Car Broken Down and Stuck in France - Help!

[pauljmcnulty]

Great news!

I wonder how much help you could get from the Porsche Club France, and whether they have a forum such as this? Certainly scary to have to find a specialist you can trust in a foreign country, which is why you have the flippin' recovery service! [&:]

 

[Super_Marv]

Glad to hear it's coming back home to you Ed!

Hope the problem isn't too hard to solve with the car itself.

I always bring a booklet with all the addresses and telephone numbers of Porsche Dealerships in Europe with me, when driving my 968 abroad. You can pick them up from your local Porsche centre.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Great news - and thanks for keeping us updated.

 

[JamesO]

It is an eye opener, must check my policy before traveling next.

A mate of mine had an old Skyline with a huge amount of power but probably not a huge book price. It broke on two 'ring trips when I was there, the first was he killed 3rd gear and the second was a worrying 'klonk' from the back end. Each time ADAC simply turned up and were prepared to ship the car back to Blighty.

With the blown gearbox he used the adac supplied hire car to get hold of a used box and get it fitted locally.

With the Klonk noise the car was shipped back.

I'm nothing to do with ADAC but they do seem good.

 

[TTM]

Good to hear things are moving forward.
Let us know what is wrong in the car.

 

[RSGulp]

+1 on ADAC. Me and my wife are covered for the whole of UK and Europe for around €90 per year - ADAC Plus Membership. The person is covered, not a specific car, so any vehicle we travel in is covered. Their UK operation is delivered by the AA. Have used them twice in UK and couldn't fault the service. All for less than the price of AA UK only cover.

 

[Frenchy]

Great news, keep us posted, hassle you can do without ! []
Good tip that RS Gulp, i will look into that, can you join via the web ?

 

[vincematthews]

ORIGINAL: peanut
I did once have a vehicle that had a collapsed remote gearshift linkage which left both reverse and a forward gear selected simultaneously. Strange but true.

Didn't know whether you were coming or going . . . . [][][]

ORIGINAL: EddySpaghetti
FWIW - read the small print. I'm not sure they would have been obligated to return the vehicle if this had happened mid trip rather than on the last day, because the repair could feasibly have been completed while I was still on holiday - which would have ruined a holiday and cost potentially a lot more to get fixed in foreign lands with little choice of garages... i would have assumed before reading the doc back to front that they would ALWAYS repatriate, and give you a hire car for the remainder of your holiday...
Cheers,
Ed

Don't know if you have Car Insurance as well as Breakdown Cover with the RAC, but last time I looked their Car Insurance policy, you are NOT insured "to drive other cars (even third party) with their owners' permission". One reason I am not with them.

 

[Pastry]

Great news makes me wonder if same applies if you broke down in Orkney.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

I know of an early 1920s Cadillac that managed to engage 1 st whilst still in reverse - result was lots of bits of metal all over the floor.
That was a Tuesday, car was wanted for a wedding Saturday, call to the States, box couriered over, fitted Thursday at the wedding no problem!
Most modern cars would take s week to get a box!

 

[VanhireBoys]

Glad you are getting the car home Ed.. At least if its on your drive you can sort it out.. Keep us posted on the cause of the problem...

Off topic
Mike you reminded me of a story about a Saab 9000 which 4th gear was noisey on. My father had a garage at a stage in the 80's and 90's with one mechanic Gerry who was good enough but fond of boozing.. ! Gerry had the car in on a Friday took out the box then on the Monday (bad day) stripped it and rebuilt the gear cluster... He found a steel ball which he couldnt remember where he had seen it before.... The box was built and put back in the car..... Myself and Gerry went for a test drive 1st no problem, 2nd no problem 3rd and there was an unmerciful bang and the car shuddered to a halt...[].

The ball was to separate 2nd and 3rd gear - Gerry had left it out .... We had to phone the breaker for another box ! I was a teenager at that stage - Taught me a lesson.....[]

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: vincematthews

ORIGINAL: peanut
I did once have a vehicle that had a collapsed remote gearshift linkage which left both reverse and a forward gear selected simultaneously. Strange but true.

Didn't know whether you were coming or going . . . . [][][]

I still don't vince ![][]

 

[944 man]

Im going to +1 ADAC too, but they too have a limit as to how far theyll go / how much theyll spend.

 

[RSGulp]

ORIGINAL: Frenchy
Good tip that RS Gulp, i will look into that, can you join via the web ?

http://www.adac.de/mitgliedschaft/adac_membership/

 

[vincematthews]

ORIGINAL: peanut

ORIGINAL: vincematthews

ORIGINAL: peanut
I did once have a vehicle that had a collapsed remote gearshift linkage which left both reverse and a forward gear selected simultaneously. Strange but true.

Didn't know whether you were coming or going . . . . [][][]

I still don't vince ![][]

All part of the rich tapestry . . . . [][][][&:]

Sorry 'bout that . . . went all philosophical for a moment . . . but I'm better now .......................................


Ed, I hope you manage to get it sorted ok - what was the sequence of events leading up to the failure?

 

[Oct]

I am also an ADAC member in case of situations like this.

 

[vincematthews]

ORIGINAL: EddySpaghetti
Hi,
Good news, the RAC have confirmed that they will repatriate the vehicle!
So, I will keep you posted on the diagnosis once I have had it looked at.
Thanks for the solid advice, and the general morale support!
Cheers,
Ed

Ed
Did you ever find out what the problem was?