Breakdowns on French motorways

[kevtherev]

let's hope it never happens to any of us eh dandaz?... losing a wheel at 60 that is.

[KarlT]

Holly crap. How scary was that? Talk us through it!

Did the Volvo mechanics sort it before doing any more damage?

....

That's one one to take the wheel off. You can still see the drum & bolts!

[sezicoolcat]

I lost a rear wheel at 30 and it done this to my rear panel:



Sarah

[oorwullie]

if you have an H in yer numberplate, the french is HASH. dinna worry about pronouncing it right, just shout it loud.

high flying executives like dandaz in his dehler might NEED to be quick and use the autoroutes, normal mortals on holiday shouldn't be in a hurry.

[getunder]

I can confirm that French Police do not speak English so have your appropriate Phrases written down. Also remember some Aires are split over both sides of the motorway and make sure you tell l them which side otherwise you can wait hours until you phone up again as nobody has arrived. As foriegners you will be ripped off by the garage as I was charged equivalent to £150 for a new Bosch starter motor while the identical one was £95 in the UK. Stopping at a crash involving a UK car I found that the of the services attending 4 police, 2 medical personnel, 2 fire brigade people and the tow truck not one of whom spoke English. I was left stood in the road with a phrase book trying to remember schoolboy French from 1953.

[dandaz]

I can confirm that French Police do not speak English

As foriegners you will be ripped off by the garage as I was charged equivalent to £150 for a new Bosch starter motor while the identical one was £95 in the UK.

Sorry I must have missed the wheel coming off at 60 ,it was good you were ok...

At school all French children have English as a lesson [my kids have it ,they both can now say "cow" and "good moaning"]and a lot do it in higher education , as a rule a big percentage of police do speak English ,I have encountered loads that speak excellent english...

Things are expensive in france ,our fridge has just given up the ghost the cheapest one is 265 euros oppossed to £180 at Tescos...Garage prices are just as high , I bought a ball joint for 18 euro of a garage and the same one was on e bay for £6....

[dandaz]

if you have an H in yer numberplate, the french is HASH. dinna worry about pronouncing it right, just shout it loud.

high flying executives like dandaz in his dehler might NEED to be quick and use the autoroutes, normal mortals on holiday shouldn't be in a hurry.

and you can shut up...

[Ralf85]

This may be a daft question but is this only on Toll roads? or does this apply to all French motorways, Is it easy to tell when you are on one? (like the blue signs in UK) And if its safe to limp on is it better to get to an A road? (You would be dealing with your own breakdown Co. then which would be preferable.) Is there a charge for the Police service? Do you have some say where they drop you?

It applies just to motorways/autoroutes (their A roads) ie all the roads marked in blue on the road atlas. The signs leading to motorways have a blue background just as in the UK. I did not have to pay the company that the police sent out to collect me. They took us back to their base which is normally a garage. Once I got there, I contacted my breakdown service. They then spoke to the garage direct and sorted out the paperwork and arranged for the garage to sort out the repair. In my case that involved us and my van being transported to a VW garage. This was all covered by my breakdown service. I then only had to pay the VW garage for the repair, which is normal.

Basically you only have to contact the local gendarmerie if you break down on motorways. Otherwise just call your own breakdown service.

As somebody who has needed garage assistance over there several times (broken windscreen, broken throttle cable, ignition failure, dynamo bearing collapse etc) I would recommend having phrases to do with a breakdown already drafted before you leave the UK to reduce stress in what is always a stressfull situation. A tip - the AA used to produce a multi language car breakdown phrasebook. I always carry it with me. It has proved invaluable over the years. I would check with the AA to see if they still publish this.

Patrick

[oorwullie]

if you have an H in yer numberplate, the french is HASH. dinna worry about pronouncing it right, just shout it loud.

high flying executives like dandaz in his dehler might NEED to be quick and use the autoroutes, normal mortals on holiday shouldn't be in a hurry.

and you can shut up...

fermé le bush ye mean?


actually i like the idea of all those tourists belting down the autoroutes, it leaves the rest of the roads nice and quiet for me.

[grumfuttock]

So presuming this removal service is not free .. is it regulated?

It is organised by the police. The time I had to use it I was taken to a garage and my breakdown service later agreed for them to carry out the work so it did not cost me a cent.

Patrick

so whats the problem, then?

[grumfuttock]

I can confirm that French Police do not speak English so have your appropriate Phrases written down. Also remember some Aires are split over both sides of the motorway and make sure you tell l them which side otherwise you can wait hours until you phone up again as nobody has arrived. As foriegners you will be ripped off by the garage as I was charged equivalent to £150 for a new Bosch starter motor while the identical one was £95 in the UK. Stopping at a crash involving a UK car I found that the of the services attending 4 police, 2 medical personnel, 2 fire brigade people and the tow truck not one of whom spoke English. I was left stood in the road with a phrase book trying to remember schoolboy French from 1953.

you talk out of your arrrsse.
you wont be ripped off, that is the going rate for starter motors over there.
has it ocurred to you that the world does not revolve around you or the english language?

you are a guest in their country, and you dont have the decency to speak at least some of their language.

it is people like you who make me ashamed to be english!

[Bowton Lad]

So presuming this removal service is not free .. is it regulated?

It is organised by the police. The time I had to use it I was taken to a garage and my breakdown service later agreed for them to carry out the work so it did not cost me a cent.

Patrick

so whats the problem, then?

I was wondering what the problem is. Green Flag customers with European cover can claim back the cost of motorway recovery. I must check my RAC booklet to see if this applies.

[Willoughby]

Glad every one if fine.

I can confirm that French Police do not speak English so have your appropriate Phrases written down. Also remember some Aires are split over both sides of the motorway and make sure you tell l them which side otherwise you can wait hours until you phone up again as nobody has arrived. As foriegners you will be ripped off by the garage as I was charged equivalent to £150 for a new Bosch starter motor while the identical one was £95 in the UK. Stopping at a crash involving a UK car I found that the of the services attending 4 police, 2 medical personnel, 2 fire brigade people and the tow truck not one of whom spoke English. I was left stood in the road with a phrase book trying to remember schoolboy French from 1953.

you talk out of your arrrsse.
you wont be ripped off, that is the going rate for starter motors over there.
has it ocurred to you that the world does not revolve around you or the english language?

you are a guest in their country, and you dont have the decency to speak at least some of their language.

it is people like you who make me ashamed to be english!

Im ashamed for you, read the forum rules then the post. Getunder was confirning a point.

I don't think anyone expects or implied the french should speak english but it's handy to know.

I now know to learn my reg in french. And if you really think garages don't take the p when you have a breakdown on the motorway

K

[oorwullie]

i know of someone in france who's breaking a diesel van, he's going to have the gearbox on a pallet ready for the next UK travellers with a fecked one.

it's truly a mystery to me how i ever managed to travel all over france with only failed O level french decades before satnav,internet forums, blogs and breakdown insurance were normal everyday can't do without them things.

[HarryMann]

As foriegners you will be ripped off by the garage as I was charged equivalent to £150 for a new Bosch starter motor while the identical one was £95 in the UK.

£150 or euros would be about right, we have very competitive business marketing these things (& sometimes not like Vs like, £95 could easily be a refurb, a doubtful one, their £150 a good one....) and that's what the French themsleves would pay, £150 or equiv. It's just the going rate there... so not a ripoff for the English in France at all.

Good to know but the back roads are the best unless you're really in a big hurry, then the payages are handy.