sugarplum

Hi all

We have EU cover with the RAC arrival... ...Has anyone had experience of using them.
How good are the?

We are thinking about if we had a puncture on our travels..... we carry a spare tyre, so wondered what the procedure would be.


We are off Plymouth to Santander on the 6 Dec.... anyone else?

cheers Alice and George

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happy trails.............sugarplum

pappajohn

should be just the same service and procedure as in the uk.

english speaking call centers as well.

not sure if the euro motorway phones work like ours though.

i beleive if you use one here you connect to the motorway police center who ask for details and forward them to your recovery company.

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AdgeRas

RAC is very good, and in truth I have been with them years, privatly and also with the RAC via Motability for my car I drive now. However, we recently got a quote from them and it was around the £200 for the year to include all of Europe. We contacted ADAC the German equivalent, and have joned them and we pay about £70.

In reality.....................ADAC ar giving us the same coverage as RAC and if we break down in the UK, then it is infact the AA or the RAC that ADAC send out to us. If you want any more info, PM me as I do have an email address of an ADAC membership person who speaks very good English.

Adge

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pappajohn

chances are if you break down on foreign soil with RAC Arrival euro cover then the ADAC will attend.

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AdgeRas

Thats very true Pappajohn, but by joining ADAC rather than RAC you get the whole same protection, but at almost a 1/3rd cost.

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caz

Have used RAC Arrival for some years now - yes it is expensive but we have had our monies worth. Have needed to call them a few times in France - very good service - no problems.

One thing to remember - (In France) if on a motorway, or motorway services then you need to contact the motorway police, but suggest you ring RAC beforehand so they are aware as they have to reimburse the breakdown service.

If your in France - call in to Parc Verger

Tandy

We have just had our first(and hopefully last) flat tyre (as well as frying the front brakes) when I was in the Alps (La Grave,France) six weeks ago.

My brother had persuaded me to be the support vehicles for a 40th birthday weekend doing part of the tour de france( Col de Telegraphe/ Col de la Colombiere). The roads were very steep and too narrow for my comfort,

Anyway I digress. We woke up Sunday morning to a flat tyre covered in oil. I phoned the RAC and within 20 minutes a french mechanic on the scene from a local garage.

Unfortunatly the french mechanics informed me that this being France & it being a Sunday there was no-one open that could supply the required tyre

Not only was there nobody open who could supply the tyre, but that they didn't know if there was anybody who stocked RV tyres

Anyhow it's these little adventures that are part and parcel of the whole motorhome experience.

Andy
When they told me that it may take days to obtain the tyre I started to get really worried as I needed to be back in work on wednesday. I was very glad I had recovery since if they couldn't get a tyre I could request to be recovered back to the UK.

That is when the RAC told me that they wouldn't recover me as there was nothing wrong mechanically with the vehicle.

As it turned out the french garage were fantastic, and they had sourced a tyre and started to change the wheel by lunchtime monday, BUT when they replaced the tyre they found that the brakes had over heated so much that a washer that holds the oil within the wheel had distorted and wouldn't seal the oil within the wheel.

This is obviously a mechanic problem and if they couldn't fix it the vehicle could be repatriated under the RAC scheme. BUT this does not appear to be like normal recovery in the UK where both people and vehicle are recovered together.

What the RAC told me was that they would organize a hire car for us to return to the UK. The RV would be kept in a secure compound until recovery could be organized and they would hope to have the RV back in the UK within 2 weeks

Luckily the French mechanics using some heavy duty glue/sealant were able to do a tempory fix and we were able to leave La Grave by 6.00pm Monday and we were back in the UK by 8.00am Tuesday.

It is now with Darren of Mororhome Medics who has replaced the other front tyre for half the cost and is finally doing the brakes after an unforseen delay when the parts from the US which were meant to take 2 days took 2 weeks after being put on the wrong on arriving in Germany.

We are now trying to see if it's possible to take a spare tyre , we just haven't worked out where to store it. Any suggestions anyone?

Darren has also given me lessons on how to look after my brakes.

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Tanya & Andy and there wonderful RV Tandy
Gulfstream Sunvoyager 8292
If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.
- Ivan Turgenev
Enjoying lifes Journey

sugarplum

Andy and Tanya

While sorry to hear of your plight in France and glad it is now resolved......it is just the sort of thing we was looking for when we did the post.

We thought being covered with RAC Arrival would be OK, but wondered about the flat tyre thingy.... so thanks for your post which was most informative.

Although we are missing out France this year and going Plymouth to Santander and down to Portugal, hopefully the service would be as good. Even more hopeful we don't need to use it!

When we bought the RV we were advised to carry a spare tyre when travelling abroad becuase of the difficulty in obtaining them speedily. We keep it in the "through" locker and it takes up a lot of space, but hey.... some things need to. I'd keep it under the bed if I had to......

No matter how much you travel around, you always seem to be learning stuff all the time. Which is also what makes this forum so valuable.

Cheers Alice and George

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happy trails.............sugarplum