Fix or repatriate?

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Just for comparison. We had the aux belt ‘go’ which also took out the cam belt in Salamanca in April this year. Britannia were great about everything for us, hotel, taxis, flights, return flights, trains, hire car etc. One thing they didn’t want to do was repatriate the MH as that was at their expense c.€3-4k whilst the repairs were at ours which in the end came to €5k for a full top end rebuild plus a new clutch. We have an A Class and this was a full engine out and strip down. The labour rate at an Isuzu main dealer was only €40 per hour so quite a surprise. It came with a full 12 month warranty but I’m not sure how I’d use it.
 
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TinaLes said:
Everyone's worst nightmare cam belt failure, can I ask if it was the original at 6+ years old, or was it changed recently?
I hope the garage can fix it properly for you, and you can carry on with your holiday if enough time left.
Good luck.
LES
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I can't remember if we had it changed at the last service
 
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Well it's a done deal now, we are on the way home with the promise that it will be fixed by the 25th. The big parts of the bill appear to be 2 camshafts.
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You seem to have confidence in the garage which is good.
Let's hope all goes smoothly, on time, and to price.
A very worrying experience but hope that the Fun members have been able to help.
Best wishes
Mike

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Mike800966 said:
You seem to have confidence in the garage which is good.
Let's hope all goes smoothly, on time, and to price.
A very worrying experience but hope that the Fun members have been able to help.
Best wishes
Mike
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Thanks, it's been good to see some opinions and not feel like it's just us that have difficulty deciding. The garage did have a good write up on Google, it was clean and the people nice and Green Flag found it so fingers crossed!

Thanks everyone for the input!
 
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Wishing you all the best for this repair, especially as we have the same engine in ours. You have made me feel that the advice on this forum was good and justified getting our cam belt done at nearly 6 years old rather than leaving it until the 10 years that Peugeot advise.
 
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Peterd82 said:
Wishing you all the best for this repair, especially as we have the same engine in ours. You have made me feel that the advice on this forum was good and justified getting our cam belt done at nearly 6 years old rather than leaving it until the 10 years that Peugeot advise.
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we were told cambelt changed at 6 years which is what we did this year along with a load of other stuff as it was an expensive service this year. Still better than the alternative though (fingers crossed)
 
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MartynShaw said:
They asked me the first time I phoned Green Flag
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Them asking you a proposed return date early in the communication is a key point to your story, for me, and very useful for us all moving forward with breakdowns abroad and probably at home as well.

We all need to be prepared when asked this question, if we want the vehicle repatriated then the return date has to be short enough to warrant it if the repair is extensive.

Good luck on the repair, I'm sure everything will be fine.
 
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tinkertaylor said:
Them asking you a proposed return date early in the communication is a key point to your story, for me, and very useful for us all moving forward with breakdowns abroad and probably at home as well.

We all need to be prepared when asked this question, if we want the vehicle repatriated then the return date has to be short enough to warrant it if the repair is extensive.

Good luck on the repair, I'm sure everything will be fine.
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I thought about this when we broke down. I truthfully answered the date we had ‘in mind’, a week ahead, as like many on here we only book the return ferry a few days before we return. Britannia took me at my word and didn’t ask for proof. Nonetheless the repair took a full month from breakdown to completion which was three weeks after my ‘planned’ return date. It was cheaper for them to fly the both of us home and then return to pick up the MH a month later.

For us Britannia’s criteria for MH repatriation hinged on two things, can the repair be carried out locally and if not would the the cost of repatriation exceed the value of the MH. The small print of the policy also mentions a third criteria the vehicle being maintained to the manufacturers recommendation but that wasn’t mentioned in my case. There was no mention of return date being a criteria.

I think it would be wise not to automatically think the MH will be repatriated just because your return date was in a couple of days.

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MartynShaw said:
Well it's a done deal now, we are on the way home with the promise that it will be fixed by the 25th. The big parts of the bill appear to be 2 camshafts.View attachment 823776
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Let’s ask our French Star 🌟 yodeli what this all means on the bill and if you’re likely to see an increase in the repair costs.

Yodel is our French superstar and has helped so many Funsters out, she should be wearing medals 🏅 🎖️ 🥇

Shes also blooming gorgeous and I’m looking forward to breaking down in the future in France, just so I can say hello :h::inlove:
 
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I really fail to see what your "return " date has got to do with it? You have taken out EU wide breakdown recovery . If you want it repatriated that is what should be done.
Here my spanish vehicle insurance has breakdown cover .What I never bothered looking at is that it covers as standard the whole of europe including the UK. Break down the question is "where do you want the vehicle to go?" Depending on where you are travelloing to & distance the vehicle can go one way & you another.
I also have ADAC ,which is who I used when a pistion destroyed itself in France. All they said was "we will recover the vehicle back to spain if that is what you want?" yes please.
As was over halfway to the UK they offered me either to continue to the UK or return home & using train,plane or hire car. The latter is what I chose as having the dog with me.
With breakdown insurance this is what you want & are paying for.
 
