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• Hyundai Tucson 2005 CRTD CDX - Engine misfiring 9 Oct 2012 (Forum)
  I was driving in France recently and having refuelled I drove about 200 miles on the autoroute at about 80mph. on decellerating to enter services, the engine started to misfire and run rough. I stopped it and restarted with the same result and was evenyually towed off to a garage.
• Speed limit rising from 70-80mph 8 Oct 2011 (Forum)
  -There is more traffic now but cars are much safer, they have the ability to stop a lot quicker and we are all used to having the amount of cars on the road that there is. -Interestingly, France and Luxembourg have weather dependent speed restrictions:-when it raining 110kph, when not, 130kph...And obviously there is Germany who don't have a speed limit but recommend 130kph (70mph) I don;t know what the stats are for these in terms of fatality rates from crashes??
• Skoda Octavia - Variable Servicing / Oil change 6 Jul 2010 (Forum)
  Trouble is I can't get my head round a two year service interval ( I always did a six month intermediate oil change on my last car) and since we only cover 10K a year, so might be better changing to fixed annual service. Last service was April 09, next one due April 11 - we have a long trip to S of France this August. Q: Would it be wise to do a  National Tyres Castrol Edge oil change now (£31.50 and 507.00 spec) or would it void my Approved Used Skoda warranty? Or is it  really fine to run two years on the same oil.
• Motoring 'agony aunt' advice required 1 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  I questioned my son closely when he told me he planned to marry, but apparently he thought it better that this fact was kept from me. Luckily, I am happily settled in France, 500 miles from any potential face-to-face embarrassment, so I don't feel the need to emigrate. But how will I keep a straight face if I ever see it? And what will I do if my friends find out? Any down-to-earth advice would be very welcome.
• Renault Scenic (1999 - 2003) - 03 1.6 Is the alternator checked during servicing? 30 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  In May we had a major service (120,000 Kms - we live in France = 75,000miles), and at the same time, had our cam belt replaced - expensively. Last week, just 6,000 Kms later, the alternator pulley somehow stopped turning fully, shredded the V belt, which jammed the cam belt, resulting in bill totalling over 2,100 euros, or around £1,900.
• Honda Accord UK (1993 - 1998) - 96 2.0 Tapping noise when accelerating 12 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  My wife says it sounds like I'm running some great big sewing machine! Could it be the fuel - I have made several trips to France recently and have filled up with 95 E10 grade petrol. Most petrol stations now have only this grade and rumour has it that this new stuff can cause problems with old cars.
• Peugeot Boxer (2000 - 2007) - 2005 2.8 Bitron Relay 46520419 16 Feb 2009 (Forum)
  My 2005 Compass Castaway Motorhome based on a peugeot boxer developed a fault on the return trip from France . Although the engine was running fine and the the engine temperature was normal the Gauge was reading red hot ! After investigating in the engine bay and a bit of pushing i noticed a relay that was fitted with the prongs facing upwards and water had corroded the connections .When i tapped the relay the gauge flickered and returned to normal for a while .
• Volkswagen Passat (1997 - 2000) - 00 1.8t ABS fault - intermittent 11 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  I have been getting intermittent ABS warnings for the last couple of weeks while on holiday driving through France. It was making the wife very nervous despite my reassurances...... I haven't had a chance to plug in VAG-COM yet because my laptop is not working. I get 3 beeps followed by "Brake Fault", "See Service Manual" and then "Stop"!!
• What camper van ? 11 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  We are toying with buying a camper van (to accommodate 2 adults) so that in early retirement we can cruise the highways and byways of Europe and maybe pop over to North Africa sometime. It would be based in SW France and stored in a ventilated barn and it would only be used for maybe a month or two a year and probably less. Something LHD and diesel seems the obvious choice. Buying is about a year or so away and would be at a time to get good deal - winter?
• Insurance question - Business use abroad 7 Aug 2007 (Forum)
  Ummm, just phoned my insurance Co. the one in Hastings as I'm off to France for an exhibition with work later this year. Since the car is covered SDP with Class 1 bizuse I was checking A. if their was any issue taking it abroad on the Class 1 & B. did I need to notify them.
• Fuel Contamination 15 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  After years of reading, my first post ( sorry about the length ). I recently visited France and half way through my trip my three month old 2.5 CRTD 4 x 4 started missing, only perceptable in second gear. It wasn't too detrimental to driving solo or even when the Caravan was attached, so no remedy was sought until I returned to Blighty.
• No Green Card= no comprehensive cover? 1 May 2007 (Forum)
  Last year I drove to France and obtained a Green Card from Direct Line, as I was told that without it my comprehensive cover was reduced to third party cover on the continent. I've since been told by a friend that the sole purpose of a green card was to prove to the authorities that you have at least third party cover.
• Small car but big feel 8 Feb 2007 (Forum)
  Clio/Fiesa/Corsa size but likes a big engine for relaxed motorway driving. She only does 6K a year but most of that is motorway with one trip to France a year. She currently has an old Clio which is a 1.4 IIRC. Although she has been pleased with it, it's on its last legs now and is a bit noisy for long motorway trips. She has a budget of £13000, plus the old Clio - probably worth a few hundred.
• "Wrong" oil in an emergency? 11 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  anyway, hard to read the oil level but i think I'm on the minimum line. Now, it's 4pm on a Sunday in rural France, and I need to drive 175 motorway miles to Barcelona at 3am in the morning... I'm not going to find somewhere selling the manufacturer spec 0W-30 oil this time of the day. Any huge risk if I put in some Shell Helix synthetic 10W-40 to top it up instead?
• New towcar - Hyundai or Kia 31 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  Time to ditch the Jeep as it's getting a bit expensive on repairs (not to mention diesel). I need an automatic diesel towcar that'll drag 1500 Kg of caravan across France and across rally fields. As our income is now fixed it'll have to last a goodly time. I know the Kia Sorento was last year's towcar of the year and is still a class winner but I'm attracted to the Santa Fe, it's £1k cheaper and the 5 year warranty is good news.
• Hyundai Trajet Suspension 15 Sep 2006 (Forum)
  The garage put it down to " a knock" but the fact that they were so willing to put it right under warranty leaves me suspicious, or am I being paranoid? I have now shelved plans to have it air dropped into central France for next years holiday to save the tedious drive!
• recc sensible VW Golf Forum please? 28 Sep 2005 (Forum)
  For what it's worth here's the original post: Hiya. I'd like to address an annoyance in the above car, which showed up during tour of France some while ago. Essentially it seems to need thinking time between pressing the accelerator for a swift overtake & actually doing it. What I was hoping is there a nice quick & cheap fix for this? A known issue?
• Renault 20 Jun 2005 (Forum)
  Not sure how much, if any, of it is state owned now but there seems to be some similarities between it and Rover. One item on the report got my attention. Over 60% of cars bought in France are from French makers (not certain where built). However in Britain, albeit we don't have too many genuine British manufacturers, but British people seem to turn their noses up at British cars (Rover being the perfect example).
• pour votre information 8 Jun 2005 (Forum)
  Speed cameras in France. Having purchased a device to alert me to cameras in the UK and on the continent I road tested it last week. A trip from St Malo to past La Rochelle spotted cameras on the Rennes ring road, the Nantes RR and the La Rochelle RR.
• UK£5k: used Fiesta or new Panda? 8 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  that the Fiesta is from a different segment and therefore a better car all-round... Which would you choose?! Is a brand new car worth finding the extra £500 for? (I'm in France, so there's no 05 reg snobbery here!)