# Class 4 Toll charges? - France



## 102790

Hi all,
I have been searching past posts regarding French motorways, tolls etc but can't find what I am looking for.

We are off on our 1st foreign trip next month to South West med of France via Euro Tunnel. We have a TAG axle Eura Mobil which exceeds the 3500kg band on the toll sytem and is 3.4metres high overall the roof cargo. This I think makes us a Class '4' which is the same as HGV.

Does anyone know what the toll costs are for this class or roughly how much more it is than for a Class '3', standard size motorhome.

I am currently budgetting on a £100 pounds each way for the tolls as I will be using the motorways as much as possible as we only have 2 weeks and a top speed of 60mph.

Does anyone know if our vehicle will be restricted to less than 60mph on the motorways?

What is the cost of diesel at present on the French motorways?
What is French for diesel?

Any inormation much appreciated.

Regards.

Ashers.


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## 107088

French for diesel= gasoil

if you google "fuel prices in france" you'll get what you need. also, you'll also get the toll fees if you ask it nicely.

I'll have a look for a couple of links.


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## 107088

heres one.

http://www.prix-carburants.gouv.fr/


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## 107088

and..heres another

http://www.autoroutes.fr/


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## Rapide561

*French diesel*

Hi

Diesel on the motorway in France was about 1.35 - 1.40 euro per litre. About 1.25 euro per litre in towns and so on.

I avoid French motorways like the plague due to the cost. I too have god a TAG. I did email the tolls department a while back, and was told 44 euro from Calais to Reims.

You might want to start a separate thread about the route to avoid some of the tolls. I know sometimes speed is of the essence, but for me, from now on, it is a day longer on the road and toll free all the way!

Russell

I will add that the N roads and D roads in France that I use on a "regular" basis as excellent. Not as quick as the motorways when going through a town etc, but often the N roads are shorter than the motorway routes.

Have a good play with www.viamichelin.com


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## 107088

Alo, most of the larger towns have ring roads, so you dont need to go all the way through, should you decide not to.


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## 107088

And another address,
this ones a bit less specific, but, use the map system and you can access the campsites listed, maybe of help

/www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/france

edited to actually put the website in......duh


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## Rapide561

*Tolls*

Right, that's that sorted - avoid the tolls and fight the pirates.

R


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## taz

Hi
We are just back from France in the equivalent Burstner van. In the main we were charged as Class 2 and on the 2 occassions we were put into class 3 I queried it and they changed it down to class 2. 
We travelled from Saumur in the Loire up to Calais using Peage where available and it cost us a total of 50 euro
Hope this helps
Sally


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## Rapide561

*Tolls*

Hi Sally

Good on you for agruing and getting your toll lowered.

Gillian (AUTOSTRATUS) has a photo of her van, with arrows and lines indicating the length and height etc.

Might be an idea to carry something like that.

Russell


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## GOVER

Assuming you have a motorhome with no more than 2 axles and are now towing ( otherwise you are group 4).

The height of the vehicle is checked by a laser on entry into the toll road at the vast majority of entry points. 

So if you are above 3m you will have a ticket issued for Class 4. If the whole roof edge line visible to the toll booth attendant is less than 3m and the laser picked up your roof luggage you will probably be able to argue class 2.

NB If you are registered disabled and have motability tax disc exemption you will able to claim a Class 2 to Class 1 (car rate) reduction.


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## taz

Hi Gover
We are an 8m tag axle burstner with a height of 3.25m and a GVW of 5t. 
The worst we were charged was class 3 and my polite "argument" got it reduced it class 2 - not sure whether I was correct or they couldn't take my pigeon French any longer but it certainly worked.
Sally


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## Vennwood

We got back from France last month and travelled on the Autoroutes for once as we found the aires had no water and it was freezing so we stayed in the sun longer and motorwayed all the way home. That's the waffle out of the way - We have a Flair - 8+ mtrs and 3.3 mtrs high. We had a mixture of classes from 2 to 3 but never class 4. If the exit was automated, i.e. no human involvement then we got charged class 2. However when it was a human cashier then we were charged class 3. I argued with the cashier on one occasion but unlike our earlier colleague I lost the battle as strictly speaking over 3500KG it should be class 3.

