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• Italian / French fixed penalties/ fines 26 May 2010 (Forum)
  Does he have to pay ? Can he contest it ? What happens if he doesn't pay up ? (2) Racing back from the south of France this Monday, on the last 100kms of a 1250km drive from Nice due to no airlines, I zoomed past a blue gendarmerie car on the motorway. I reckon realistically I was doing 155kph ie 25 over the 130 limit.
• Volkswagen Passat (2001 - 2005) - 04 1.9 Aux drive belt idler pulley or viscous fan 27 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  With an engine stethascope it is not clear whether the noise is coming from the drive belt idler pulley (the plastic one) or the viscous fan one. Neither feels loose when levered with a bar. Local garage advice (I live in South West France) is to leave the noise insulation cover off the engine and closely monitor both components until one is clearly the culprit. The cambelt and kit of parts were replaced last year, but the garage didn't replace anything to do with the aux drive belt (no reason to I guess and I didn't ask them to).
• Day Trip to Calais - Summary 11 Nov 2009 (Forum)
  Unleaded is abour Euro 1.22 per litre and I saw it as high as 1.39 on an autoroute. Even at today's exchange rate it is better to arrive in France with a full tank. For those who care about these things it is not possible to buy tobacco products at and super or hyper market, only available thru local 'Tabac' shops in towns and cities. One lady declined to sell us any because it was Saturday, so far as my limited French goes but we got what we wanted 100 yards away so that was a mystery!
• Renault Megane II (2002 - 2008) - 2004 - over reving & accelerating itself 8 May 2009 (Forum)
  This is the horrific part, they said that the car needed a new wiring loom which they quoted me at £1987 to replace as they said they had to order it from France. First the had misdiognised the car and charged me now they are telling me its something totally different. Has anyone ha dthe same problem with thier renualt? {Header given a more meaningful title that gives a brief description of question being asked. 50/50 split whether this belongs here or in Technical Matters?}
• Alpine pass experience 9 Dec 2008 (Forum)
  Just got back from a tour of France in our MK7 Transit Motorhome during which we drove over the highest pass in Europe at Resterfond (9200 feet). Some observations of this run were that, firstly the change in pressure from start, at about 3000 feet to the top meant that the gas turned on with a huge ?
• Driving in Europe - Questions 8 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  We're planning to drive to the German Alps and the Black Forest so most of the driving will be in Germany with some in France/Holland depending on whether we cross from Hull-Rotterdam or the Calais routes (we live in Leeds, incidentally). It will be after the winter (we're not going for the skiing). Also, incidentally, I have driven on the right before in America but with a left hand drive hire car.
• chipped 2.0 Jaguar/Ford turbo diesel 31 Jul 2006 (Forum)
  I'd like a bit more oomph 50-70 etc, for those overtakes...... (that seemingly you can only do in Scotland or Cornwall nowadays...or even France, where they seem to expect you to do it and help you on your way). Please don't tell me we should have bought the 3.0 litre petrol 'cos i already know that... trouble is, my S type 3.0 on a long journey will return 27 mpg driven fairly hard, the X type diesel does 38 or 39mpg in the same circs and this committed petrol head has finally succumbed to the diesel (after severe persuasion from the Ubergruppenfuhrer) so that Mr Brown doesn't get all of my salary, instead of just most of it.
• Driving a Foreign Car in Britain 27 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  Presumably I need the direction changed? But I can't do that until I arrive in England as I need to drive through France. If I arrive in the evening or night will a copper nab me on the way out of the Ferry port? Instead of going to a mechanic (how much in England?) can I change the direction using headlight stickers, as I used to do with my old Cavalier here in Spain?
• mondeo TDCi Vibration under load 18 Aug 2004 (Forum)
  When it was new I could sence a slight knock on the steering when taking up the clutch at a junction, or sometimes when stopping, a friend in Ford Service told me there is a new design of bolt that gets fitted to Mondeo's with this fault, but wait for the service. Since then, while in France the last few weeks an irritating resinance/vibration has made its self known between 1500 - 2000rpm. The one at 1500 is normally under heavy throttle in a higher gear, espeically up hill. It made it's self known in the Alps when using 3rd and 4th gear, 1500rpm is the point at which the torque build up, and so was labouring, more starting to pull hard.
