[tomtom]

Hello - whats the score with this - does anyone bother?
Is it worth the £50-100 I've been quoted, and which companies are better than others etc....?

In my yoof, on a Boux trip we had this and it was invaluable when the car we were in was totalled by a crazy frenchman driving on the correct (for the UK) side of the road - we got a hire car etc.. back home..

But that was mid 1990's and I'm only off to Brittany with MrsTT for a couple of weeks in Aug - we'll only be within 2 hours striking distance of St Malo, so not going too far... (plus we'll be visiting family in the area so theres luurcal knowledge...) If it were a longer roadtrip I'd go for it, but not really sure here...

Whats the word on the UKB street? Anyone bother with this for Font trips for example?

 

[GCW]

Last Font trip I upgraded our RAC cover (comes via the bank account) for the trip.  Cost 40 quid I think for comprehensive cover.  Call me paranoid if you want.

[tomtom]

AA quoted me an extra £90 to upgrade mine... seemed like quite alot...

[Paul B]

what car are you in and what state is it in?

[tomtom]

what car are you in and what state is it in?

'03 320d BMW.. 100k but all fine/serviced/smooth etc..

[Paul B]

We had breakdown insurance on our trip and it wasn't that great TBH, when we had problems they'd basically come out, look at it (not bother listen to the problem) and tow it to a garage.

If you're fairly confident in your car (which you sound) I really wouldn't bother. If it was an Alfa I'd say otherwise.

[tomtom]

If it was an Alfa I'd say otherwise.

 

[GCW]

Ours will take us back to the UK if necessary.  But then with 2 small kids we're in a different situation to many, so it's a small outlay for peace of mind.

[Bubba]

This place might be worth a look: http://www.breakdowndirect.co.uk/European-Breakdown-Cover/

Seem cheaper than the AA/RAC offerings.

[Sloper]

Getting home from font without it, including towing charges and the cost of scrapping the car was around £900.

I'm never driving to font again without it.

[griffer]

ask your insurance company if they can add it as an extra, it may be cheaper, £30 or me for the year.

[tubbs]

Whats the word on the UKB street? Anyone bother with this for Font trips for example?

We had AA 5* in France for a 3-week trip a while back and it was pretty poor. Lost 2 days of my holiday returning hire cars and driving to/from garages, and built up a £200 mobile phone bill. The garage they selected was pretty sh1te too, and did a very shoddy repair job on what was a simple broken window.

Needless to say, won't be using them again.

[tomtom]

Whats the word on the UKB street? Anyone bother with this for Font trips for example?

We had AA 5* in France for a 3-week trip a while back and it was pretty poor. Lost 2 days of my holiday returning hire cars and driving to/from garages, and built up a £200 mobile phone bill. The garage they selected was pretty sh1te too, and did a very shoddy repair job on what was a simple broken window.

Needless to say, won't be using them again.

Good knowledge - and I know where you're coming from Sloper... £100 worth of cover only provides a max £2k... seems like a poor deal as even if breaks down you still have to pay for parts etc.. they just tow it to a garage and get you a hire car if you need...

I think I'm going to find a half way house and get something for 30-£40 worth... rather than the £100 for AA shizzle. Its only me & Mrs TT going (and her Brother lives in Normandy) so no bairns to complicate the matter....

[underground]

The only time I took a car to the continent I was really glad of breakdown cover even if it was the 72 hour one that came with AA membership. Me and hairich had to be rescued in the middle of Font town at 1 am  in the morning when the carb on my old Renault 5 packed up. The guy showed us how to create a vacuum to clear muck out of it in case it happened again and we found ourselves doing ti quite a lot that trip...

[Paul B]

a spray full of compressed air does the job pretty efficiently.

[underground]

So does taking the air filter off, looking around furtively at all the local flats where people must be asleep at 2am, and revving the fuck out of the car with a hand over the carb till the suction gets strong and yanking said hand off 

and then repeating with a load of sign language so the idiots Anglaise know what to do next time