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Emergency - stranded in France

Padaung

Established Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2021
Messages
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Location
Bicester
Driving
MG5
Hi all,

Today we were at the Calais Euro Tunnel terminal and needed a small charge before boarding the train. Upon connecting the charger, no charge was made and after disconnecting the cable the car would not start. We have a MG 5 standard range.

We get the following messages.

Autohold fail
Hill hold unavailable
System fault
HV battery shut off

We called our breakdown assistance and they arranged for the car to be taken to a local garage.
The garage/breakdown cover company (through our Nationwide bank account) will not do any work on the car as it is less than a year old and under warranty.
We have been told to contact MG Breakdown Assitance (Roadside Assistance | My MG | MG Motor UK) but have now discovered this only covers the UK.

So our breakdown cover covers Europe, but they won't touch the car becaue they want the warranty to cover it, but that only covers the UK.

This is our massive problem.

We are a family of four (two adults, two small children). This is a nightmare and reallywant to get home as soon as posible but so far everyone we have contacted has said that it isn't their problem and can't help.

Has anyone any ideas for anyone to contact?

Kindest regards,

Charles

P.S. We are safe and have managed to find a hotel for tonight.

Edit: We have tried the spanner trick (I had thankfully packed one in a small toolkit of essentials!) to disconnect the 12v battery and get the car to reset. Sadly it did not work.
 
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Disconnect 12v battery, give it a minute and reconnect. Seems to be the EV equivalent of turning it off and on again.
 
I think the 10mm spanner trick might clear this fault, but i could be wrong. Hope you get sorted, sounds like a nightmare with the kids. Good luck!
 
Any time I've had that I've left it ten minutes and it starts fine. It's caused (in my case) by the 12v battery going low and clears once the main battery has recharged it.
 
Just done a bit of reading and there are other reports. Most pout it down to the 12v battery being a
bit low.

So I'd try the spanner trick and also try to get some charge into the battery - I guess you can see the voltage somewhere, ISTR in the dash by using a cunning set of presses on the right hand steering wheel buttons.

Others have reported similar and it just goes away and the car is still driveable.
 
Hi all, thanks for the input. We have tried the spanner trick (I had thankfully packed one in a small toolkit of essentials!). Sadly it did not work.
 
Can't you get your breakdown people to tow it to the UK for MG to take over from there? Ultimately you pay them for a service, assuming you pay for European cover, they should provide it and not leave you stranded. If not maybe threaten them with the fact a UK media outlet is very interested in them leaving you stranded abroad...
 
Jump start leads to another 12v battery might allow the system to start. (Talking of which - in anticipation of potential for problems of the 12 volt battery (if I ever get my ordered Trophy Connect) I have ordered one of these:

Car Jump Starter,12V Portable Jump Starter Lithium-Ion Battery Charger Box For Car,Motorcycle,Truck,Boat,Diesel To Start and Charge Compact Emergency USB Power Bank Auto Booster Power Pack, Flashlight​

Amazon product ASIN B09DSRX4KP
 
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Hi all, thanks for the input. We have tried the spanner trick (I had thankfully packed one in a small toolkit of essentials!). Sadly it did not work.
Hi Padang, very sorry to hear of your dilemma I have done a photo shot of the Nationwide policy document for breakdown cover and it says your covered the same as in the uk so get you home should be part of that .
The MG AA cover will not cover you in Europe that’s bad
So have a very careful read of the picture NW should cover it failing that pay the cost to get you back to the UK has Ozzie 1989 as said above I agree with that and then the AA can get you to a MG dealer in the UK you may be able to claim the transport costs off them if the problem is with the car and not something the charger or you my have caused, thinking about the charger if you can take pictures of it just in case MG do say it was
the charger caused the problem for you, let us know how you get on please.
Good luck.
Les

In the bottom right there are restrictions but I don’t think they would apply in this case as you where about to get the Eurostar home
DBB05978-8F68-42DC-B465-F8348339CFE9.jpeg
 
Sounds like your nationwide cover should at least get you back to the UK, whereupon you can get mg assist to pick up the ball and get you home.

If the 12v disconnect didn't work, it's worth seeing if you can change the 12v, wondering if there's a fault with that eurotunnel charger thats upsetting the 12v battery circuit, or its just bad luck.
 
Like your Mustang Buddy I have a white S197 GT

I should probably not use my gravatar on this forum, don't want to upset the locals. 2 litres is a bottle of coke not an engine size 😉 - anyway, best not to derail Padaungs thread. I hope they wake up in their hotel this morning with the prospect of getting home, I can only imagine how stressful that is for a parent.
 
Update, it is Sunday so all the garages and MG Europe are closed so we are her until Monday at least. Breakdown assistance are now communicating with MG to get the car checked asap that day.

The car is locked in the forecourt of a local garage so we can't access it until Monday to see if it has reset itself by not being driven for a while.

Storm Eunice is now in France, very strong winds and rain here!
 
Good luck tomorrow. I'd try to charge it with a type 2 or another rapid.

For anyone wanting to charge near the Calais Euro Tunnel terminal, IONITY - Coquelles has just opened around the corner from the terminal.

IONITY - Coquelles : charging station in Coquelles
Great news about the Ionity station opening. Sadly we had no idea it was there as I'd done our route planning before it had opened.

We used Ionity a lot whilst in France and the machines were very reliable (but expensive for us - they charge € per minute and our MG tops out at 50kWh. Cars that can charge faster get far better value for money).
 
Hi Charles,
I just answered you questions in the other link so won't go through them again but a few things to point out.
1) When my car had the same problem the 12v battery was fine. Also I think it must be a go to standard as the mechanic that came out to us tried to boost the 12v battery and still no joy!!!
2) With Ionity they do have 50kwh chargers that are about a third cheaper than the 350kwh.
3) Please don't let this put you off travailing to Europe in your MG. Especially as Tesla have now opened a few charging point to non Tesla owners.
4) As for using the charger at the port. I used it because I used the previous CCS charger (the one we had trouble with is new) as it was free (FOC). So why pay at Ionity!!!!! Let's hope Tesla open the chargers at the port soon as there are plenty of them.
Really hope you can get sorted quickly as I know what you are going through and it starts off as a nightmare then you say "we're save and the kids see it as an adventure.....etc" then eventually you just get P'ed off.
 
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