France Expat Forum

ManAndVan371
Joined 2015
Posts: 1

9 years ago

Urgent help needed near Dijon

9 years ago

I operate a small moving service in Ireland and was collecting a load near Lyon last Thursday. On my way back up the A6 my Ford Transit van started to have mechanical issues. Talking to my mechanic back home we think it's either an injector issue or tappets or possibly an oil pump issue (tapping noise coming from the head/rocker area) A recovery service brought me to a Ford garage in nearby Semur en Auxois. The garage listened to the engine for all of 10 seconds, said it was broken and said it would cost €10,000 to fix! I thought I misheard him but yes, he said €10,000! I could buy another van for that! With the use of a translator as I have very little French, we found another garage in Epissois 20km away who said he would fix it on Saturday for a lot less money. However, after charging me €200 to pick up the van from the other garage and bring it to his, he then informed me that no work could be done that day as he had no staff or parts! I feel completely ripped off by him.
I've been looking at the option of getting my van picked up and shipped home, or at least to Cherbourg port, but I'd be looking at a cost in excess of €2,000 for any of these services from what I can find which I simply can't afford being a one man operation. So, I'm currently holed up in a b&b in Epissois with a broken van, nowhere to go and running out of ideas (and money) Please can anyone in the Dijon area offer me any advice or assistance? I'm at a severe disadvantage not being local or being able to speak the language.
Thank you in advance.

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