Euro breakdown anyone?

[Uncle Jimmy]

Anyone here had a breakdown (automotive) in Euroland recently? Was you covered and was the service any good and by whom? Or did you fix it yourself in strange circumstances?

[oldcars]

I had a mental breakdown in Benidorm once, does this count?

[dollywobbler]

My only experience is having a windscreen explode in Germany in 2007. Took a few hours to get recovered, and we had to pay for the repair up front. When we got home, we claimed back the cost of the new screen (scratch-built in laminate) and one hotel (as it was a camper). That was with Footman James I think. 

 

In 2009, the anti-roll bar link on my BX rubbed through the bottom cooling hose. We bodged it with self-amalgamating tape and hope until we could find a scrapyard and purchase a replacement hose (for eight Euros!). Fixed it roadside. Didn't call for recovery.

 

In 2010, the ignition on the 2CV started playing up in mid-France. I coasted downhill for several miles with the engine off and swung into a park to effect some repairs - much to the consternation of some elderly French bloke. The transistorised ignition kit was overheating. I solved this problem by increasing airflow to it (I took the side panels of the engine bay off). That worked. I didn't bother calling anyone out.

[panhard65]

I have breakdown cover through swinton insurance and have twice broken down in France. Both times in cars owned by my other half and even though they were 2 different cars they both had the alternator belt tensioner go. The first one was a Ford Galaxy near Limouge we limped to the local garage who couldn't fix it for a week and we were due to go home the next day. They started off by offering to fly us home and recover the car but due to all the luggage we ended up with a taxi to collect a hire car. Then on the ferry as foot passengers where we were supposed to get another hire car at dover. Unfortunatly the desk was closed so we had a taxi from Dover to Home in Essex. The car came back 2 weeks later. Overall not a bad experience. The second one was an 807 done the same thing just as we arrived in Le Mans. It was carted off and fixed the next day. The insurance sent a taxi for us to go and collect it. Their service in France has been excellent but piss poor in the UK (4 Hours on the side of the M5)

[castros_bro]

2013  ZX diesel water pump leak Portugal, called a Brit estate agent got addreess of nearby mechanic and juggled water and driving to his place. He gave me a lift to  hotel (and back) new pump, cam belt and tensioner 125 euro.

2014 pug 106 clutch Portugal, drove to ferry in Spain without using clutch.

[Barry Cade]

My Aprillia Pegaso expired on the Autobahn, in Peine, coming back from Berlin. The cover I had was useless, so I pushed it to a service station, bought some spanners and fixed it...getting back on the road at 5 am. The little pin that locates the exhaust cam sprocket to the cam had fallen out...

[dollywobbler]

Owners of shite do need to be careful. I have heard of instances where recovery has been refused where the cost of recovery is more than the car is worth. That said, while I would certainly aim to fix any problems myself, or seek a local garage, I'd still rather have that cover to fall back on.

[dave21478]

^^^^ RAC definitely and I think AA too specify that if recovery is more than the car is worth, you are on your own. Given that most of our cars have a value of about £300 according to these companies, you definitely need to read the small print before committing.

[Uncle Jimmy]

My only experience is having a windscreen explode in Germany in 2007. Took a few hours to get recovered, and we had to pay for the repair up front. When we got home, we claimed back the cost of the new screen (scratch-built in laminate) and one hotel (as it was a camper). That was with Footman James I think. 

 

In 2009, the anti-roll bar link on my BX rubbed through the bottom cooling hose. We bodged it with self-amalgamating tape and hope until we could find a scrapyard and purchase a replacement hose (for eight Euros!). Fixed it roadside. Didn't call for recovery.

 

In 2010, the ignition on the 2CV started playing up in mid-France. I coasted downhill for several miles with the engine off and swung into a park to effect some repairs - much to the consternation of some elderly French bloke. The transistorised ignition kit was overheating. I solved this problem by increasing airflow to it (I took the side panels of the engine bay off). That worked. I didn't bother calling anyone out.

Exploding windscreens and stealth 2CVs, like.

[Jerzy Woking]

My tip?Avoid Britannia Rescue as totally hopeless on the ONE occasion I broke down on my 120,000 mile Fireblade.

