14 hour drive across France with no air con!

[Jezzabelle]

Air con has gone in the car and costs over £700 to fix! As that's not an expense we had planned for on top of the holiday, how would you recommend making it bearable for the Discerning? (12 and 9) Any tips gratefully received!!!

Dds, not discerning!!??!?

Fans that plug into iPhones and a charger

Thanks Lemony

Will check Amazon now

I'm not sure you would need to plug a fan into an iPhone, surely you could get some that work off the 12v charger point or batteries - I would look into car hire though tbh as small portable fans won't make much difference when it's over 30 degrees

Yes, we have looked at car hire possibilities but still expensive. I thought if we take iced drinks, maybe extra ice packs etc it might be manageable! Wouldn't be what we wanted though. You can get in car air con units that plug into the lighter plug but reviews are bad. Thought I might get some extra tips from those who have done it!!! May just end up just forking out for repairs

Frozen ice packs, a good cool box and some newspapers. I take it the fan is still working in the car!?!? The ice packs will stay cool in the box and you can pull them out periodically and use them in front of the air vents. The newspaper will keep the packs cooler in the cool box. Freeze some bottles of water too and then everyone can drink the ice cool water as it melts.

I'd just drive with the windows open. Air con is only a relatively recent standard in lots of cars. I miss sunroofs.

I couldn't drive 14 minutes with my windows open let alone 14 hours -

Back in ancient, pre air con days I lived in the South of France. We (passengers) would soak handkerchiefs in cold water and sponge our faces with them as we drove through 30 something degree days. It sounds so quaint now but it actually wasn't that long ago. Also, shades on back windows.

My dc have little fans from Tiger that you just squeeze the handle and they spin. Or the small battery operated ones. Someone will have to be in charge of fanning the driver though!

Honestly, I would suck it up and put it on the credit card. I am in France and it's 30 by lunch time and very little cloud cover.

I usually prefer open windows to air conditioning but I got caught in a small traffic jam yesterday (20mins) and am sunburnt on my window arm.

14 hours in this heat in a car with no air conditioning would be bad but if you get caught in a traffic jam you will cook!

Are you going to be driving through the traffic hellhole that is the autoroute through Lyon in the summer? I could cope with cold drinks, regular ice cream stops and windows open but Lyon, where you can expect to sit stationary, with no breeze and breathing in exhaust fumes would be horrific. I’ve done the drive to the South a few times pre-baby in a convertible and that was the point where we cracked and had to put the roof up and the a/c on!

Hello! Thanks for all the replies. We took it to another garage who will get it sorted for £515. Saves a few hundred and we've decided to stick it on the credit card! Loving the wet hanky idea!

Not sure what route we are taking but will attempt to avoid Lyon now Troubled!!