any means. It needs nursed back to full health which I fully intend to do. The first and most annoying issue was the sight of a K&N cone filter in place of the airbox. A friend of mine has kindly borrowed me the air box off his dead Laguna V6, but there'll be a new gearbox going in to it soon so I will have to give it back! Could one of you Citroen geeks please tell me, if you can from the picture, if it's the same item as the Xantia V6?
The other less annoying flaw are those Laguna II alloy wheels. Yes, they suit the car decently, but the ride and look will be
so much better with the originals.
A rear wheel bearing is very audible, but that's only 35 Great British Pounds.
Now I'm not one to ever complain about fuel consumption; you can't have it all, but this thing is a thirsty b*stard. I'd say the thing is in need of a damn good service, but at the rate it drinks the stuff, there could be a leak.
On a more positive note - It's a Mark 1 Laguna V6 with a leather interior and a voice synthesizer
It's beautifully comfortable, rides lovely, most gadgets work, it's VERY fast, very noisy and is already enjoying life at The Renault Playground.
Moving on, the blue 3 door Meg is home after four months away. My God I missed the car like I would my arms. Getting in to it again was just brilliant, the car completes me! Time to get a quarter panel and get her back to new again!!!
It also looks like the Range Rover has moved on.... to an FCF member. I'm sure they'll reveal themselves when the time comes. It's poor starting and rough running could well be due to the amount of air in the fuel lines. It's runs on the wrong fuel, so my time for it was limited.
The Laguna II V6 is returning an excellent 30 MPG with a bias towards town driving, very happy with that indeed.
The Avantime
almost got a coolant change until I got half way through removing the front bumper and got beaten by the awkward French. Nothing new there
