Refine by channel:  Forum (1062)    Ask HJ (522)    News (212)    FAQs (7)    Article (4)    Good Garages (1)    productReview (1)  

Sort by: Relevance | Newest first | Oldest first

• Ultimate insurance honesty 19 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  Submitted claim, work done by local bodyshop instead of the 'recommended repairer'. August - car ready, £200 excess paid (3 weeks wait for new wing while France goes on holiday). Dec. - broker sends renewal reminder, premium £10 LESS than last time. What's going on? (There is no explicit mention of NCB protection, which is - was - 9 years). Jan.2004 - I renew via internet.
• Fuel Consumption Peugeot 307 18 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  I have a Peug 307 Dturbo 2.0 HDi with 10k on the clock. The main reason for purchase is that I drive a lot of miles in France. Peugeot claim 40 mpg urban, 67 - extra urban, 54 combined. I am very disappointed with my car\'s performance and have been monitoring very carefully. On Motorways at an indicated 80 mph I achieve less than 40 mpg.
• Golf brake failure 2 28 Jan 2002 (Forum)
  I thought that the days of parts shortages had long gone. Even Renault Leeds managed to get a timing chain for a Renault 16 from France in 4 days in 1977. Now Mill Garages Darlington are quoting me 7 - 10 days on a "vehicle off road" order, but they are kindly offering a courtesy (or hire) car. Thank you Mill, a Passat W8 will do nicely ...
• Driving in Europe 26 Nov 2001 (Forum)
  By the way, my car had to stay off the road (Thursday thru Tuesday, !) to get a cambelt roller replacement having been diagnosed during a routine service in France and the maker's assistance scheme provided a rental car. Afterwards, at home, I received a phone call from their agent to advise me that, really, I shouldn't have been provided with that car because, strictly speaking, the car hadn't "broken down", but that they were not pursuing the matter.
• he's right, I *should* get out more 20 Jul 2001 (Forum)
  It begins "Having driven in many countries (England, Scotland, Belgium, Netherlands, USA - 8 states, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) I can honestly say that the Brits have the most appalling road manners I've ever seen" http://www.fabuloustravel.com/tips/ukdriving.html Tips for Americans who want to drive bad in the UK "Tip #10 Speed limits are given in miles per hour, not kilometers, although distances are given in kilometers "
• Tesla - Do EV batteries explode in a collision? 2 Aug 2023 (Forum)
  My mother is a long time serving traffic officer in France and she sent me a footage taken by her partner from a road collision between two Tesla's that took place a couple of weeks ago. She describes a series of multiple explosions that followed an intense fire that required a full two lanes civic road to be shut.
• none - Insurer helping out if hospitalised with Covid. 15 Mar 2021 (Forum)
  Our other insurer MMA which we have house and cars with is doing similar so OH tells me. Amazing! Hope we don't have to use it. This is in France BTW.
• 2016 Peugeot 308 1.2 THP - Engine cutting out dangerously when driving 19 Apr 2017 (Forum)
  I have been without the car for 7 days which include an aborted trip to Calais and the courtesy car they tell me does not cover me in France. Feeling very frustrated as have no faith in my car. Any advice please very welcome. Perhaps the petrol pump will resolve it but what if not as my first year under warranty expires on January 29th.
• Citroen C8 - Citroen C8 Black Smoke intermittent 30 Mar 2013 (Forum)
  Hi All,   I have a Citroen C8 SX hdi 2.0ltr with an intermittent problem.  I drove it from England to the South of France and within 100 miles of motorway driving the car started to slightly judder and if i took my foot from the accelerator and pushed back down then it wasn't very responsive and slow to react, i could also see smoke from the back.
• 2001 VW Golf TDI IV Diesel - Garage says oil plug is stuck 28 Aug 2012 (Forum)
  Hello, I took my car into the French equivalent of Kwik Fit (I recenttly moved to France) to get the oil changed and they have told me there is no way they can remove the oil plug to replace the oil because the plug is stuck. They told me to take it to a VW dealership, but I am puzzled why (and they did not speakl enough english to be able to explain why) because the last oil change according to the service history was just at a generic garage.
