What should have been a relaxing stay on the French Riviera quickly turned into one of the most stressful weeks of our motorhome travels.
We arrived at Camping La Vieille Ferme in Villeneuve-Loubet, just outside Antibes, looking forward to a few days of sunshine and exploring the local area. Instead, we discovered that the front coil spring on our motorhome had snapped on route to this campsite.
With a Fiat Assist warranty in place, we expected help to be on the way as they had originally told us on the first phone call. Unfortunately, that wasn’t our experience.
Despite being told that assistance would be coming to assess the vehicle, nobody ever arrived. Over the next few days we made around 13 phone calls trying to get answers, yet it took seven days before our calls were finally returned.
This vlog shares exactly what happened, the challenges we faced, and why this experience was a real eye-opener for us as motorhome owners travelling in France.
We’re not commenting on the Fiat Assist service provided in the UK, as we have no experience of that. However, based on our own experience in France, we received no practical assistance when we needed it most.
If you travel abroad with a Fiat Assist warranty, this is definitely a story worth watching.
If you’ve had a similar experience with roadside assistance abroad, let us know in the comments.
Part 2 will be out next Tuesday so keep tuned to hear how this all pans out.
#MotorhomeLife #FiatDucato #MotorhomeTravel #France #VanLifeEurope #MotorhomeBreakdown #FiatAssist #FrenchRiviera #Antibes #FullTimeTravel
Love
The Moores x
A Little About Us….
After taking early retirement to fulfil our lifelong dream of travelling full-time in a motorhome, we began our van life journey in the UK in July 2025, before heading through France and Spain.
Sadly, our adventure was cut short when we had to return to the UK in October 2025 after our beloved cockapoo Rolo became seriously unwell. We were heartbroken to say goodbye and let him cross the rainbow bridge 🌈🐾. Our original plan to continue on to Morocco was placed on hold as we focused on healing and honouring his memory.
We love to explore, enjoy cycling, running and just generally embrace the great outdoors.
Our 2026 travel plans…..
We’re now planning our return to the road in 2026, starting with:
✔ UK travels – done for now
✔ South & South Eastern France – current
✔ The Italian Lakes
✔ Making full use of our 90-day Schengen allowance
This is only the beginning and we’ll be sharing every step as our plans evolve. If you have must-see places, hidden gems, or van life tips, we would absolutely love to hear them in the comments!
Meet Our New Van Life Puppy…. 🐶
We also welcome a new little member to our family, Roger, our now 7 month old Golden Doodle puppy! He’ll be growing up as a true van lifer, and we can’t wait to share his adventures with you too.
✨ Follow our real, honest van life journey, the highs, the challenges, the laughs, and the lessons. Learn from our mistakes, celebrate our wins, and travel with us as we chase freedom on four wheels.
🙏 Thank you so much for supporting our journey, it truly means the world to us. Please like, subscribe, and comment to join our van life family!
#vanlifelife #motorhomelife #vanlifeuk #fulltimetravel #goldendoodle #vanlifewithdogs #roadtrip2026 #lifeonwheels #travelcouple #earlyretirement
#travelvlog #motorhomelife #vanlifewithdogs #francetravel #travelcouple #motorhomevlog #earlyretirement #ukmotorhometravel #fontainedevaucluse
19 Comments
When Wayne said the mechanic is coming out at 19.10. I thought bo. Llocks. In France 😂😂. No chance
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So sorry for you guys having breakdowns to contend with! Really feel for you. Hope it’s all sorted soon. On a plus loved the Roger swimming lessons 🙂 need to do this with our cockapoos lol! Xxxx
Oooh, really sorry that you’ve been stuck with a broken motorhome. That’s disgusting of Fiat Assist. Really hope you get sorted soon. 💕
We are in Frejus at the moment and have spent the last 7 days trying to source a tow bar plate and 4 bolts….what a bloody nightmare!! Couldn’t find a garage let alone a mechanic !! No caravan accessory shop either …in the end an auto electrician the site rang on the off chance made a plate and bolts and we fitted It ourselves ,,,so we have felt yr pain😢 hopefully your all sorted now!
We bought a bran new Escape 674 June 2024! We've had nothing but trouble, from first week! Been back to swift Hull factory past 2 summers!! Lots of damp, awaiting date for it to go in again and alde heating leaking! We totally feel for you both! Hope you have better luck than us! X 🥰
Such a shame, hope you're doing ok. Poor from FIAT, it's their van and warranty and theirs to sort, whether in Italy, France or UK.
I’m a retired HGV technician and I do take tools with me but I don’t think I’ll have the right tools to change the coil spring.
The only time I used Fiat assist was last year while at home and to be honest they were partly brilliant but I felt let down by the roadside assistance that came out and didn’t have the diagnostic kit to plug in because they had lost the contract but yet they came out. In the end it was all sorted. I did think at the time what would happen if we were away on the continent. I think the problem is the Fiat assist uses an insurance company Allianz and with all these insurance providers they don’t pay out the required fees so it’s difficult to get workshops to work on vehicles.
I hope that you get it sorted out soon.
On another note the damage may have been done on one of our lovely smooth roads we have over here.
Hi, so sorry to hear about motorhome probs. Sounds like you have it all worked out now. Good luck and hope it gets sorted real soon for you.
At least you are in a nice spot there to enjoy a cool swim 😊
Roger thinks its fun !
Sorry to hear of the problem with the Fiat, it’s not good enough after service. They don’t mind you buying their products !!
Hope all goes well & back on the road soon.
This weekend we are in Yorkshire & it’s winding & showers 🙁 but living the dream in the motorhome
Paul & Rose 💕
Sorry you’ve had all that stress I hope you get it sorted soon on the plus side Roger is getting braver and braver in the sea x
Awful – We're in France currently with our less than 2 year old Fiat based Rapido – after calling Fiat Assist to check what we are covered for & T&Cs & getting contradictory or confused responses I took out extra breakdown cover as lost all confidence in them – appalling really
We had ABS, Hill start assist ,Electronic handbrake warning lights onn the dashboard ,called fiat assist ,a mechanic arrived read the codes with code reader ,diagnosed a faulty abs wheel sensor ,he did not clear the faults to see if it was still an actuve fault ,and did not replace the sensor so left us with all the lights on and faulty sensor ,not good as this is related to vehicle safety system and braking system ,we rang Fiat again, Fiat could not find any dealer within a 200 mile radius who could look at our vehicle for at.least 8 weeks ,we paid for the repair our selves in an independent garage on a 1 year old vehicle ,Fiat customer service were about as much use as a chocolate fireguard .terrible service ,zero star rating .this happened in the uk .
How horrendous for you. You are so positive. Don't know how you do it. I would have gone into total meltdown, and not because of the weather! I hope you are back on the road soon.
Simple fix with the right tools even at the roadside 🦧
A vin plate should tell all 🦧
Great interesting video again , every where looks absolutely lovely.
So sorry you have had all these problems, and pleased you’re now back on the road again . Been such a worry for you and Roger . Take care and safe journey. Xxx🐕x
Gosh what a nightmare for you for you both, Hope you get it sorted, it sounds like you're on track to. interesting to hear a positive for Ai…
Never buy a fiat nothing but trouble load of 💩