 

If I were to break down in a shiter car, I would see this as an opportunity to buy some chod from wherever I was stuck at, if it were terminal.

[Pete-M]

ADAC converted the Escort for its trip to the UK, but it was included with the insurance so have no idea how much it would have cost.

[spike60]

A Mk2 Tranny coachbuilt ran the rear prop U/J while I was in Normandy with the kids and we went to the very unhelpful Ford dealers in St Lo who suggested we drove 300km to Paris as they might have one. I called a pal back home who bought one and posted it to a friends farm, bought a 8mm allen key and circlip pliers from the supermarket and fitted it at the roadside. I spent the time waiting for the post fishing and drinking vin rouge in the sun, with occasional calls to work to confirm no, I wasn't headed home yet....

I also needed a clutch cable for a Z650 in La Sarthe so went to Tourist Info in Le Mans who directed us to the dealer who couldn't help but pointed us to the area of town where all the indy bike boys were. The first one we asked ran round all the others until he struck gold, a barrel nipple to attach to the cable end. He wouldn't take any money for a pastis, and no, I do not know the French for Solderless Nipple!

[Steviemillar]

ADAC is the best value for money out there. Just renewed for myself and 'Er Indoors for €114 for their top cover for a year, I was quoted nearly half that for one week-long trip to Europe a couple of years ago with the AA. The ADAC membership covers all of mainland Europe including Baltic States too. Bargain

[Foeux]

WOOF! I can really help on this one.

 

Get a flex plus account from nationwide.

 

£10 a month and it does breakdown (europewide), phone insurance, travel insurance (including sports like ski) and also extended warranty on household electrical items.

 

Was on 'Scumrun' this year and a pal's Saab 95 painted like a cow went bang.

 

It was recovered from Switzerland and a hire car was provided.

 

Just get one already.

[Guest Lord Sward]

Owners of shite do need to be careful. I have heard of instances where recovery has been refused where the cost of recovery is more than the car is worth. That said, while I would certainly aim to fix any problems myself, or seek a local garage, I'd still rather have that cover to fall back on.

 

I've never broke down in Europe thankfully, but I'm reliably informed that if you do, make sure you're with the AA.  And when you book the insurance, stress in the call that they will bring your 'Pride and Joy' back.  The call is recorded and the monkey on the line will be so desperate for a sale, they'll agree.

[hairnet]

Vehicle rescue direct

 

Was in Ireland and bike was fucked but still took it

 

Oil cooler seals went and overheated

 

Recovered to Dublin from Kildare pushed it on boat then met in Holyhead and trailered home

 

Best 16 quid I've ever spent - cheaper than the petrol home

 

There might be an age limit tho

 

Just renewed with them

[richardmorris]

I have EU cover on the merc through Aviva (rac) which I have used a few times in the last few years when I had the Citroen c5.

 

No issues at all with them and they paid for the extra weekends hotel bill ( I told them I didn't want the formula 1 they suggested and said I'd pay a supplement for something more rural- in the end I paid just for the food and drink) and the new ferry crossing- they wouldn't deal with the tunnel even though it was cheaper.

 

Have the others with footman James with EU cover but not used it.

 

Many years ago when my cx was mortally wounded in the Loire I was with Europ assistance via cgu insurance. They paid all taxi costs, arranged a hire car ( KA! -June 2001) and ferry crossing with hire car back In Dover ( nice Clio) and brought the dead car back to their site in Guildford.

[beko1987]

If you have the AA bundled in with your lloyds account, it's fucking shit. We had to upgrade at Cobham services at £140 to get the ZX home when it was bought.

 

The whole fucking experience was so shit (it ran out a week after shitefest and I've not bothered renewing it) that when I popped 2 tyres on the way back from shitefest I called Amy, who got the 2 spare wheels I had into the car, dumped Eva off at her mums, drove to Hereford from Thame whilst quite pregnant, laughed at me whilst I swapped the wheels, a night in Hereford travelodge then back home with 1 really good spankers new tyre, 1 1994 spacesaver spare, 1 really perished part worn and another really perished part worn that had been in the garden for 3 months on the m40 for ages was less awful than the AA would have been (whi probably would have turned up after 14 hours, took me into hereford and dumped me outside kwikfit at 2am...)

