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Car breakdown - now what ?


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Here's a thought for you all.  

How would you cope - what would you do ?
You live in rural France - back of beyond, miles from any garage.
Your car, on your drive, on home turf, breaks down;  it refuses to start.   All the battery charging, new battery, WD40 sprayed on distributor - everything you can possibly do yourself - doesn't work.
It just sits there - smirking at you - refusing to fire up.
It's a diesel - they're supposed to be indestructible - doesn't it know that ?

Now - limited mechanical knowledge.  No other car to tow 'sick' car to a garage.
And if it's an automatic then it's even more of a problem isn't it ?

How do you get out of such a predicament ?

And yes, this is the time when I wish I was 'somewhere else' !!!

I know this by rights should be in the 'Driving' section - but thought it might appeal to a wider audience.

Chessie

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Nonsense, just properly maintain what you have.

Whatever that costs it will always be less than buying a new or nearly new car.

I bought a 4 year old car in 2007 and when I left France for Spain in 2018 I'd put 250,000km on it (307,000km on the clock) in which time outside of regular servicing it had probably needed 'spannering' no more than three or four times.
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Chessie, if you insurance doesn't cover you for 0 km distance from home, then you could ring up a local garage and ask them to come out to you.

Of course, you then have to pay them yourself so choose a garage as near you as possible.  The last chap that came out didn't want payment, started the car with jump leads and told me to drive it around for at least 30 minutes.  I gave him a good tip as he saved me a bundle of trouble.

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[quote user="anotherbanana"]Chessie, how old is the car battery?[/quote]

Chessie, you say it is a new battery but exactly how new? It would also be helpful to tell us the make, model and year of your car. Some of us have detailed knowledge of specific cars and only a general understanding of most cars. We have all, probably, faced your non-starting predicament but invariably find a simple solution after many attempts to solve the mystery.
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OK - I wanted to replace this blasted car 5 years ago - would 'he' listen - nope.  He 'knew' better didn't he;  listen to little wifie - oh no !!   So here we are.
Stuck with a bloody old car, that I hate to drive - and he won't listen to me. 

OK - whinge over.
The car is a Xantia diesel, born 1998 (yeah I know, don't say a word ! - but low mileage) - it's been regularly serviced, the battery was bought brand new just 6 months ago.   A helpful friend replaced old battery with new, tried to start the engine - no go.   There's plenty of fuel, the starter motor kicks into life without any problem - it just doesn't catch - no ignition, no life.   We tried so many times that the battery has drained so much and it won't accept new charge from battery charger.  OH had complained for a couple of months that the ignition didn't always catch on as it should do.  I just thought he wasn't giving the pre-ignition time to heat up before turning the key to final position to fully start car; in fairness perhaps he was right and the pre-ignition coil was starting to fail.
Having done some digging around on websites I'm fairly sure it is the pre-ignition coil wotsit gubbins that's not working.  But it's all very well suspecting what the problem is -
but that's no help when the car just sits there, grinning at me........!!
I thought the break-down asistance emergency number provided with insurance was only for use when you are away from home - not when the problem is sat there on your own drive !!  

And don't you have to pay the first £XXXX anyway; and then if you make a claim up goes your premium (they get you every way don't they !!)

Hadn't thought of phoning a local garage and asking them to tow it to their own place - hadn't thought of that at all.  Why on earth didn't I think of it.   That is probably the best idea.

Oh I am so fed-up.   And I'm struggling, feeling lonely, and having to sort out problems on my own.  If I were a widow (oh please) I'd have dumped this car and be driving something newer.  As it is I'm stuck with him and that useless lump of metal in the drive.   And I could scream.   And yes, I've had a few glasses of wine because I'm stressed.......... so forgive the bad-tempered tone of this post.
I am grateful for your help and suggestions;  just interested to know how others might cope in same situation - you are all lovely people - knew I'd get some helpful ideas. 

(Hector's Dad - I'm sure you could sort this damned car out for me if you lived nearby - you sound as though you know how to deal with the innards of these metal beasts.......)

Thank you.
Chessie

 

 

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I do sympathise Chessie.

Not much help, but I can say that I have had to call the local garage to come out for battery problems in the past.  He also came out when I had a flat tire - roofers left nails in the gravel driveway...

I also had the tires replaced by ordering them online.  Guy came out and installed them all at our house in Bédoin.

Now, I did  know the closest garage guy.  He runs a Renault repair shop on the outskirts of Bédoin and that is where we too our Renault for regular maintenance.  However, this repair involved a Toyota.  He was great and did not charge me for the call outs.  He sold me a reasonable new battery and installed it.  He also repaired the hole in the tire and it continued to roll just fine for another two  year !!  Cost something around 12€

I also have experience with batteries not lasting long.  We learned if the car was going to sit idle for an extended period of time, we needed to disconnect the battery to avoid it dying.  Never had problems after that.

Could your issue be the starter?

Best of luck for a good result.

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Last car I had like that was a Renault 21. Non starting problem in winter was down to the "bougies" not glowing red hot in the pre-starter routine. Simple fix (for a DIY). I have in the past taken off the air filter and blown hot air into the intake manifold to accomplish the same effect, but its really a two person job, and with a battery that works.

If there is not a local garage you can contact, look for a mobile mechanic in the area. RelaxAuto.fr is one I came across. I can in NO WAY vouch for them, its just an idea.
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It will not help Chessie I am afraid, but my car refused to start about three weeks ago. VW "UP!", lovely little car, automatic.
Thought about things, phoned nearest VW garage where we have it serviced - "phone your insurance company". Er, no thank you, have heard about them just taking the car to the nearest garage and the VW one is 30 km away.
So:  I phoned ADAC which is the German equivalent of the AA or RAC. I have ADAC plus so they will help at 0 km from home or anywhere in Europe. Spoke to very helpful English speaking lady (in Munich) who checked my membership number etc.
Right, she said, "if necessary which garage would you like the car taken to". Followed by "it is 11.30am so too late for this morning as they will be at lunch soon, so I will organise a breakdown truck for 2 pm", Phoned me back 10 minutes later to say "a man will be with you between 2 pm and 2.14 pm" - at 2.06 man arrived!
Sadly my car needed a new electronic brain for the automatic gearbox so not a cheap breakdown, but the rescue was free.
When times are normal we go to Germany to visit family and it was them that suggested ADAC. It is the person not the car that is insured so I could be in someone else's car and they would still rescue me.  About 97 euros a year for one person, cheaper for the spouse.

Good luck Chessie, I hope you find that once rescued a local garage can help.
Mrs H

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I once left a car at my holiday home for a couple of months and when I tried to move it I discovered that the clutch slave cylinder had failed. I contacted a nearby garage and the owner turned up. He towed it away and provided a devis. He did the work and I got my car back. There was never any charge for the call out or for towing the car to the garage.
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  • 4 months later...

It does sound to me to be an electrical fault. What could it be? A lose cable to the coil, a dead coil, the timing out, dirty points, dirty plugs, a dud fuel pump, the cable to the distributor?  It may well be something simple, not expensive - but you do need at least a keen amateur mechanic with an electrical test meter. There’s no way to satisfactorily diagnose your problem without being there under the bonnet.

Edited by Paris7
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