Carte Vitale

[exile]

Surely Wifi and Bluetooth offer good opportunities for degradation of the image when it it transferred.

That must be significantly less with an SD card and reader - just checked prices and they seem to start at around 2€ so the reader is very cheap.

Now add in that if you are relying on the camera's internal memory for storage, in my experience that internal storage can be very limited. So you need to be in a position where you can easily get access to Wifi to download the camera pictures to whatever long term storage unit you use - computer, external drive etc.. SD cards will hold hundreds or even thousands of pictures before becoming full.

So if you plan to just take a few snaps in the garden, then internal memory will be fine; but if you are going to a wedding or a country wildlife walk, you could easily run out of memory with no immediate way to download the stored images.

[Hotrodder]

Elsie and exile - Thanks to you both for your comments.
I'm afraid the idea of a new/used camera will have to drop to the bottom of the wish list. I had to take my van for a C.T. today and it failed. Nothing mechanical, I try to hit any issues early in that respect. It failed on below decks rust issues. The tester let me have a look at the points of interest while it was up on the lift. The usual surface rust everywhere but the failure issue was the two frame outriggers at the front that link the chassis rails to the outer sills (near the jacking points) have holes big enough to put your fist through, and the two at the back that support the rear corners of the bodywork and bumper were shot to hell. I asked him if he could recommend anyone that does rust repair and he was unable to help. I used to do this sort of work myself but I have to work outside these days with no lift and a gravel drive that doesn't lend itself well to jacking a car up higher than a few inches. I have Googled until I my fingers are complaining and there is very little more than sills available for this model. No chassis repair panels at all, even in UK. It is looking very much like this could be the end of the line for yet another van. A shame because it is running like a Swiss watch and I have recently replaced the brakes, exhaust, and fixed a lot of irritating minor issues.
Anyone know of a garage that does rust repair? It's only 23 years old. Too young to die.

[Hotrodder]

Unable to get it repaired it is now likely to be a trip to the scrapper. I can't even keep it while I try to think of a solution. The insurance will still have to be paid if I take it off the road.
I had a good long look at Leboncoin and various French classifieds to find a depressing selection of rubbish at or near my price range. A good third of them only good for spares, most with clearly visible faults, none of them with a recent C.T. and all with astronomical mileage on the clock. Plan B, looking at the ads in UK. Not a much better outlook.

[curtis]

UK ads. Cost of reregistration/impôts. Aller/retour to look and buy. Would it be worth it?
Are there any garages near you that sell commercial véhicles? You could ask if they have any trade ins that they know the history of that might be a bargain.
Adverts in the supermarkets?

[Hotrodder]

I forgot about the supermarket cards.......
I am aware that since Brexit it would be more hassle to do but the difference between UK and French prices is still huge. I have seen eye-watering prices for vans without C.T. even 15 years old with 300,000 to 400,000 km on the clock. I am looking at only over ten years old (that saves half the cost of the Carte Grise) and hopefully much older to avoid the worst of the electronic gismos that cause trouble and can't be fixed. I will be searching for recent experiences from anyone who has imported a car from UK to find out as much as I can. It doesn't necessarily have to be a van but it is convenient for storing my boot fair clobber away from the rodents, damp, etc.

Getting a little fed up with people posting ads with photos taken of the shady side of cars or inside a garage with a smartphone.

[L Austin France]

I forgot about the supermarket cards.......
I am aware that since Brexit it would be more hassle to do but the difference between UK and French prices is still huge. I have seen eye-watering prices for vans without C.T. even 15 years old with 300,000 to 400,000 km on the clock. I am looking at only over ten years old (that saves half the cost of the Carte Grise) and hopefully much older to avoid the worst of the electronic gismos that cause trouble and can't be fixed. I will be searching for recent experiences from anyone who has imported a car from UK to find out as much as I can. It doesn't necessarily have to be a van but it is convenient for storing my boot fair clobber away from the rodents, damp, etc.

Getting a little fed up with people posting ads with photos taken of the shady side of cars or inside a garage with a smartphone.

Be handy if you let us know what sort of dosh you have to buy a vehicle as maybe someone here knows of one.

[Hotrodder]

Approx. €2k, maybe €2.5k at a push. Smallish repairs like brakes, belts, gaskets, tyres, are no big deal but I no longer have the facilities for chassis rust repairs or engine lifting.

[L Austin France]

Approx. €2k, maybe €2.5k at a push. Smallish repairs like brakes, belts, gaskets, tyres, are no big deal but I no longer have the facilities for chassis rust repairs or engine lifting.

I'll keep my ears & eyes open around here .
The irony is that my old pug 806 is probably worth less than that but much more to me.
Good luck with your search.

[curtis]

Would it help if Hotrodder's search was made into a separate subject and the posts transferred?

[L Austin France]

Would it help if Hotrodder's search was made into a separate subject and the posts transferred?

Dunno!