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Dead Cali

briwy

briwy

Super Poster
VIP Member
Messages
3,091
Location
Matlock & Pyrenees
Vehicle
T5 SE 180 4Motion
Just outside Pau.
No power steering and battery light and remnants of drive belt under the bonnet.
Waiting for breakdown.
PITA as Easter so garage closed until Tuesday.
Dieppe ferry 05.30 Tues so no chance of that.
Luckily daughter is here in her Abarth so got transport back to the house.IMG_20170414_193341454_HDR.jpg
 
Presumably failed drive belt! Pants!! Your Cali is just under three years old looking at your registration. What happened to VW roadside assistance? I was of the opinion they took care of this kind of breakdown, holiday weekend or not. You live and learn!
Good luck anyway - an extra few glasses of wine tonight then! You have to be positive!!
 
That's some real bad luck. I hope you get sorted buddy
 
No good news hope they can sort you out , good it's not that far from your house.
 
Oh blimey Brian :( So sorry to hear that. What a bummer.
 
Well, Germany 0, Italy 1
Us picked up by my daughter, Cali picked up by recovery.
Found out the tow eye is reverse thread, why?
Good things,
VW Assist were brilliant. Offered taxi home, hire car coming tomorrow, offered to fly Christine home as has to go back to work, rearranging ferry etc once we know what the score is. Impressed.
It didn't happen coming down a mountain pass.
It's still under warranty.
Wondering if they will change the cambelt as well as it could have been damaged by the shredding belt.
Now recovering in the all you can eat Asian restaurant in Lourdes. No miracle jokes please

IMG_20170414_200202289.jpg
 
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That part has gone well ...
About the towing eye reversed tread....i got a topic with how to attach the tow eye in the front bumper saying it has reversed tread.

I think the reverse tread is to prevent it turns itself out using a cord between two verhicles the cord is wind up in a way when streched caused by every " pull" it could give the toweye a twist .
So it could un-twist itself afther a while

Am i making sens or not?
 
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Sounds like as if all is under control.....at least you seem to have options...hope all goes well.
 
That part has gone well ...
About the towing eye reversed tread....i got a topic with how to attach the tow eye in the front bumper saying it has reversed tread.

I think the reverse tread is to prevent it turns itself out using a cord between two verhicles the cord is wind up in a way when streched caused by every " pull" it could give the toweye a twist .
So it could un-twist itself afther a while

Am i making sens or not?
Yes, making sense. As far as I am aware ALL Towing Eyes are Reverse Thread, at least all the ones I've ever come across.
 
The one on my Mazda 6 isn't. I put it in regularly to secure the front of my sea kayak and it's definitely clockwise.
 
Well, Germany 0, Italy 1
Us picked up by my daughter, Cali picked up by recovery.
Found out the tow eye is reverse thread, why?
Good things,
VW Assist were brilliant. Offered taxi home, hire car coming tomorrow, offered to fly Christine home as has to go back to work, rearranging ferry etc once we know what the score is. Impressed.
It didn't happen coming down a mountain pass.
It's still under warranty.
Wondering if they will change the cambelt as well as it could have been damaged by the shredding belt.
Now recovering in the all you can eat Asian restaurant in Lourdes. No miracle jokes please

View attachment 20658
Sorry to hear about your woes @briwy . Hope you get sorted and can enjoy your few days without the Cali.

Out of interest did VW Assist offer to repatriate the Cali after repairs so you could get back to the UK for work if you needed to? Not sure I would trust such an arrangement though - the AA once 'lost' my car for 3 days! Wouldn't want to risk that happening to my Cali :talktothehand.
 
Y
Sorry to hear about your woes @briwy . Hope you get sorted and can enjoy your few days without the Cali.

Out of interest did VW Assist offer to repatriate the Cali after repairs so you could get back to the UK for work if you needed to? Not sure I would trust such an arrangement though - the AA once 'lost' my car for 3 days! Wouldn't want to risk that happening to my Cali :talktothehand.

Yes they did if it was going to take more than a few days, or fly me back out to collect it which I agree would be my choice.
As I'm retired and we have a house here it's not a problem, only for the other half who has to get back for work.
 
Sorry to read this news , I'll be driving back in hired Cali next week from Languedoc to Kent or and Southampton via the tunnel if you need a lift , think we are only a few hours apart ?
 
Thanks for the offer Niborn.
Should be ok though but I'll contact you if I get stuck.
 
Very bad luck Brian. Hope you resolve it OK. Simon
 
Well not very impressed with VW Assist now.
Firstly they forgot to order a hire car so we had to wait a day for that after I rang them to see where it was.
Van at the dealer in Pau and they say they can't even look at it until late tomorrow so two days list there even though it's plain what the problem is.
So it's possible they won't have parts in stock which may or may not arrive Friday in which case it's likely to be next week before it's done.
I've had to chase them twice to find out the situation despite promises to keep us updated.
Not a happy bunny at present so it's unlikely we will go with them when the three years is up in September.
 
Beware.
Point to note is that Assist will not pay for the excess insurance on a hire car.
In our case this amounted to about thirty euros a day to reduce the excess from 1500 euros to 100.
So looks like another four/five days hire, cost to cover the excess would come to about 75% of the yearly Cali policy.
I've now taken out a policy to cover the excess with Insure4hire at £38 for the year which I will renew each year.
The policy does NOT apply to existing hire contracts so Assist will have to take out a new hire rather than extending the existing one.
 
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When I called VW Customer Services before our summer trip last year I was told if you break down in a Cali they will supply a Cali or similar as it is your 'holiday' home etc so you may continue your holiday as normal - I suspect in the light of your experience this is total b******s??
 
They did ask what kind of of vehicle we wanted but said they would struggle to get a camper van. In our case it didn't matter but if we had been carrying on in the Cali it definitely would have been a problem.
 
Complete balls up.
Garage have now established that it needs a new belt and tensioning pulley which we knew on Saturday when it happened. Parts not in stock so they could have been ordered Tuesday and we would be on our way now.
Parts may turn up tomorrow, maybe fixed tomorrow. Who the hell knows as they certainly don't.
We also have to pay the garage (430euros) and then claim it back (hopefully) in the UK as there is only two years warranty here.
Had to chase them again for info.
Completely disgusted with the service.
 
I've now taken out a policy to cover the excess with Insure4hire at £38 for the year which I will renew each year.
Thanks for the warning Brian. I have a policy because I hire cars regularly for work. But I hadn't thought of it for this purpose.
 
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That's one of the reasons I take out good quality travel Insurance, despite having VW Assistance.
 
That's one of the reasons I take out good quality travel Insurance, despite having VW Assistance.
I do of course have travel insurance but not sure what it covers in the case of breakdown of my vehicle - I'll be checking.
 
So do we but it it doesn't cover excess charges for car hire. I'd be interested to know if any do.
 
Finally sorted and back home. Still pretty mad about the Assist service which is run by the AA in France.
Four days to complete and the actual job takes about an hour.
To be fair to Assist it was the garage that dragged their heels but Assist failed miserably to keep us informed. Only call we got from them was the happy one to say the van was ready.
Total cost 448 euros which we have paid and have to claim back in the UK from VWCS.
Seems the bearing failed in the pulley which obviously caused the belt to come off and shred.
At least they didn't bat an eyelid at the ferry we wanted to get back. Caen to Portsmouth last night with a cabin cost 340 euros as a last minute booking.
Picture of the remains.
Aux drive belt.JPG

Does anyone know if this lot is renewed when the cambelt is done as I guess it has to come off to access the cambelt.
 

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