Breaking down in Europe..thoughts?

[MinionBob]

I am off to France, not for the first time, this summer. I am a tight-wad and loathed to pay for eu breakdown cover (about £50/yr).

I have never broken down, don't hold breakdown cover and all my cars are very well maintained.

I am aware that if you breakdown on the french toll roads, the government will tow you to garage (around 200 Euro).

However, the thought of breaking down somewhere not a toll road, and not being able to communicate to a garage, over the phone, in a language alien to me is daunting.

Do people have any experiences of breaking down overseas, and getting sorted without proper breakdown cover?

 

[d215yq]

You can get annual breakdown from someone like greenflag (look on moneysupermarket.com) for 70 quid - covers car for UK/at home/all of EU - which is a much better deal than 50 quid just for Europe...and much better than teh AA/RAC who´ll charge almost double that and then extra for homestart, etc.

On the ferry to Dover there is a scare story RAC advert about how it could cost you 3k to be towed home if you don't buy cover. Being bored I read the smallprint and the example quoted was an unfixable problem that ocurred in Malta and the car needed towing back to Northern Ireland, so hardly typical.

My guess would be the gamble depends if you are flexible - if you can cope with extending a few days to a week while the car is fixed locally rather than wanting a tow home then you could do it without cover. I'd personally rather breakdown in rural France than on an autoroute. The local garages have their own tow trucks so you would have to ask for help from locals to direct you to one of those. They'd probably not take advantage and fix the car for 40/hr labour, though as above it might take a few days more than it would in UK. In rural continental Europe strangers in need will still be helped and you'd probably be surprised how quickly it was resolved by helpful local people and probably at a lot less overall cost than if being towed to a dealer by the autoroute police.

Your language problems won't automatically disappear with breakdown either - the phone operator may know enough english to get the tow truck heading your direction but it's unlikely the tow truck driver or garage will speak any meaningful English. That said as long as you write any figures down it can probably be fixed without a mutual language anyway

 

[Rob76]

En route to Milan in my old T5 a few years ago - my intercooler blew just outside Lucerne, Switzerland. No cover.........
Got to Milan and back smoking along like a Cheech N Chong film lol.......
It was extremely unpleasant - and if something more major had occurred - i would have been fubar'ed big time: £50 buys a lot of peace of mind in my opinion!!!

 

[Wighty]

I have a Nationwide joint account with “free” euro breakdown cover subject to minimum balance . Never used it , but like you some of the AA/RAC breakdown cover prices for Europe leaves me clutching my chest

 

[Ricardo_e220]

Given that as/rac don’t cover Europe it’s going to be sub contracted out regardless...therefore it’s pretty immaterial who you need to contract with I’d assume?

for £50 isn’t it piece of mind least then you’d get a replacement car, and yours brought back to Blighty if unfixable on the continent?

otherwise Google garage near me - ring number and say, “ma voiture est en panne, je suis à (insert nearest place) pouvez-vous venir m’aider s’il vous plaît”

 

[MinionBob]

Thanks all.

You are right that the insurance is peace of mind, but then isn't that the case with all optional insurance..!

 

[ajlsl600]

Stay off toll roads. See more of France most n roads are pretty direct anyway. If u b/d you have half chance for economic help.

 

[star]

Once broke down in Italy, factory and dealerships on shutdown, so the aa but not aa took my car to the dealers secure yard, I jumped in another car and finished my road trip. When the car was fixed a couple of weeks later, the aa paid for my flights, fuel and hotels for me to repatriate my car, win win, 2nd road trip that year. I aways have bd cover.

 

[LostKiwi]

Stay off toll roads. See more of France most n roads are pretty direct anyway. If u b/d you have half chance for economic help.

Agreed, though not an option to cover ground quickly the back roads are much much more pleasant.

 

[Ricardo_e220]

Agreed, though not an option to cover ground quickly the back roads are much much more pleasant.

Yep the generally ignored by most locals but reduced 80kph limit makes longer journeys a bit of a pain.. rural roads are lovely though and mostly deserted

 

[ajlsl600]

On an early Sunday morning. I have driven from home to Cherbourg about 65 miles, mostly on dual carriageway and maybe see 4 5 cars on the road.!
80 kph not great. But you do notice more. Even when I bike it to lake Guarda I go cross country and avoid tolls except Mont blonc.. I now overnight at a motel 1 hr from Mont blonc. At 62 non stop to much now. But it's a great bike ride.

 

[00slk]

Check your car insurance policy as some include European break down cover. I know on my Classic car polices this is included.
Now going to check the small print on my other policies..............

 

[umblecumbuz]

Over the years I've broken down in France (twice), Italy once, and Poland on my way to the Russian border.

