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Headlights and Driving In France

3K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  mrtotty 
#1 ·
Hi everyone
New to this site so im sorry if im asking a question thats allready been asked before

Basicly im taking the car over to France in a couple of weeks , so i'll have to sort the headlights on my laguna with those deflector things. Rang my local dealer and he said that the best way was to park the car up against a wall and put them roughly where the drawing in the pack said , then move them until you see the beam deflected on the wall. Sounds good in theory , but as we are driving to dover overnight , then getting an overnight ferry and continuing, I cant see much opertunity to park the car against a wall and mess about.

Anyone got a any easy ways to locate where they should go , had thought about some Headlight Protectors and sticking the defelctors on them so I could just clip them on at the ferry, but cant seem to find any on the net

And Finaly

Whats the A1, A104 and A4 like round CDG airport at 09:00 on a Sunday Morning? is it busy or not that bad?

Is it worth the extra 40 miles to avoid paris compleatly ad stop on A26 from Calais to Riems then come Along A4 from other Direction?

Thanks in advance for any advice/ suggestions
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Headlight protectors with the deflectors stuck on are the way to go.So much quicker and easier, and as you are driving at night you will find them invaluable. I have done this and you will find several threads on this forum about this. Some people will say don't bother, never seen a policeman, never been stopped etc etc. But for the sake of a few quid and being legal it is not worth the risk of a fine.
I bought my headlight protectors which came complete with 2 sets of stick on deflectors from protectyour headlight. They were genuine renault ones as well. The ones from the Renault dealers were only about £5-£6 more so if you are in a rush may be worth calling them.

The company I got mine from no longer appear to exist tho, just did a google search and whilst listed website doesn't work.
The protectors are made by EGR - (no reference to the egr valve either as the site wants to highlight this ( who make them for most car manufacturers anyway)), try a search for them.
 
G
#3 ·
Alternatively, park opposite a wall before you go, work out where the deflectors need to go, then cut two paper templates to the headlamp shape, with a hole where the deflector needs to go.

When you get to Dover, just hold the template aganst the lamp and fit the deflector though it.

Richard
 
#5 ·
Headlight Deflectors

Hi Steelman99 and welcome to Renault Forums,
Got back from France myself a couple of weeks ago and having an older car than yourself I got a pair of headlight protectors from a local scrappy and went down that route. However I got the actual deflectors from Halfords and after fitting them according to the enclosed fitting chart they were almost spot on anyway and no one in France checked.
Regards Leroy
 
#6 ·
I use to use a bit of insulation tape myself. never had any trouble. When i got my Picasso i didn't use anything, just turned down the beam. On the only occasion i did use a defector it was on a hire van, although it was correctly fitted a was flash at several times. (lucky me)

Be aware it is now a legal requirement to have a reflective jacket in the car in case of break down.

Happy driving. fill up with cheap diesel.

www.howittgites.com
 
#7 ·
steelman99 said:
And Finaly

Whats the A1, A104 and A4 like round CDG airport at 09:00 on a Sunday Morning? is it busy or not that bad?

Is it worth the extra 40 miles to avoid paris compleatly ad stop on A26 from Calais to Riems then come Along A4 from other Direction?

Thanks in advance for any advice/ suggestions
First off..... Welcome :d

I've driven various cars to France over the last few years and have never bothered with fitting deflectors! Have'nt had any problems with the Gendarmes either! After all.... how many foreign cars do you get dazzled by over here!! :mad:

As for avoiding Paris.... From personal experience, I would avoid it like the plague any time, especially in July as this is the French main summer holiday time and every man and his dog seems to be heading south at the same time :crazy:

Whereabouts in France are you heading for?
 
#8 ·
As for avoiding Paris.... From personal experience, I would avoid it like the plague any time, especially in July as this is the French main summer holiday time and every man and his dog seems to be heading south at the same time

Whereabouts in France are you heading for?

Thanks everyone for the advice
Matt , Im heading from Calais to Disneyland , Get off the ferry at 06:54 on a sunday morning.

just when I ask the computer it suggests A26, A1 , A104 then A4 , going V. Close to cDG airport and Paris.
When I check on A map , I see that you can also go A26 to Riems then A4 to disneyland , which is only about 40 miles further . just wondering which is best option

Would ask the sat Nav , but the reanualt one wont reconise disnyland as a place in France , no Marne-la-valle either
 
#9 ·
I would leave my English car in England and hire a car in France. I always do, mainly because it's no problem if you break down or crash (ring the rescue number on the windscreen), the French police do not know you are English (and will not target you, as they allegedly do sometimes), and most importantly, the steering wheel is on the correct side for overtaking and using toll gates.
But, if you were to use an English car, why is it not possible to have a LHD/RHD setting, controlled by a dashboard switch, for headlamps?
 
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