11/04/08

• Price18,400
• We like...smooth, quiet, well kitted
• We don't...fiddly hand brake

Newest Renault family hatchback is smooth, quiet, solid and safe. It's one of the bestIs it worth spending £18,000 on a family car, when you’re so close price-wise to scooping something with a posh badge? An example: spend £3000 over what this Laguna costs and you’re into the cheapest Audi A4. That may sound a lot but, because the Audi will lose less of its as-new value over time, it’ll cost little more to lease, or finance using a personal contract plan (PCP).

Food for thought. But then we think this latest Laguna is special enough to make you think yet again. First, it’s big and very comfortable. Go for the mid-range Dynamique model as we have and you get big, squashy-but-firm seats part-covered in leather. The dash is striking, formed using expensive-look plastic around a slice of softly shining aluminium. The wheel has a sporty look and a fat, leather-clad rim. The gearshift fills your palm and snicks sweetly between its six forward gears. It drives easily, soothing along and soaking up whatever the road throws its way, but it also feels nicely tied down.

Then, the diesel is quick and slugs away easily, keeping quiet until you rouse it. This Renault’s loaded with kit, too, from climate controlled air con to an excellent stereo, and it has all the airbags you’d ever hope for, contributing to its top-drawer crash protection rating. The front chairs and wheel ease to and fro, up and down to place you just-so.

Its ‘intelligent key’ system means, providing the key is with you, the Laguna unlocks when you touch the door handle and starts at the press of a button next to the steering. Walk away and it locks up, then folds its mirrors, giving a polite ‘parp’ to tell you that it’s secure. The only gizmo we could do without is the electronic parking brake, which applies and releases via a push-pull switch between the seats. The regular hand-brake as fitted to cheaper Lagunas ds the job better.

There’s room enough for three adults in the back, although the centre seat perches you up and over a hump. Leg- and headroom are ample. The boot is huge and, of course, the rear seats drop forward to extend it whenever you need them to.

This Renault’s a really good car. So good, that if we were offered one in an either-or with, say, an Audi, we’d be torn for an answer. Ultimately, I think the fact that the German car loses value more slowly than the French would force our hand. Renault is banging on about how it has boosted quality and, sure enough, its latest designs have a class and apparent strength that’s new. So perhaps the money-loss will slow.

Renault’s closing fast on the prestige makes. Maybe the Laguna isn’t there yet. But it’s darned close.

• Engines2.0 dCi
• Power150bhp
• 0-60 mph9.4sec
• Economy47.1mpg
• CO2g/km158
• Insurance groups9E
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags8
• Seats5

Motors.co.uk value verdict: