DB9 euro trip. What spares to take?

[belfry]

2006 DB9 Volante.
We are off on a 2000 mile Euro trip soon and I wondered whether it might be prudent to order any parts to have in the boot in case of difficulties.

I will take my OBD code reader, one of those small battery packs, and some cable ties and A small socket set.

I did wonder about any important relays? How about having a spare coil pack in the boot?

Annie suggestions very welcome.

[Calinours]

belfry said:

2006 DB9 Volante.
We are off on a 2000 mile Euro trip soon and I wondered whether it might be prudent to order any parts to have in the boot in case of difficulties.

I will take my OBD code reader, one of those small battery packs, and some cable ties and A small socket set.

I did wonder about any important relays? How about having a spare coil pack in the boot?

Annie suggestions very welcome.

Long runs tend to make issues just below the surface pop up. A good strategy, particularly if you typically don’t use the car much, or use it for short runs is to take it for a decent 200 mile run in UK first.

Make sure your battery is healthy, that your lights aren’t letting water in, and you are super confident about checking all fluid levels and consumable wear levels esp engine oil and tyre condition/pressures and brake pads. The usual stuff.

Then it’s the tyre emergency repair pump n gunk (or tyreweld), the triangle and vests, and a decent euro recovery policy which can be a little harder to get once a car is over 10yr old. Beyond that, all needed is a credit card.

Edited by Calinours on Thursday 9th May 10:17

[john ryan]

Punctures are the thing to watch. I take tyreweld , external plug string, a screw jack and wheel brace (so I can take a wheel to a repairer if necessary). Also code reader, workshop manual on a memory stick, and small stuff like epoxy glue, cable ties, tape and wire, small torx driver set. Long experience of this kind of tour, mostly in remote parts of France and Italy. Currently in Corsica on the way back from Sardinia. So far good as gold.

[Hedged]

Torque wrench and deep socket for lug nuts, jack point fittings if you have them, quart/litre proper oil, fuses (although I have not needed in 10 years and 50K miles of Vantage ownership) and some reference thereof. And everything suggested elsewhere.

[VanquishRider]

john ryan said:

Punctures are the thing to watch. I take tyreweld , external plug string, a screw jack and wheel brace (so I can take a wheel to a repairer if necessary). Also code reader, workshop manual on a memory stick, and small stuff like epoxy glue, cable ties, tape and wire, small torx driver set. Long experience of this kind of tour, mostly in remote parts of France and Italy. Currently in Corsica on the way back from Sardinia. So far good as gold.

This, the tyre plugs are really important as you might need to travel some distance to just make the call for help or to a tyre centre.

Tyre puncture gunk.

Towing eye for your car incase it needs winching onto a truck.

[hornbaek]

I would get an electronic tag for the tollbooths in France and Italy.

[basherX]

Calinours said:

Long runs tend to make issues just below the surface pop up. A good strategy, particularly if you typically don’t use the car much, or use it for short runs is to take it for a decent 200 mile run in UK first.

Make sure your battery is healthy, that your lights aren’t letting water in, and you are super confident about checking all fluid levels and consumable wear levels esp engine oil and tyre condition/pressures and brake pads. The usual stuff.

Then it’s the tyre emergency repair pump n gunk (or tyreweld), the triangle and vests, and a decent euro recovery policy which can be a little harder to get once a car is over 10yr old. Beyond that, all needed is a credit card.

Edited by Calinours on Thursday 9th May 10:17

I agree with this advice. I’m taking my 2010 Vantage on a similar distance trip in June and so I did a ~350 mile trip a couple of weekends ago, some of it in heavy rain. There was a reason for that journey but I also wanted an exercise in shaking out any problems in a country where I speak the language.

I’ll probably do another similar trip next weekend for the Collecting Cats event in Bicester, although hopefully without the deluge. The outcome so far is that I’ve bought and will install a headlight banging kit before I go on the road trip.

Other than that, agree with tyreweld, my standard “France” bag which has some fluids and vests in it, a battery boost pack and I usually also have a delay battery powered tyre pump and inspection lamp. Add a slack handful of cable ties, a random can of WD40, breakdown cover and a credit card and I reckon most things are covered. Oh, and I’ll take a litre of oil just in case.

As other have said, the tag for French (and Spanish) rolls is well worth it if your going that way.