• Any - Falling new car sales - what happens next? 16 Jun 2011 (Forum)
  (We were at the dealership to check out a used FR-V, not buy a new Accord!) This malaise will probably extend across Europe. Spain economy is hobbled. France and German banks have lost gazillions lending to Greece, and may need nationalised (taxpayer) money to stay 'healthy'. Basically, less and less people will be shelling out on new wheels, and even then on something more modest, than they might have bought before, or a used car.
• Auto-Europe car rental - anyone used them? 31 Aug 2009 (Forum)
  It appears that they are an agent, and after booking you receive a voucher which will then tell you the actual rental company you will be renting from. Has anyone any experience of this company? I normally drive to the south of France but a one week break really requires taking a (cheap) flight both from time/cost perspective. I also wanted to avoid the situation that I ran into last time I took a cheap flight (Santander) where I booked my car from the airline website and - of course - on arrival everybody else on the RyanAir flight had done the same and there were about 100 people all queuing at the desk with one person (slowly) processing each rental!
• Census on A5 causes chaos 3 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  All roads were jammed 10 miles back and it took 3 hours to complete what should have been a 30 minute journey. If this was France they would have beaten hell out of these clowns and burned the police vehicles. As it was we British sheep queued and took it whilst muttering under our breath. There is now nothing for it but to fire all the civil servants and police and just start again.
• Renault Scenic (2003 - 2009) - 03 1.9DcI worrying warning light 5 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  Living in France, I bought my Grand Scenic in Nov 03. Now nearing 90000km (about 55000 m). After relatively few problems before, I'm now having a curious problem. This happens when the engine is at normal running temperature, and I've been cruising for a while (eg on a longish dual carriageway).
• FIAT Punto II (1999 - 2006) - 05 1.3 Emission system `show stoppers?` 22 Jun 2008 (Forum)
  Thinking of going to France/Italy, later in the year, in the 2005 1.3 multijet van. Now I have the gendan fault code reader in the car I`m getting interested in what could be done to keep going in certain situations. Questions, 1) Am I right in thinking the MAF, Turbo Boost sensor and EGR, can trigger codes, put the car into `limp mode` but not actually cause a breakdown?
• Expensive shine? 15 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  It's mid-June and my copy of Classic and Sportscar has reached deepest France. In it I've found a full-page advert for a company called Bespoke Paint Protect Ltd that offers to use 'total car wrapping' to coat your vehicle with an invisible paint-protection thermoplastic called VentureShield that will 'withstand years of stone-chipping, aggressive abrasion from the environment and track day or off-road events'.
• French Notes 9 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  Am on my hols in rural France at moment. Q - If this country is so agricultural..........where are all the 4x4's? They don't seem to need them here. I have not seen a single X5, Landcruiser etc on French plates, only UK ones.
• Giving away a UK car abroad? 2 Jan 2007 (Forum)
  I'd like to do a relaxed road trip across Europe, ending up in Croatia/Hungary/Romania direction, taking in France, Italy, perhaps Austria, Slovenia etc. No more than 3 hours driving each day, stopping off for lunch, see the market/castle etc. May would be a good time. I appreciate that a Favorit might not be the conveyance of choice, but as the title suggests, I'd like to leave the car at the end of the trip and fly back with Stelios/other cheapy airline.
• astra 53 burning smell/hot o/s front 27 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  On Saturday did a 25 mile journey and there was quite a bit of smoke coming from around the os front wheel, clutch had gone so had a new one fitted yesterday. Went to france today and coming back on the M1 we were stuck in a lot of traffic so start/stop alot, then we noticed the burning smell again and saw a little smoke, later realised the os front brake is sticking, car is heavy to pull away so I went to a slight hill when we got home and car barely rolled!
• lights for driving abroad 8 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  The Ford handbook states that the headlights are to be adjusted for driving on the right. However as I am taking car to France only for 4 days I do find this a little inconvenient as lights would have to be adjusted prior to the trip. I would then have to drive at night to get the 11pm ferry - I could then be stopped by police for badly adjusted lights surely!