France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

First Up

talla wrote:

Also just a software setting these days in lot of cars for both LED or Xenons headlights in the entertainment system.

Even without that facility its a few euro and a few minutes to fix manually.

MorganIRL

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Check your cars user manual as many cars nowadays allow you to flick a small lever in each light unit to throw the beam in the other direction.
In my last 3 BMWs it has been a quick and simple job requiring no tools.

Thks didn't realise BMW had that facility.. will read manual later..

oinkely

First Up wrote: »

Always do. I don't drive at night much but if you have to, you'll be pulled over pretty fast if you are blinding other drivers.

Agree with tis, no point in looking for trouble! I stuck mine on when we first went to France 4 years ago, and they are still there! Never bothered to take them off and i'd say they are welded to the glass now. No issues with the 3 CVRT tests since then so will just leave them there.

Seth Brundle

MorganIRL wrote: »

Thks didn't realise BMW had that facility.. will read manual later..

I think newer ones may be more akward (access via the wheel arch).
Generally check out youtube also for help

Cartman78

Another car related question - apologies if off-topic

Just rang my insurance company there regarding Breakdown Assistance in France - slightly miffed to find out that despite having a Fully Comp policy, the Breakdown Assistance is only covered in Ireland and N.Ireland.

Can anyone advise on what the best options are for breakdown/roadside assistance?

Cheers, cm

Mumser

Cartman78 wrote: »

Another car related question - apologies if off-topic

Just rang my insurance company there regarding Breakdown Assistance in France - slightly miffed to find out that despite having a Fully Comp policy, the Breakdown Assistance is only covered in Ireland and N.Ireland.

Can anyone advise on what the best options are for breakdown/roadside assistance?

Cheers, cm

If you are travelling with Irish Ferries you can add Breakdown Assistance to your booking. Go to 'manage my booking' and you can add it there. I did it last week and I think it cost about €34 for 17 days.

josip

Cartman78 wrote: »

Another car related question - apologies if off-topic

Just rang my insurance company there regarding Breakdown Assistance in France - slightly miffed to find out that despite having a Fully Comp policy, the Breakdown Assistance is only covered in Ireland and N.Ireland.

Can anyone advise on what the best options are for breakdown/roadside assistance?


Cheers, cm

Some marques provide basic European breakdown assistance as long as you're getting your car serviced at a dealer according to their recommended intervals

mr_edge_to_you

josip wrote: »

Some marques provide basic European breakdown assistance as long as you're getting your car serviced at a dealer according to their recommended intervals

Think that's only a new cars which are covered under warranty.

We bought a new car in 2017 and this came with European breakdown assistance as part of the warranty so that covered us for our last two trips.

That car is on PCP so in order to bring the mileage down we're bringing our other and older car this year so we'll need to get breakdown cover for that.

josip

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

Think that's only a new cars which are covered under warranty.

We bought a new car in 2017 and this came with European breakdown assistance as part of the warranty so that covered us for our last two trips.

That car is on PCP so in order to bring the mileage down we're bringing our other and older car this year so we'll need to get breakdown cover for that.

I thought that too and was a bit surprised when the main dealer told me we were still covered despite the car being 4 years old and well over the original warranty km limit.
So I checked with Skoda Ireland to have it in writing.

Thank you for contacting ŠKODA Customer Care.

Having looked into your query I can confirm the information supplied to you by the retailer following your service is correct.

I have attached a link which will give you information on what is covered and what countries are included. It’s very similar to the Roadside Assistance package provided from new.

The benefit will last for 12 months of 15,000km, whichever comes first.

Quazzie

josip wrote: »

I thought that too and was a bit surprised when the main dealer told me we were still covered despite the car being 4 years old and well over the original warranty km limit.
So I checked with Skoda Ireland to have it in writing.

I think that's a Skoda thing. They offer a years cover with every service on any Skoda car.

munchkin_utd

Quazzie wrote: »

I think that's a Skoda thing. They offer a years cover with every service on any Skoda car.

also offered by Ford for every vehicle serviced by them, no age or mileage limits, covers IRL, UK and most of Europe
https://www.ford.ie/content/dam/guxeu/ie/Documents/Owners/resources-and-support/ford_assistance_tc.pdf

MorganIRL

Cartman78 wrote: »

Another car related question - apologies if off-topic

Just rang my insurance company there regarding Breakdown Assistance in France - slightly miffed to find out that despite having a Fully Comp policy, the Breakdown Assistance is only covered in Ireland and N.Ireland.