The main drawback, apart from paying tolls, when travelling on the Autoroutes are that fuel prices are much higher than RN roads or supermarkets. So if you can leave the autoroute for a night stop then fill up before getting back on. I do sympathise with you if you have only 2 weeks - if you need to get south then the autoroute is much quicker.

Interestingly though we worked out that if you travel on the autoroutes then 
A. it is usually much shorter as well as quicker. 
B. We found that we got much better economy - like approx 6 mpg better

So overall I reckon that excluding the time we saved , if you balance the books and work out the saved fuel costs (distance + economy) and subtracted the Autoroute costs then you weren't that much worse off

All that said under normal circumstances we prefer the slower and gentle way and take our time.


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## teensvan

Hi.

Do not use the toll roads they will cost you an arm and a leg with the tag.

Cost us 20.20€ to cross the Millue bridge two weeks ago. Not sure if i spelt the bridge name right.

steve & ann. ---------------- teensvan.


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## alunj

also just back, have a 4.5T hymer , its 3.1 m high and we got charged class 2 at all tolls


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## Vennwood

teensvan said:


> Cost us 20.20€ to cross the Millue bridge two weeks ago.


Blimey what a rip off - we went over that bridge last October with a Dethleff 7870 tag and were charged 5:50 Euros

Update: Just found our travel log and noticed that the bridge charge was 8:50 not 5:50 - sorry for that - still a rip off.


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## billym

We reckon about £ 100 top to bottom but in reality it is probably a little bit

more.


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## 89017

I have to disagree with Gover, there is no exemption for displaying disabled tax disc or window display badge. I tried it at half a dozen peages and specifically asked the question and was told a catagoric NO! 
Bob


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## whistlinggypsy

I am afraid your wrong Bob, we have been using the disabled discount for many years now and only on a very few occasions is the reqest refused.

The tax exemption disc does not matter (but has to be on the m/h) as we have never had anyone look at ours yet.

On arriving at the booth my wife shows them her blue disabled badge, and utters the phrase "bon jour, handicappe, classe un s.v.p" and as said before we get classe un 99% of the time.

Regards

Bob

"The following text is a copy of a Email sent to me after being charged Classe 2 tarif instead of Classe 1 (a big saving ) at the toll booths of French Motorways and is directly from Sanef .com
Madamme Aurure Pylat ( Conseillere Clientele ) and applies only to registered disabled, Vehicle Licence Exempt motorhomes.

It translates as any motorhome under 3 Mts. high and 3500Kgs or less and is Vehicle Licence Exempt ( road tax ) can claim Classe 1 tarif on French motorways.

I hope this informatiom may be of assistance to fellow travellers.

Regards

whistlinggypsy ( bob quinn )

"{quote} Monsieur,

Nous vous remercions d’avoir pris le temps de nous faire part des désagréments que vous avez rencontrés lors de vos passages sur nos autoroutes.

Nous nous permettons de préciser les différents critères déterminant la classification des véhicules :
- Classe 1 : véhicules ou ensembles roulants de hauteur totale inférieure ou égale à 2 mètres et dont le Poids Total Autorisé en Charge (PTAC) est inférieur ou égal à 3,5 tonnes.
- Classe 2 : véhicules ou ensembles roulants de hauteur totale comprise entre 2 et 3 mètres et dont le PTAC est inférieur ou égal à 3,5 tonnes.

Cependant, les véhicules de classe 2 aménagés pour le transport de personnes à mobilité réduite, bénéficient du tarif de la classe 1. C’est la mention « handicap » sur la carte grise qui permet l’attribution de la classe 1.

Compte tenu des éléments fournis, nous vous confirmons que cette réduction aurait dû vous être appliquée, lors de votre passage au péage.

Aussi, votre prochain extrait bancaire (ou relevé) devrait faire apparaître le remboursement de la différence entre les tarifs acquittés et les tarifs qui auraient dû vous être appliqués.

D'autre part, un rappel a été fait auprès des péages afin que la mention "handicap" en anglais "disabled" soit connue de tous.

Si toutefois vous rencontriez encore des difficultés au péage, n'hésitez pas à présenter ce message en plus de la carte grise de votre véhicule portant la mention "disabled".

Nous vous présentons nos excuses pour cet incident, et espérons que vos futurs voyages se dérouleront dans les meilleures conditions de sécurité et de confort.

