Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

The new ones have little rubber sheaths for (I suspect) that reason.

Fiat Doblo aka 'The Popemobile'

audi a2 nerds - there's a tdi one for sale around the corner from me. tidy and looks like an enthusiat's car. i have few pics if interested...

Go on then.

Fitting a cheap single din headunit to my golf. Adapter from the ISO harness doesn't fit my headunit directly, so am I snipping before the plastic choc harness side and heat shrinking the relevant wires together? Anyone done a similar bodge by any chance? YouTube guides seem to not have to do this.
Halfords literally charges twice the price of eBay for parts like iso adapters; it's ludicrous.

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What is 'Bless you my child' in Polish? That was the fiorino ;).

Mk1 Doblo was the bastard child of starbug.

Could just be a heat shield or one the plastic trays fitted underneath.

Driving in france- is an electronic copy of my insurance acceptable?

Cheers. That was my thinking. I had a poke and a shake, but couldn't spot anything obvious.

We'll find out today. A garage said they'll look for free, which is good.

It's just hard finding ones you trust. I had a good BMW place on the North Circular and a general one in Kilburn. But both are too far plus one is the wrong brand now.

Would you recommend just punting it on then?

Seems to be impossible to tell if faults are genuine without trial and error of replacing every sensor in the fucking system. So much for a bargain micro camper :(

Being French, I doubt that in case you are stopped by the police for a control an electronic copy would be enough because here we are supposed to have the little green-paper square on the windshield at all time, as well as the paper from the insurance in the car at all time also.
Even if you might be perfectly square with insurance and all, might be a good idea to print it somewhere

Paper it is- thanks

I've just got a plastic folder which lives in our filing cabinet. It has bulbs, fluoro jacket, license, insurance, etc kept in it.

I can just chuck it in the glove box or on the bike whenever I'm heading over.

I've got (in each car):

• 2 x breathalysers
  
• Fire extinguisher
  
• Bulb kit
  
• First Aid box
  
• 2 X Fluro vests
  
• Beam deflectors (Porsche, you can switch the Merc over)
  
  

I'll put the V5C in a folder with the insurance certificate, and I'll have my licence and passport with me.

Have I missed anything?

breathalysers

So ridiculous.

Mine are out of date, but I haven't replaced them as I was told that it's a €20 fine.

I've not had a drink for nine years, but rules is rules.

Is fire extinguisher a requirement? I'm driving in France tomorrow and have it all except that

I believe we are suppose to carry at all time (for french vehicles at least):

• insurance sticker on windshield
  
• insurance certificate
  
• MOT sticker on windshield (don't know how it works for a foreign cars)
  
• car registration certificate ("carte grise" in France)
  
• fluro vest + warning triangle
  
• bulb kit
  EDIT:
  
• test for alcohol level (but no fine if not present - stupid to mention it probably then)
  
• spare wheel (or kit for flat tire I believe)
  
  

Now that you mention it, first aid box and fire extinguisher might even be mandatory in France but I believe there is tolerance because I do not know many people that carry them at all time.

The beam deflectors is to regulate the difference of lights between right hand drive and left wheel drive cars (for my personal information)?

Thanks. I just checked. Fire extinguishers are not mandatory:

It is recommended that you carry a first aid kit and fire extinguisher in your vehicle, as, although it is not legally required, France’s ‘Good Samaritan’ Law calls for you to provide assistance if you come across an accident or fire. If you are not properly equipped to deal with this, you can face a fine.

I didn't take any of this stuff when I drove to Chamonix last year :)

The beam deflectors is to regulate the difference of lights between right hand drive and left wheel drive cars (for my personal information)?

Yes - they're little stickers that go on the lenses of your headlights, as ours are otherwise set up to point directly into oncoming traffic. Then they leave sticky residue on your lights that takes a lot of scrubbing to remove when you get back .

The beam deflectors is to regulate the difference of lights between right hand drive and left wheel drive cars (for my personal information)?

Yes - so I don't blind an oncoming motorist as my headlights will be pointing to the left, whereas an LHD car would have the lights pointing to the right.

MOT's are online now, I wonder if it's worth printing that out as well?

that is what I meant by "I do not know many people that carry them at all time", after a bit of thought I know probably at max two persons that carry a fire extinguisher.
And my dad was the only person I know that had a first aid kit in a car... because it was in it when he purchased it ha ha ha

Then they leave sticky residue on your lights that takes a lot of scrubbing to remove when you get back .

Last time I drove on the Continent I didn't drive at night, so the beam deflectors stayed in the door pocket, I may do that again - no intention of driving at night this time either.

Honestly for MOT I can't say, we have a sticker on the windshield to guarantee validity of it etc. here, but for foreign car, no idea how it is supposed to work... if you can, doesn't cost much to print it and add it to the insurance certificate just in case I guess!
Well, our lovely France and the paperwork... no comment!

after a bit of thought I know probably at max two persons that carry a fire extinguisher.

And my dad was the only person I know that had a first aid kit in a car... because it was in it when he purchased it ha ha ha

I've got a small extinguisher and a first aid kit in both my cars, does this get me some Dad points?

MOT's are online now, I wonder if it's worth printing that out as well?

You thinking just the MOT checker site https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/?

Or is there somewhere to get a more specific version?