Can anyone advise on what the best options are for breakdown/roadside assistance?

Irish ferries provide for cars less than 10yrs old, 123.ie provided for me last year, gold travel insurance is what it's called for €32 for a 10yr old X5. I have being getting this all the time because ur insurance doesn't provide you with repatriation of your car to Ireland or cover for a hire car if ur car breaks down on hols to get u home.

Never have had to use it, nearly did last yr but we were on the way to ferry so I limped the Jeep to the ferry and home the far side. €30 is cheap for piece of mind

MorganIRL

Irish ferries provide for cars less than 10yrs old, 123.ie provided for me last year, gold travel insurance is what it's called for €32 for a 10yr old X5. I have being getting this all the time because ur insurance doesn't provide you with repatriation of your car to Ireland or cover for a hire car if ur car breaks down on hols to get u home.

Never have had to use it, nearly did last yr but we were on the way to ferry so I limped the Jeep to the ferry and home the far side. €30 is cheap for piece of mind

webpal

I always use http://www.roadrescue.ie, thankfully have never had to call them

Seth Brundle

Are ADAC gone from the Irish market completely?

josip

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Are ADAC gone from the Irish market completely?

Not if you get an N26 online bank account, which will have a German IBAN.
You can then sign up via their German website.
I think.

postsnthing

Does anyone have any experience driving an ev in France ? Is accessing charging difficult ? Any companies that need to be signed up too before travelling ? Thanks all

54and56

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Are ADAC gone from the Irish market completely?

They were never "in" the Irish market as in they never marketed their service to the Irish market but they accept membership from Ireland. I've had annual family ADAC Plus membership with them for years paid by DD from my bank account. Couldn't be easier. IIRC it's about €110 a year for the family including breakdown cover here which paradoxically is sub contracted by ADAC to the local AA organisation

54and56

MorganIRL wrote: »

Cartman78 wrote: »

I have being getting this all the time because ur insurance doesn't provide you with repatriation of your car to Ireland

Be very careful assuming any breakdown insurance will actually repatriate you home. My understanding is that all policies from all providers are now offered on the basis of repatriation / transport to your destination or to an approved dealership garage who can implement a repair at the service providers discretion. There is some sort of conditional criteria applied to determine what they do e.g. if you breakdown in Rennes on your way to Roscoff they might well transport you to the ferry but it you are in Bordeaux heading for Roscoff they are not likely to tow/transport you for 8-9 hours to Roscoff and will instead drop your car at the nearest dealership and pay for a hotel/rental car etc (depending on your policy conditions) whilst the repair is implemented.

If you have concerns about the coverage offered just give the provider a call and ask them specifically what would happen if you had a major breakdown 800km from Roscoff on your way home and see what they say.

josip

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

They were never "in" the Irish market as in they never marketed their service to the Irish market but they accept membership from Ireland. I've had annual family ADAC Plus membership with them for years paid by DD from my bank account. Couldn't be easier. IIRC it's about €110 a year for the family including breakdown cover here which paradoxically is sub contracted by ADAC to the local AA organisation

As far as I read here or somewhere else on boards a year ago, they were renewing existing memberships no problem, but to open a new account you had to have a German bank account.

Peckham

Further to above, I’ve been stung previously by a breakdown in France. Hadn’t planned for it properly, and the Volkswagen breakdown cover only covered me for towing to a local garage.

Ended up in a significant dispute with my travel insurance company to pay out on other costs (rebooking journey home and accommodation etc. for a family of five), but ended up out of pocket by a four figure sum plus lots of stress at the end of the holiday.

Have invested in decent annual breakdown coverage ever since!

54and56

Peckham wrote: »

Have invested in decent annual breakdown coverage ever since!

Some of the "free" breakdown cover included with insurance policies or cheap stand alone policies are little more than token cover with lot's of exclusions and limitations etc.

It's always worth reading the detail of what's included and excluded to make sure what you're getting matches the actual need you have/cover you want.

Good breakdown cover for the vehicle and repatriation in case of serious injury + European Health Insurance Cards for everyone in your party + annual travel insurance for everything else = as much peace of mind as possible that should something go wrong speedy professional help is only a phone call away.