In Poland I did not have breakdown cover, and would have been completely isolated but for a factory worker leaving for home, who volunteered to help me fix the van, gave me overnight shelter and supplied me with diesel (there was a severe shortage at the time).
The other breakdowns were well insured, and without them I would again have been in deep umbala.

My personal take on foreign travel is never to leave home without adequate insurance breakdown cover. Peace of mind a mile from home is good to have. 1,000 miles from home it's a no-brainer. Only the stupid trust to luck.

 

[McDonald]

I can't understand why anyone would run the risk to save 50 quid. Having your car in good order is obvious, surely everyone does that for a long road trip. But most of our cars aren't routinely tested on day after day long mileage, as they would be on a road trip. I'd look to economise elsewhere but I'm no gambler.

 

[d215yq]

I can't understand why anyone would run the risk to save 50 quid. Having your car in good order is obvious, surely everyone does that for a long road trip. But most of our cars aren't routinely tested on day after day long mileage, as they would be on a road trip. I'd look to economise elsewhere but I'm no gambler.

Because, like with all insurance policies, you will always lose overall. In 13 years since I started driving Mercedes W124s I have spent 800 on breakdown insurance for piece of mind. Used once for a flat tyre that was overtightened so couldnt be changed myself and a second time for when the battery was flat due to the alternator; I'm not really getting my money's worth. Over a lifetime of not having breakdown insurance the average person would be able to tow their car from China to home on the money saved.

There's no right or wrong answer, those that pay breakdown over their lifetime have a bit of "piece of mind" on each trip and those that don't will end up richer overall.

I do drive a lot across Europe/Spain often for work and with a deadline so I don't mind paying for the piece of mind and atleast have a hope of getting to the destination on time if something goes wrong. If, however, I had 2 months off and was just pottering around Europe, I wouldn't bother with it and would see having to interact with locals and solve the problem and maybe stay at some random location for a week while the car was fixed as part of the adventure...those sort of experiences of interaction are often the most memorable parts of travel anyway. If the OP has some money aside if it does go wrong and wants to take the risk, why not?

 

[John Laidlaw]

Better to drive home before breaking down, saves loads of grief

 

[sonic]

I have a Nationwide joint account with “free” euro breakdown cover subject to minimum balance . Never used it , but like you some of the AA/RAC breakdown cover prices for Europe leaves me clutching my chest

I also have the Nationwide Bank cover, & also haven't used it. Its a good package which includes worldwide health, travel, mobile phone, & Euro breakdown.

 

[MinionBob]

Because, like with all insurance policies, you will always lose overall. In 13 years since I started driving Mercedes W124s I have spent 800 on breakdown insurance for piece of mind. Used once for a flat tyre that was overtightened so couldnt be changed myself and a second time for when the battery was flat due to the alternator; I'm not really getting my money's worth. Over a lifetime of not having breakdown insurance the average person would be able to tow their car from China to home on the money saved.

There's no right or wrong answer, those that pay breakdown over their lifetime have a bit of "piece of mind" on each trip and those that don't will end up richer overall.

I do drive a lot across Europe/Spain often for work and with a deadline so I don't mind paying for the piece of mind and atleast have a hope of getting to the destination on time if something goes wrong. If, however, I had 2 months off and was just pottering around Europe, I wouldn't bother with it and would see having to interact with locals and solve the problem and maybe stay at some random location for a week while the car was fixed as part of the adventure...those sort of experiences of interaction are often the most memorable parts of travel anyway. If the OP has some money aside if it does go wrong and wants to take the risk, why not?

This is a very balanced reply; the bit about part of the adventure is particularly relevant. Some of the most memorable parts of holidays, for me are the times when things go pear shaped; I remember missing our plane on one occasion and another time getting so completely lost in France, we had no idea where we were!

TBH, the only bit that is daunting is the 'over the phone' language barrier; you are at the side of a road, (Google will find a garage for you..1km or 50km!) but how do you convey your problem, in English, over the phone, to a French speaker? Very tricky position.

 

[keefysher]

This is a very balanced reply; the bit about part of the adventure is particularly relevant. Some of the most memorable parts of holidays, for me are the times when things go pear shaped; I remember missing our plane on one occasion and another time getting so completely lost in France, we had no idea where we were!

TBH, the only bit that is daunting is the 'over the phone' language barrier; you are at the side of a road, (Google will find a garage for you..1km or 50km!) but how do you convey your problem, in English, over the phone, to a French speaker? Very tricky position.

Is there not a google translate app???

 

[MinionBob]

Is there not a google translate app???

Yes and in fairness it is good, but over the phone you need to 'converse', so dealing with the reply is the more awkward bit.