[chodweaver]

About 10 years ago, the euro breakdown cover bundled with our channel tunnel crossing got us:

Recovery from the autoroute services to the nearest Renner dealer (St Quentin)

Taxi to the hire car office in town

Hire car (scenic) for the entire week holiday (south of France), which we returned to the dealer

Recovery from the Renner dealer to ferry at Calais

Ferry crossing back to Blighty (borked motors being unwelcome on the tunnel)

Recovery from Dover to home in Swansea

The only disappointment was that the Renner dealer in St Quentin only started work on our eSpace that had gone "boeuf", when we returned to pick it up, wasting another four hours on top of that week, trying to fix a HGF with a new coolant hose. I knew what had gone wrong the moment it let go, but they didn't seem to think a coolant hose swelling to three times it's normal diameter was game over.

 

Apart from that, the service was great and really minimized the disruption to our hols

 

Sent from my GT-S5830i using Tapatalk 2

[mercrocker]

My DOHC Granny borked its cylinder head in Poitiers. AA were called, a mechanic arrived at the campsite, agreed with my simplistic franglaise diagnosis and summoned a recovery vehicle. Next morning a taxi arrived, took me into town where I was given the keys to a Mk 1 Scenic (was a while ago....) in which to complete our holiday. On the last day I phoned the hire company to see what to do about the car. Drive it to Cherbourg, I was told. "Its complet avec tout mon baggage" was the best I could manage. OK, then take it to Portsmouth. Not only was I allowed to do that, I was then given a 406 to get home from Pompey which I had to hand back in Southampton the following morning. Did that and walked across town to buy a Landcrab I had seen in the local paper. Shite relay completed, the Granny came back on a transporter a week later, straight to a local engine reconditioner who fitted a recon head.

 

It really was the most stress-free and painless (apart from the cost of the final repairs) experience - no quibble from anyone at AA or the hire car company. I think the 5 star cover was only a few quid on top of my normal membership fee.

 

I keep hearing how expensive and crap the AA are but I have had nothing but good experiences....That Granny was probably worth less than the hire car and repatriation....

[Taff]

A Mk2 Tranny coachbuilt ran the rear prop U/J while I was in Normandy with the kids and we went to the very unhelpful Ford dealers in St Lo who suggested we drove 300km to Paris as they might have one. I called a pal back home who bought one and posted it to a friends farm, bought a 8mm allen key and circlip pliers from the supermarket and fitted it at the roadside. I spent the time waiting for the post fishing and drinking vin rouge in the sun, with occasional calls to work to confirm no, I wasn't headed home yet....

I also needed a clutch cable for a Z650 in La Sarthe so went to Tourist Info in Le Mans who directed us to the dealer who couldn't help but pointed us to the area of town where all the indy bike boys were. The first one we asked ran round all the others until he struck gold, a barrel nipple to attach to the cable end. He wouldn't take any money for a pastis, and no, I do not know the French for Solderless Nipple!

 

got to love local enthusiasts. Karma, she is a beautiful mistress 

 

ADAC is the best value for money out there. Just renewed for myself and 'Er Indoors for €114 for their top cover for a year, I was quoted nearly half that for one week-long trip to Europe a couple of years ago with the AA. The ADAC membership covers all of mainland Europe including Baltic States too. Bargain

 

flipping it on it's head. I had ADAC cover on my Merc while stationed in Der Vaterland and on leave in the UK. The car (it was a W115 saloon) played up in Aldershit and one call to them got a local mechanic out within the hour.

 

I have Europe cover on the Galaxie but I have yet to manage more than 2 miles in it so haven't had the chance to test it yet

[willswitchengage]

 

Carole Nash covered me for Europe anyway. This was near Salzburg - English speaking call centre, got out to me within an hour, driver didn't speak English but we managed to commute efficiently with a mixture of Hitler salutes and 'wanker' gestures. Took me to the nearest bike garage and Iw as back on the road (defective battery) within about 3 hours of raising my original call. Very efficient service.

 

 

This however was less efficient (coil primary winding failure). Footman James took over eight hours to get me from Dorchester to Reading, including two hours to even process my original call.