 Poster: A snowHead
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Have suddenly started to panic about this trip somewhat! Must be my age! Has anyone actually broken down on a ski trip?
I have heard some horror stories abut AA/RAC not being much use if we get stranded en route or in the Alps. Which would be the best company to go with?
We are travelling with our 2 young children and I wanted all the bases covered just in case so any recommendations greatly appreciated.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Clarrylove, I had ibreakdown insurance with RAC, the diesel froze in very cold weather. Called them and they got a local garage to collect us and sort out the problem. They will call a local company to deal with the fault. Parents had cover with Green Flag, similar good service and overnight hotel when they had a problem with their car when they were towing a caravan.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Not on a ski trip but yes on way out to holiday in france and previously on route home from austria.
Both were covered by AA5* and both were far far better than I had expected although possibly not perfect.
austria was a few years ago but the oil fell out of the gearbox on the autobahn in germany. AA did all the phoning and translation where necessary. german AA towed us to garage, put us up in a b&b for the night, provided hire car to ferry, we then crossed as foot passengers, hire car home. then when car was fixed they paid for one of us to fly out so as to pick it up and drive the car home (the car was not worth much so they would not repatriate).
France, engine in car kept turning off on the peripherique in rush hour. Again French aa came out, towed us to a garage, taxi'd us to to hotel which they booked but we paid for. Sadly we had to wait the weekend as no mechanics at the garage. They concluded on monday it was not fixable in a day so hire car for holiday duration was provided. At the end of holiday fault could not be fixed with the car so we elected to continue home in the hire car whilst my car was brought back by lorry. Only hassle was we had to swap hire cars at dover and I was car-less for a week when I got home until a large lorry attempted to drop it back to my narrow residential street.
so other than slight annoyances like having to swap hire cars, not getting like for like vehicles (some stuff did not fit) i've got to say they were superb, having someone translate/act as a go between via a phone and sort out hire cars was worth every penny. The other stuff like sorting out hotels for the night or two where needed was usefull too.
Basically speaking from my experience of the AA5* cover it is expensive but if you use it you will think it is money v.v.v.well spent. It does not make it hassle and stress free and it is not perfect BUT it is one hell of a lot better than dealing with it yourselves and especially so if you are not fluent in the language. To be honest I think the experience with the european cover is better than uk breakdowns that i have had....
Never used RAC european cover so can't compare the two
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Hydraulic fluid froze in Tignes, at 5pm, so the clutch didn't work, as we headed back to UK. Green Flag sent chappy out. I'd rung them at 6 to say that if the car wasn't going to be fixable, as obviously it wouldn't, we needed somewhere to stay. Booked into a nice hotel, with garage at entrance to Tignes Val Claret. Paid for by Green Flag. Hydraulics had thawed out by following morning in hotel garage, off we went.
Memo to self: get the fluid changed in cars with hydraulic clutches before going to sub-zero places.
But ringing the UK was a doddle, from a phone box (remember those?!) and we were well looked after. Chap arrived on time. Spoke little English but did understand 'clutch'. Car fixed itself, but we had a very nice night in a hotel!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Clarrylove, I had very good service from the RAC a few years ago. Car broke down about 50 miles from Channel on the way out, around 10pm. Truck arrived after about 45 minutes. The kids and I were dropped off at a hotel (OK, a crappy one, but can't complain in the circumstances) and a taxi arrived to take us to a hire car after an early breakfast. My car was taken to the nearest main dealer. That was on Friday night, and the hire car was covered only until the car was fixed, which was on the Tuesday. Naturally I couldn't be bothered to fetch it from the Alps, so paid out of pocket to extend the hire. Picked my car up on the Monday after the holiday (with a bill that I reckon would've been half what I'd have copped in England).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Broke down in Germany on the way to ISPO a couple of years back. Break down was through Adrian Flux. AF organised AA to tow us to their depo as it was late and organised a local hotel then the next morning arranged for the car to go from AA to a garage who got us on our way again with a temp fix.
Pretty impressed. Had to pay for hotel and temp repairs up front but within weeks of getting home as soon as they had the receipts I was refunded in full the temp repair bill, the accommodation and food for the unplanned stop.
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Yes used Green Flag. Managed to limp to Albertville where we had Hotel booked garage came out diagnosed problem and loaded car took me to garage and gave me a loan car with winter tyres (when I asked about chains just shrugged and said with winter tyres on I would not need them) We then drove to resort. Green Flag kept me updated on repair and let me know as soon as car ready. We could have kept loan car for rest of week and swapped on way back but as only a couple of hours away I made the choice to go and collect half way through holiday to save hassle and allow us to stay longer in resort on last day. Repair bill came to 40 euros! Part + 1/4 hour labour. Very happy with service form Green Flag and Garage. The only thing to be aware of is that we were at a motorway service area when we first rang Green Flag and they advised we would have to use official motorway breakdown service to get us off the motorway but they would refund cost as they were not allowed onto motorway suspect this would be the same for all breakdown companies. (I managed to get off motorway but nipping through open gate at service area onto local road!)