Seth Brundle

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Some of the "free" breakdown cover included with insurance policies or cheap stand alone policies are little more than token cover with lot's of exclusions and limitations etc.

It's always worth reading the detail of what's included and excluded to make sure what you're getting matches the actual need you have/cover you want.

I agree.
The Irish Ferries cover FAQ says the following...

Details of the Travel and/or Breakdown Insurance purchased with Irish Ferries will be emailed to you at time of purchase, including links to the Policy Documents.

So you have to buy it before you can find out what you're getting! :rolleyes:

loyatemu

I bought it last year - here's the booklet:
http://www.magroup-online.com/IRF/IE/EN/IRF_GB_en_MotorPol_TCs.pdf

MorganIRL

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

MorganIRL wrote: »

Be very careful assuming any breakdown insurance will actually repatriate you home. My understanding is that all policies from all providers are now offered on the basis of repatriation / transport to your destination or to an approved dealership garage who can implement a repair at the service providers discretion. There is some sort of conditional criteria applied to determine what they do e.g. if you breakdown in Rennes on your way to Roscoff they might well transport you to the ferry but it you are in Bordeaux heading for Roscoff they are not likely to tow/transport you for 8-9 hours to Roscoff and will instead drop your car at the nearest dealership and pay for a hotel/rental car etc (depending on your policy conditions) whilst the repair is implemented.

If you have concerns about the coverage offered just give the provider a call and ask them specifically what would happen if you had a major breakdown 800km from Roscoff on your way home and see what they say.

I asked that of 123.ie last yr and got it confirmed on policy last year, that it's at the discretion of the car owner where car/Jeep is taken. it was on last yrs policy I'll be doing the same again this year.

westgolf

Also worth noting that some breakdown rescue organizations will not recover you or attend to you on the motorway. I had occasion to call on the way home two years ago having broken down near Rennes. I gave my details and Sat nav location to the dispatch crew. Straight away was asked could I safely get off the motorway. Managed to limp it to a retail park. Also response times are much longer than what we would be used to. We were two hours sitting parked from the time we called to the crew turning up.

Crank Stain

The Pont-Aven , boat Brittany Ferries, will resume service Sunday, May 12 Stuck in Brest since Monday, April 29, after the fire that broke out in the engine room , "the ship will resume its rotations safely on three engines," says the company. In the meantime, " Armorique will rotate from Roscoff to Cork this weekend, before Pont Aven returns to activity " .

A new engine in 2020
Expertise is still in progress to determine the origin of the damage to one of the two propulsion engines of the port shaft line, as well as the fire.

The technical stop to replace the fourth engine should last eight weeks. But this technical stop should not take place before 2020. "This delay is explained by the supply of a new engine which is long", says Brittany Ferries.

This is a four-stroke MaK 12-cylinder V-twin with a power of 16,674 C. It is too soon to know which shipyard will make the technical stop.


https://www.ouest-france.fr/bretagne/brest-29200/brest-le-paquebot-pont-aven-reprendra-son-service-le-12-mai-6334479

Duffryman

Just on the breakdown cover thing - It’s something that hadn’t occurred to me as I never needed to take it out myself before (previous couple of trips to France were with a camper van borrowed from my sister and her husband, and they had insurance in place already).

Anybody got any advice on this?

I just saw two quotes online – AA price is €114 to cover the week we’ll be there in June, but roadrescue.ie price is just €48 for the same time. Does AA cover include more benefits, to justify that difference in price?

What does anybody else do?

oinkely

Road rescue for me every trip, have to have caravan cover so that suited us. More for peace of mind though.

MorganIRL

Duffryman wrote: »

Just on the breakdown cover thing - It’s something that hadn’t occurred to me as I never needed to take it out myself before (previous couple of trips to France were with a camper van borrowed from my sister and her husband, and they had insurance in place already).

Anybody got any advice on this?

I just saw two quotes online – AA price is €114 to cover the week we’ll be there in June, but roadrescue.ie price is just €48 for the same time. Does AA cover include more benefits, to justify that difference in price?

What does anybody else do?

I have used roadside the last 3 yrs,. If I remember correctly I couldn't see any difference in the cover. Both are available on the sites to compare