Hi all
Do you know one of them situations when you just need someone to say "what are you thinking! You should....."

I have a beautiful 2004 TD6. Drives super and is very reliable. But... Has 180k on her! (New gearbox fitted about 20k ago)
I've been told that mid July we are holidaying in Spain and the 4 of us are driving down. 850ish miles there and the same back.
Now I'm torn if to hire something small and uncomfortable. They charging around £450 for the 2 weeks but have no worries with a nearly new car... Or to risk putting all these miles in such a short time on the old FF and possibly having to deal with any breakdown issues abroad. I know 1600 mile isn't loads. But in such a short time!

Small hire car £450
Range Rover would have to have Breakdown cover £150 and then spend the £300 on a good service and take a chance?

Any suggestions?

Cheers
Tel Accept, some days your the pigeon, some days your the statue!

Mines coming up to 150,000 and regularly does 500+ mile trips with no issues....

Give it a good service, get it checked over well, replace anything that looks dodgy, clean it real well, take it and enjoy it... no better way to do long trips....

My 2p.... Pete
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

a member is doing that at the moment abit in a 2012 westminster with LR assist....i would take the FF.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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Would love to do this, am a wee bit too far north to justify for a 2 week break, could stop off in France & collect some vin rouge on the way. Go for it, as long as you have cover, so what if it breaks, just another story for the boozer!

Can't be far into Spain @ 850 miles

Driving through France is a different experience to the UK - the roads are smoother & less congested and actually quite pleasant.

I drive south of Bordeaux at least 4 times per year - about 100 miles short of the Spanish border - but I'm a bit further north than you in the UK - it's a 750 mile trip for me and takes around 14 hours including the tunnel.

Some people prefer a scenic route, I just tend to do it in a straight run - sometimes with an overnight stop if I've set off after work, but if I leave in the morning, I do it in 1 go.

Ensure you have good breakdown insurance covering a car of that age (some stop at 10 years old)
Fluorescent jackets
Make sure your insurance covers France & Spain
Take your V5, MOT & Insurance documents and keep them in the car
Get a Telepeage tag to save time at toll booths

Guys

Thanks so much for the replies. I think it's mainly motorways we are using but as have the in laws we are stopping a night on way down and again on way back (so I've been told). We are going Llafranc in Costa Brava.

Don't normally have any problems with it and I service it myself normally so know it's been done about 4-5k ago. Gearbox was a new LR part when I brought it, so hopefully shouldn't be lots left to go wrong. Just always in back of mind that it's a pain if it does breakdown.

Real quick search this morning with Axa Europe insurance is £150.

Am tempted Accept, some days your the pigeon, some days your the statue!

For overnight stops, I usually use Ibis or Novotel - website - pick a city, then use the map to find one not too far from the autoroute

You will most likely be going via Paris, so try to time that right or it can be hell

your normal car insurance should cover you for up to 90 days in europe...

i took my td6 to brussels a couple of times and it was fine, i know its not as far as spain but if you take it easy i cant see any problems.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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Sorry Stan I meant Axa breakdown cover. Yes I think your right with the insurance

Will order a tag tonight either way but yeah think I am swinging towards spending the £300 on a service parts and have a good look over it. Then use the FF. Accept, some days your the pigeon, some days your the statue!

A lot of the insurance companies offer the 30-90 days European cover but read the small print as a lot now state "minimum insurance required by law in that country" so you could end up with only third party insurance, they will upgrade to comprehensive for a fee....  Pete
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Go for it.
I did 300m to tunnel then France, Northern Spain (Picos) then Duoro valley Algarve, Seville, Calpe, Barcellona, France to tunnel + 300 again to Oldham.
I bought a 5 night pensioners golden ticket for Pousadas in Portugal.
My 2003 td6 that I had at the time made the trip a real success.

Already planning next years jaunt now I have traded up to 2011.

As long as the car is in fine fettle, you have the insurance and breakdown cover and back up cash in your pocket just in case, go for it.

We covered over 5,000 miles driving to/from Cyprus with minimal stops and through countries with a lot hazier communication and less back-up than Spain.

Don't worry about it. If you break down, the worst that happens is that you have an unscheduled stop for a day or two whilst parts are overnighted and the part installed. Unlike with a Saab (our car at the time), there are plenty of places that can cope with a RR, I would say, especially in Western Europe.

Just my 2p worth.

The more you know what could go wrong, the more nervous you will be. Because you're on here, and you've serviced it yourself, you know all the possible issues - gearbox, air suspension, cooling issues (although you have a diesel), injectors, steering column, keys/locks and so on - you will always be aware of every little noise, or hesitation or whatever.

If you rent a new car, you don't know what could go wrong. It's a rental so it's someone else's problem - except it isn't, because you still don't have a car if it breaks, and you can't touch it because it's not yours and you don't know anything about it.

So the difference really is how fast you can get back on the road. As has been said, get a good recovery/repair cover, take a code reader, a torx set, small socket set, check that your wheels will come off (i.e. remove and apply anti-seize as per the service schedule) and you have a much better chance of spending less time off the road. Anything you can't fix easily, call out the recovery, have the RR transported home and they'll give you a rental (with the right cover obviously).

The only spanner in the works may be if the cost of repair exceeds the cost of recovery they may not take it back - check the cover level.

Also any rental you get will be horrible compared to your RR! Which is probably why you have it.

Last edited by mr_spock on 14th May 2016 4:33pm. Edited 1 time in total

a 300 service is well spend on your car and the drive will clean the dust out. 450 on car rent is just thrown away money to sit cramped in a fordfiatVWseatorwhatever. Go for it If you trust your car she will feel it and bring you home again sound and safe.


driving in France is a pleasure, hardly any congestion and if you buy that toll road card, you pass a great deal of traffic jams at the toll stations.
anyway enjoy!

your FF needs the occasional holiday as well dont forget, i'm sure it will enjoy spain.....  ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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