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We use ADAC partner plus because it insures us not the vehicle, so whatever vehicle we take we are covered. It also gives us emergency medical repatriation. Never had to use them though we have had to make use of breakdown insurance in the past both on summer and winter holidays.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Our RAC cover is part of our bank account, so covers us not the vehicle.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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kevinrhead,
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(I managed to get off motorway but nipping through open gate at service area onto local road!)
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And so avoiding paying the toll.
But this is a very entertaining thread of horror stories with happy(ish) endings. The thought of the gearbox running out of oil and a subsequent seized gearbox on the autobahn is true nightmare material. Now where is that level check
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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johnE, Ha! that's nothing my first one was total electrical failure in the outside lane of a 3 lane French Motorway!, fortunately the trucks I was overtaking saw something was wrong and slowed so I could drift onto the narrow hard shoulder! 
Please bear in mind I have been driving to the Alps every year for some 30+ years and have only had two problems in all that time.
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You know it makes sense.
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I just took a green flag policy which covers me for 122 days, it had better cover than AA or RAC including £500 towards garage bill if needed.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Sorry should have said my EuroCover is just an extension to my UK policy, don't have to take out additional insurance etc and no time limits to being away
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Poster: A snowHead
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Just a warning - if you have the RAC policies that cover the person not the vehicle and you drive a car that's more than 6 years old or so then check your policy wording on the European bit.
My folks had to abandon their VW caravelle thing halfway up France last year after it expired, it wasn't covered because it was 15 years old, and also technically a minibus and they're funny about those. Cost them about a grand all up to get towed, get a one-way hire car, get back to Calais and have me catch the tunnel over to fetch them and a pile of stuff, plus they lost the car because repatriation would have cost too much.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Good tip, thanks. Also in the process of organising breakdown cover for France/Switzerland, so this thread is very useful. Quotes so far AA annual 163, RAC 3 month trip 80, 2007 Land Rover Defender Please could you other SHers post quotes/premiums so that we could all compare, if at all possible?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thanks all for your responses. Lots to read!
I had started looking at an ADAC policy which seems to be quite well thought off in Europe.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
The thought of the gearbox running out of oil and a subsequent seized gearbox on the autobahn is true nightmare material
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The thing is, when that sort of thing happens to you, it's never as bad as you think! I once had a stone kicked up into the fan trash the radiator on the car I was driving, in Lesotho. All water dripped or sprayed out, pronto. Middle of nowhere. 4 pm, dusk wasn't going to be long. Won't bore you with the details but a chap hopped out from behind a bush, had a "brother" in a nearby village who was a mechanic. Produced can of gunk and bucket of grotty water, came with me back to Maseru (civilisation). Couple of days for new Peugeot radiator to get there. I was on my way to Pretoria when it happened, as I told the chap from behind the bush. He asked me whether I could possibly give him a lift to Pretoria. Least I could do in the circumstances.
Not a disaster, some new locals met, new experience, few days delay which wasn't critical - I was 21, my first "big trip".
More recently clutch gave out on a roundabout in Aosta. I DO WISH it had happened in France; another long boring story. AA breakdown (through another breakdown policy, nothing like as good as the AA 5* I suspect) were no match for the foibles of the Italian system on a Friday afternoon. Took a while to sort out, cost me extra money - considerable - over and above the breakdown cover, including two return trips through the Mont Blanc Tunnel but again, a hassle, but by no means a "nightmare".
A nightmare would be an accident involving injury. Anything only involving cogs and pipes and gaskets is just an inconvenience which is HUGELY reduced by having breakdown cover, especially in a country where you don't speak the language (the guys fixing my car in Aosta were probably the only people in that entire valley who couldn't speak even the simplest French  ). Or so they claimed.......
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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my breakdown was on an autobahn on a corner with very little hard shoulder. Scary. Impressive how fast the German police arrived and towed me to the nearest lay-by at 40mph, passat towing a santana PS10 (defender 110 size).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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My firm insisted that if I was going to take the company car abroad I had to have RAC European break down cover, which the leasing company provided free, the Passat broke down on the way to Les Menuires a couple of years back just outside Geneva....a sensor on the turbo failed (apparently!) ! We managed to nurse the car to Les Menuires & called the RAC....they were excellent. Unfortunately, my car leasing company was useless. The breakdown bloke took the car to a Renault garage about 800m away where the car sat until the Monday....when it was moved to a Renault garage in Moutier where the car sat for another 3 days waiting repair authorisation from the leasing company back in the UK. The RAC kept me in in the loop the whole time & when it became apparent that the repair wasn't going to be done in time for our return trip, sorted out a hire car for us. The french car hire company were shocking....Having arranged to pick up a similar size car at 4.00 PM.....phoned me at 2.00 PM demanding that I turn up there and then to collect the car otherwise they were going to let it go, regardless of the fact we had no transport to get there at that time...anyway RAC sorted out another hire car from another french town (I can't recall where). We managed to get back to Calais picking up a speed camera ticket en route! (the car hire company kindly supplied my address to the Old Bill & I got the ticket about 3 months later.) Another hire car at Dover got us back home to Essex eventually & the car was delivered 2 weeks to a Chelmsford garage for them to repair.... the whole trip was a right pain in the butt. 
