where do you stay when the vehicle needs sorted ?

[rogerharris]

After taking the camper to france i realised that beyond having breakdown cover, i hadnt made a proper plan for accomodation if the vehicle needed sorted at a garage.

I had the idea that if towed a bed size trailer with a microcar smart car, or matiz in it, then if the camper needed sorted for a week, i could use the car to tow the trailer, stick the portaloo, grill, water tank etc in the trailer and have somewhere albeit rough to stay while the van is getting sorted..the trailer would only be about 400kg so the microcar could tow it. Using the microcar while parking the van up during trips, would probably make up the fuel costs for towing it in the first place.

My girlfriend is obviously not so enthusiastic about this concept, but it means wild trips arent completely disrupted by mechanical problems, there is still a mini car and caravan to get by on.

I presume some people here had breakdowns and wondered what happened..did u have to hunt round for B+B while vehicle was fixed ?

how long does it take the average garage to get parts and repair in france for example ?

or did the garage let you stay nearby in the camper it till they fixed it ?

 

[TWS]

Sorry mate cant help on this one, but I would just have a two man tent, just incase, also some breakdown cover has schemes where you are given B&B when your car is in the garage.

Regards Tom

 

[rogerharris]

Sorry mate cant help on this one, but I would just have a two man tent, just incase, also some breakdown cover has schemes where you are given B&B when your car is in the garage.

Regards Tom

i'll look into that, although my experience is that its better to have a solid plan than rely on extras, promised from by RAC but some complication arises whereby you are excluded from it.

 

[terry1956]

In answer

Hi, under french law breakdown cover is a must for french drivers and comes with the insurrance, This however only gets the car to a garage and does not cover anything else.
A few years back, my landrover pulled an axle and drive stopped on the motorway, thankgod just near the services, We had aa cover and after ringing for help, a tow truck turned up, took us the landrover and boat to their garage, from there we rang the aa rep in france who sorted for the landrover to ge to a landrover dealer for repair, a taxed to take us to a hire car dealer, and as we had two dogs with us, she sorted out an mpv, all in english, they also asked if we wanted an hotel which they would pay for as well as the car and the boat parking fees.
when the landrover was fixed a week later we had an english speaking taxi driver to take us from the car hire dealer to collect the landy.
great service. so if you can get aa europe cover for your motohome.
michael

 

[rogerharris]

Hi, under french law breakdown cover is a must for french drivers and comes with the insurrance, This however only gets the car to a garage and does not cover anything else.
A few years back, my landrover pulled an axle and drive stopped on the motorway, thankgod just near the services, We had aa cover and after ringing for help, a tow truck turned up, took us the landrover and boat to their garage, from there we rang the aa rep in france who sorted for the landrover to ge to a landrover dealer for repair, a taxed to take us to a hire car dealer, and as we had two dogs with us, she sorted out an mpv, all in english, they also asked if we wanted an hotel which they would pay for as well as the car and the boat parking fees.
when the landrover was fixed a week later we had an english speaking taxi driver to take us from the car hire dealer to collect the landy.
great service. so if you can get aa europe cover for your motohome.
michael

sounds like things went how they should on paper.

I had problems getting credit cards to operate in some places in france. I don't fancy finding out if they are going to cause a problem with hire car companies and hotels who carry out operations on the cards like checks of some sort and deposits that sometimes cause a problem.

My experience in a breakdown in the UK was that if the hire car company chosen by the RAC has a problem with this process, no hire car is given, and cash is not acceptable is a deposit. The same would apply to hotels i presume, alhtough i never tried it personally.

 

[jann]

Red pennant

With Red Pennant insurance, You would be able to claim for accommodation if the motorhome had to be repaired