Nous vous prions d'agréer, Monsieur, l'_expression de nos salutations distinguées.


Madame Aurore Pylat
Conseillère Clientèle


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## 102790

*TOLL CHARGES FRANCE*

Thanks everyone for your input, especially Bandaid. I had found the "autoroutes.fr" website which gives deatils of the classifications for charges but could not find details of the actual charges on it.

I think being a tag axle is going to be the nail in the coffin, pushing us into Class '4'. I think we will try the tolls and see how it goes.

We really need to get to the south as quick as possible to see the sun, do some windsurfing and generallychilling out, after this long cold winter that we have had and seem to keep on enduring.

Oh it would be soooh good to have much more time to use the normal roads and explore the countryside and find the great places that most of you guys and girls find. Ah well, keep on doing the lottery and crossing the fingers.

Cheers all.

Ashers.


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## autostratus

*Re: Tolls*



Rapide561 said:


> Hi Sally
> 
> Good on you for agruing and getting your toll lowered.
> 
> Gillian (AUTOSTRATUS) has a photo of her van, with arrows and lines indicating the length and height etc.
> 
> Might be an idea to carry something like that.
> 
> Russell


We use the A16 autoroute regularly and were charged Classe 3 instead of Classe 2 on two occasions at the Abbeville exit.
On a third occasion we got out our A4 sized photo print and it was amended to Classe 2.


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## timbop37

Hi

Thanks to all on this thread for your input.

I didn't realise that you could get discount through French tolls with a blue badge and tax-exempt disc.

We already have toll-free travel on the Mersey tunnels, M6 toll road and congestion-free driving through inner London.

Worth the subscription fee to MHF alone.

Thanks again,

Tim


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## Vennwood

Hi All,

I just remembered this site for the official vehicle class regulations -

http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/preparatives/vehicle-classification.html

If you look at the bottom of the page it shows the disabled details from class 2 to class 1


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## PAT4NEIL

Hi looking at that list, can you tell me if my vehicle is 7.13 long and 3.00metres high 3.07 with aerial and weighs 4200kg , and towing a motorcycle on a small trailer which is less than 3 metres does that come under category 4, if so I think we will have to use no autoroutes coming through France.
Thanks Pat


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## Vennwood

PATSY4 said:


> Hi looking at that list, can you tell me if my vehicle is 7.13 long and 3.00metres high 3.07 with aerial and weighs 4200kg , and towing a motorcycle on a small trailer which is less than 3 metres does that come under category 4, if so I think we will have to use no autoroutes coming through France.
> Thanks Pat


Hi Pat,

My reading of this is that it doesn't matter how long your MH is it's just the height/weight/no of axles So I would say it would be either class 2 or 3.

I still believe it is down to the individual toll both as even with our 6000kg, 3.3 mtrs high Flair we usually get charged for class 2 and occasionally class 3


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## PAT4NEIL

Sounds good, but what about towing does that automatically put you in class 4


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## Vennwood

Hi Pat,

I'm not sure but I don't think they charge for small trailers - unless its large such as a caravan or boat. It mentions "train" but only in the context of height.


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## flybywire

does anyone know the typical difference between a class 2 toll and a class 3 toll in euros please cheers

Mike :?


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## Tobysmumndad

A Hobby 750 towing a Smart car on a trailer is quite clearly Class 4. However, 99.9% of the time we get let off with Class 2. We think this is because we're (just) under 3 metres high, and the péage person invariably doesn't take the trouble to look at the number of wheels! (What they think as the whole ensemble glides past their window as we depart causes us some speculation. I half expect the barrier to come down on the car sometimes.)

One memorable exception to this was at the Reims Sud péage, where we got hit for Class 4, having come 218.7 km from Langres Nord ... €56.89!! (The date was Sunday 14th October 2007, the day after Jonny Wilkinson drop-kicked France out of the rugby World Cup ... hmm.)

We did the identical sector this March, Class 2 (phew) ... €25.50.


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## Vennwood

Hi Flybywire,

This link will allow you to put in the route, type (class) of vehicle and you can enter it for your vehicle and get the exact cost.

http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/preparatives/vehicle-classification.html

If you enter a class 2 then enter a class 4 you can subtract the two and see the difference in cost

Of course if you encounter any unmanned booths then it will cost lower as they default to class 2

Pete


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