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My ADAC renewal has just come through at 98.79 euros for the year, Harry Flashman, for two of us.
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I'm sure someone has
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We first took a car abroad in 1972 when we toured Europe for a month in a 10 year old Triumph Herald convertible. We took out AA 5* insurance but had no problems even though everyone had laughed at us taking an old car away for so long. We then travelled from Scotland to the south of France on summer holidays for about 10 years once the children were born, paying almost £100 a go for insurance. We then decided to stop paying for breakdown cover as we didn't have it at home and just kept our vehicles in good order and paid for repairs as needed.
I have now counted up from diaries that we have driven to Europe 29 times in the summer (approx. 19 without breakdown cover) and 38 times during the winter for skiing. So far we have paid about £50 once when we ran out of fuel on the motorway and the alternator went on Bastille day in Corsica one summer. AA 5* would have been of no use then as all garages were closed for holiday. We limped into the nearest camp site (camping holiday anyway) and got the local garage along the next day. They towed the car away, fitted the new alternator and brought the car back, total bill approx. £100.
When we worked we were teachers and always had extra days at the end of the holiday so a slight delay did not matter. We both speak good French and most driving is in France. Over the more than 50 journeys where we have covered our own breakdown costs we must have saved thousands as we have only paid out about £150 for repairs.
About to set off on the first of 3 planned trip this winter...
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Over the more than 50 journeys where we have covered our own breakdown costs we must have saved thousands
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this is true, of course. If you can afford to carry your own risk it always makes financial sense to do so, long-term, rather than pay for insurance.
The last "breakdown" experience I had was with my daughter-in-law's hired Audi, from Europcar at Geneva. Tyre blowout, side of snowy road, 4 pm, getting dark, kids in the back.
Because they were part of a party with five vehicles between us it wasn't too bad - one passed and saw the problem, took kids back to accommodation. Son and I arrived before long in another, having had the "SOS" call, ready to change the wheel but found can of utterly useless gunk  for which the instructions were entirely in German (strained my O level). I've paid extra to have my new car fitted with a cage and spare full sized wheel so I can deal with a tyre problem. And I always have the wherewithal to spend a night stranded in the cold, if necessary. I do as much as I can to help myself but I find it reassuring, especially as I drive a lot in France and Italy on my own, to know that there is help available at the end of a phone, and my UK breakdown policy covers the EU as well. It's that reassurance, rather than the financial aspect, which makes the decision for me. (On the other hand I never pay the extra for insuring personal possessions, money, etc on holiday insurance).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| mogulski wrote: |
| Over the more than 50 journeys where we have covered our own breakdown costs we must have saved thousands as we have only paid out about £150 for repairs.......About to set off on the first of 3 planned trip this winter... |
Hope you were touching wood when you typed that, and it's not going to come back to haunt you!
My old Vito (pictured above) was 12 years old and I too was worried about the age as I'd heard ten years was the cut off, but I had checked that out before I went and my broker (yes I've reverted back to using them) confirmed I'd be ok, but I was still a little tense in case I'd get a "computer says No" situation.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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It's a convenience thing, isn't it. You know that you will be returned on a truck to the channel port, on time.
Mogulski, you'd have had to pay for the repairs in the UK anyway (or indeed - depending on your policy - abroad as well). So I don't think it's cost you a penny!
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[quote="johnE"]kevinrhead,
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(I managed to get off motorway but nipping through open gate at service area onto local road!)
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And so avoiding paying the toll.
It was actually on one of those sections of motorway you get in the mountains where a toll is not charged.
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You know it makes sense.
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| James the Last wrote: |
| It's a convenience thing, isn't it. You know that you will be returned on a truck to the channel port, on time. |
Most of the above tales have involved arriving a hire car which is then dropped off, car following days later. In some of the above cases being dumped back at Dover in a dead car would have been less hassle (and quicker) than getting it fixed abroad and returned.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Well, thank god we took the breakdown cover! We had a rather eventful return journey whereby my usually competent husband misfuelled the car on the motorway. Calls to 112 and non- English speaking emergency services and then recovery, we were eventually loaded on a vehicle on the Sat eve, tanks drained and back on the road in a couple of hours. Can't fault the efficiency really. Won't be doing that again (hopefully,).
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Poster: A snowHead
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Clarrylove, my hubby almost did the same thing a couple of years ago.
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