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gus-lopez said:
I really fail to see what your "return " date has got to do with it? You have taken out EU wide breakdown recovery . If you want it repatriated that is what should be done.
Here my spanish vehicle insurance has breakdown cover .What I never bothered looking at is that it covers as standard the whole of europe including the UK. Break down the question is "where do you want the vehicle to go?" Depending on where you are travelloing to & distance the vehicle can go one way & you another.
I also have ADAC ,which is who I used when a pistion destroyed itself in France. All they said was "we will recover the vehicle back to spain if that is what you want?" yes please.
As was over halfway to the UK they offered me either to continue to the UK or return home & using train,plane or hire car. The latter is what I chose as having the dog with me.
With breakdown insurance this is what you want & are paying for.
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The loss of ADAC was a big safety net taken away .
Terrific service at a fair price
 
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gus-lopez said:
I really fail to see what your "return " date has got to do with it? You have taken out EU wide breakdown recovery . If you want it repatriated that is what should be done.
Here my spanish vehicle insurance has breakdown cover .What I never bothered looking at is that it covers as standard the whole of europe including the UK. Break down the question is "where do you want the vehicle to go?" Depending on where you are travelloing to & distance the vehicle can go one way & you another.
I also have ADAC ,which is who I used when a pistion destroyed itself in France. All they said was "we will recover the vehicle back to spain if that is what you want?" yes please.
As was over halfway to the UK they offered me either to continue to the UK or return home & using train,plane or hire car. The latter is what I chose as having the dog with me.
With breakdown insurance this is what you want & are paying for.
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It depends what the contract says. I think theres been a lot of people who think that the cover is what they hope it is rather than what's in the contract. If it's repatriation at the owners choice no matter what the issue and europe wide I'd expect it to be very expensive.
 
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Barchetta47 said:
I thought about this when we broke down. I truthfully answered the date we had ‘in mind’, a week ahead, as like many on here we only book the return ferry a few days before we return. Britannia took me at my word and didn’t ask for proof. Nonetheless the repair took a full month from breakdown to completion which was three weeks after my ‘planned’ return date. It was cheaper for them to fly the both of us home and then return to pick up the MH a month later.

For us Britannia’s criteria for MH repatriation hinged on two things, can the repair be carried out locally and if not would the the cost of repatriation exceed the value of the MH. The small print of the policy also mentions a third criteria the vehicle being maintained to the manufacturers recommendation but that wasn’t mentioned in my case. There was no mention of return date being a criteria.

I think it would be wise not to automatically think the MH will be repatriated just because your return date was in a couple of days.
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Did they pay for both of you to return to the van as when we broke down they would only pay for the driver to return as the passenger wasn’t needed
 
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The Wino said:
If it's repatriation at the owners choice no matter what the issue and europe wide I'd expect it to be very expensive.
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my spanish insurance for the van is 529€ .expensive here. That includes recovery from anywhere in europe.
ADAC I pay 129€ for the same recovery from anywhere along with forward travel if wanted ,hotel ,planes, trains, car hire ,taxi,& that is for both the wife & I individually & applies to any vehicle in which we are travelling even if not ours.

If I reduced it to me alone, which I should do as the wife no longer works & hasn't driven for years, it would be 89€/year. Oh & ADAC include full medical +repatriation by air ambulance which is why I tend to keep it as the vehicle insurance doesn't ; only by road.
 
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Lenny HB said:
Looks like you got off light it could have easily been €10,000 for a new engine.
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An earlier poster stated that this particular engine doesn't cause as much damage if the belt goes so probably not. Maybe th garage knew this initially.

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denisejoe said:
Did they pay for both of you to return to the van as when we broke down they would only pay for the driver to return as the passenger wasn’t needed
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In Britannia’s case they had a budget of €500 for the return trip. They thought if they booked it the budget would only stretch to me. After discussion they agreed I could have up to €500 and spend it as I wished including train, flights and hotels for both myself and MrsB. Not all insurers would necessarily be so accommodating.
 
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MartynShaw said:
And green flag won't repatriate it because it can be fixed before our return ticket
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Not surprised really as the cost to repatriate it is probably about £3k too then you still have to fix it .

2017 model should have had a belt changed by now. Any history of it being done? If so there might be a claim.
 
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Had my mechanic on the phone. I read him the quote.... errrrr.... he's a tad afraid . I need more info cause there are things he doesn't get . First did you sign already? Where the heck are you? Is it a Peugeot garage (just what I asked) Also I'd like to know what is the exact problem. I think I read somewhere they didn't "open" (sorry JJ never taught me that bit) the engine we say in French "put the engine down"
 
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yodeli said:
Had my mechanic on the phone. I read him the quote.... errrrr.... he's a tad afraid . I need more info cause there are things he doesn't get . First did you sign already? Where the heck are you? Is it a Peugeot garage (just what I asked) Also I'd like to know what is the exact problem. I think I read somewhere they didn't "open" (sorry JJ never taught me that bit) the engine we say in French "put the engine down"
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They diagnosed a broken 'distributer' which is I believe the timing belt/chain. The list of things on the quote seem to tie up with what I read may have been broken, except perhaps the water pump. They had not opened the engine when we left.

We have been all day trying to get home, that's been a story in itself!

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MartynShaw said:
They diagnosed a broken 'distributer' which is I believe the timing belt/chain. The list of things on the quote seem to tie up with what I read may have been broken, except perhaps the water pump. They had not opened the engine when we left.

We have been all day trying to get home, that's been a story in itself!
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This is what I told my mechanic. Probably cambelt, and he said , I don't see all the needed things and why 2 camshafts... He doesn't get it. He did mine and so many other things on all my vehicles. I trust him completly.
May be there are things you didn't get as said in French... Do you mind if I tell him to call them (not sure he will have time for that) just to pake sure. Also it could make them understand they can't go silly with you.
Won't be at the computer in the 2 coming hours
 
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