Vignettes, motorway fees and gross vehicle weight
Hi, all. Just planning first European adventure with motorhome, and researching tolls, fees, etc in various countries. There is a sharp cut off at 3.5te GVW between vignettes and other charging systems (Go-Box, etc.), and charges per mile above 3.5te look unappetising. My GVW is 3650kg - supplied at that, although I believe 3500 was optional at the time of original build. I am wondering about down-plating to 3.5te to be able to take advantage of simpler vignette systems in various countries.
Has anyone been though this loop already? Conclusions?
Thanks in anticipation.
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I had mine 'up-plated' to 3500 although the dealer actually did it on my behalf. Relatively straightforward though. Downplating in your case could impact on your payload depending on how tight it is. Running at 3500 does make life simpler where many towns have exclusion areas above that weight.
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what van do you have? this will give a pretty good idea if its doable at that weight.
re run our 6.4m 'slim' Carthago at 3500...it weighs 3420kg all up (incl water, gas, ebikes, OH, tables, chairs, clothes etc,etc for a three month continetal tour..
as the van is well balaced, we have plenty of spare on each axle...
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It's an Autotrail Imala, 7.34m 4 berth used as a two berth. I would not make the change prior to weighing it with a decent payload to see how tight it is. Was more interested in views of the potential benefit of being at/under 3500kgs - hard to quantify without a sense of what the relative costs are likely to be of being below and above 3500. Obviously, can only be based on a "typical" tour. We may potentially get as far as Croatia, so Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland all come into play.
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I really don't think it is worth worrying about. It certainly does not matter on Spanish, Italian, Croatian and German motorways. It is the French and Austrian ones which are the killers but with a motorhome which is just over the limit on French motorways, they probably won't notice. There are at least two routes across Austria to avoiid tolls and Switzerland need not be that expensive. Not sure about Slovennia, they have changed the charging system since I was last there.
peedee
p.s. most weight limits in towns apply to commercial vehicles not motorhomes.
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In downgrading the weight might you also put yourself into a more expensive VED band? It might not be enough to compensate for the extra tolls but it is something extra to think about.
David
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Hi Mons...
With regard to Switzerland, as you can see, we have a heavy van at 4,250 kgms. We are not covered by Vignettes. But we downloaded the Swiss “Via” App, off the web and bought an annual subscription for £35 and can travel freely for 12 months anywhere in Switzerland. We went to a wedding in Tuscany last September and bought the sub’ and this is going to cover us for our next trip to Italy in June. Best of luck with your travels, it’s all good fun!
BillC
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Bill, a useful tip...ill check this out agains the 3.5t charges for Swiss motorway travel.
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i cant find an Imala at 7.34m in the current range...max is 7.25m although there is a 734 model, may be this?
if so, the MIRO is 3260kg which leaves tiny payload of 240kg which (with AT) is usually without water...100kg, no passenger 75kg an extra or two and..whoops....you're at 3500kg before you've put anything like bedding, pots, pans, electrical items, tables, chairs, books, shoes/boots, bbq, etc, etc...
even with the 'upgrade' to 3650kg, this only gives ypu the 'extra' 150kg as (pretty much) your total payload.
IMHO, this van is close to unusable at 3500kg and barely usable at 3650kg...
seriously, i would weigh the van all up with you, OH, water, and all the kit you carry and note the axle weights....even at 3650 this might be marginal.
vans well over 7m are notoriously tricky to run at 3.5t despite what the brocures and salesmen will tell you...youre nearly a metre longer than us and wider...our MIRO is just over 2850kg against 3260kg so you can see why its so much harder....
good luck
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Hi BB,
I don’t think you can use this app on vehicles under 3500kg. It is a “Lump Sum heavy vehicle charge”, with a minimum charge of 25 CHF.
I initially made the mistake on the way out by choosing this 25 CHF ticket, which only covers 7 days. On further scrutiny and prompt from OH whilst down in Italy, I realised I should have chosen the 35 CHF ticket which covers 12 months. I bought that one to get home and have cover for our next trip to Italy in June this year, so worked out in the long run.
Bill
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Ref my last above, I can now confirm that the ticket I have cost 32.50 CHF and covers ten freely chosen single days in one year. You need to validate a day to be used within the App before entry. Validation is effective until 23.59 the same day. If validated after 7pm it is valid until 23.59 the following day. Your year doesn’t start until your first validation. Hope this help those with vans over 3.5t, it is a very convenient way to pay your toll in Switzerland.
Last year I also bought a Telepass Toll tickets tag for my windscreen to cover Italy. Toll tickets cover 20 countries in Europe, all of Western Europe. I already have tags for France, Spain and Portugal from SANEF/EMOVIS, but they don’t cover Italy. I am considering transferring the EMOVIS countries over to Toll tickets so I only need one tag. I bought the Toll Tickets tag online and picked the tag up at the Harbour Shipping office at the Folkestone Services, J11, M20. on my way to the CAMC site at Densole and the tunnel the next day.
BillC
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Hi Bill, just had a quick look at the Toll Tickets site. If I am reading it right it costs €35 a year and that tolls have a 7% charge on top?
Driving from Southern Switzerland to Garda is a real pain, toll wise, so maybe worth paying, but our last route entered at Bolzano so only the one toll to stop at so would be good to hear your take on it.
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Thanks, all, for comments. Yes, BB, it's a 734, and yes, it may be tight on weights - planning a jolly to the weighbridge tomorrow!
Interested in Kontikiboy's suggestion which nicely addresses Switzerland - although that approach multiplied by several countries adds up to no small amount.
Can anyone give me an idea of what a Pay as you Go approach is likely to cost in tolls without avoiding motorways? Without that, it's hard to make a quantified judgement.
MLV
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Hi A&J,
Sorry didn’t reply last week, we had to make an emergency dash up to Scotland and back and with the weather it was some trip. We have been back a few days and packing the van ready to drive to Spain later today. O/n at Poole tonight, ferry at 0830 tomorrow.
Yes, the figures you quote are correct, but tolls in Italy are a lot less per mile than in France and with the tag a lot more convenient.
BillC
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