• Dumb drivers 17 May 2004 (Forum)
  Have just returned from a coach trip holiday to Italy. We-ell, it is what some of we masochists do. We stopped at a motorway pit stop in France for breakfast after which we rejoined the coach, which then began to pull away and head for the slip road to access the motorway. I just happened to be looking straight ahead through the windscreen as we moved down a one-way service road.
• Disintegrating Renault Megane - advice?! 23 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  However, I can't seem to find a UK address to write to to register my complaint - their website has an email form to fill in (which I'm not happy with - I want to send a registered letter), or an address in France. Anyone have any ideas where I can get a UK address form?
• Towing as part of the running-in process 3 Jul 2003 (Forum)
  Just had the (formerly !) trusty R reg Xantia 2.1TD checked over prior to a month in France with the caravan, departing on the 19th. Turns out that the heater matrix has gone, there's an as yet undiganosed fault on the engine management system and the a/c needs re-gassing. It's only done 105k, but main dealer is quoting a sum adjacent to £1k for fixing it.
• Life flashed before my eyes! 17 Apr 2003 (Forum)
  Driving back on a lovely stretch of route national from Lyon to Grenoble, France yesterday (it\'s 26C here, not that I want to rub it in or anything), I was costing downhill past a procession of lorries crawling up on the opposite side. My speed was about 100Kmh, the opposite side traffic was doing about 30kmh.
• Turning a British Car into a French Car 10 Apr 2003 (Forum)
  I have just had a Controle Technique (MOT) on my VW Passat CDTDI (which is British) in order to get new French licence plates as I now live in France full time. However, at the MOT the passat failed on hand brake (not serious), but also because the head lights point the wrong way (the lens is for British cars which drive on the left). The MOT chap told me to get new lenses (made in Europe, set for driving on the right) or new lights in total.
• Petrol, diesel, hybrid? (No EVs please) - Advice on car for retirement 2 Aug 2022 (Forum)
  It doesn't do a huge mileage locally but I always go driving holidays so it's done Wales, the West Country, France, Germany, Spain, and many such trips up north. The down side though is that like most pre 2015 diesels it's non ULEZ compatible and with all sorts of towns and cities going that way, I will need to replace it at some point.
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  What is going to happen with commercial vehicles after 2030 as they are all diesel-powered at present? 18 Nov 2020 (Ask HJ)
  Is this new 2030 ruling for the UK only? If so, what is the rest of the world doing on this? Also, as the majority of our cars are now made outside of...
• SEAT Alhambra - sunroof exploded 23 Nov 2018 (Forum)
    I had no storage facility for my wheelchair and I was without transportation for weeks because of this and unable to do any meaningful activities which further exacerbated my mental health conditions. We were due to go on holiday to France a few weeks after this incident. Tickets had been booked under my vehicles' details. However, we were unable to order a vignette, an emissions certificate where, without displaying in certain areas in France, could result in a fine or even the vehicle being seized.
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  I want a bit of 1980s nostalgia - what do you suggest? 20 Jun 2018 (Ask HJ)
  I grew up in the 1980s in France and am now really keen to grab a piece of motoring nostalia from this era. I'd love a convertible ideally. I'm not a motoring...
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  Why won't my Range Rover Sport's stop-start work on the parking brake? 7 Dec 2013 (Ask HJ)
  I have a new model Range Rover Sport 3.0d HSE Dynamic. I have to say I love it. I traded a Discovery 4 (amazing residual after three years) and recently...
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  Is it ok to drive my Mercedes-Benz SLK280 on a repaired tyre? 28 Sep 2013 (Ask HJ)
  On a recent trip to France in my 17,000 mile 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLK280, I had the misfortune to get a puncture in the rear nearside tyre. The tyres are...