Help with Travelling to Europe

March 25, 2022

We are travelling across to Belgium via Calais/Eurotunnel next week in our 69 RAV4. Haven't done this before, so don't know what to expect from the satnav system. Will it accept European addresses and get us there? Or do I need to download something. We've have Apple CarPlay installed so could fallback on that but I prefer the RAV's inbuilt satnav.

I have purchased some stick on, universal headlamp deflectors. I wasn't planning on fitting them because we won't be driving at night - we aren't going very far (Ypres to be precise). Is it okay to carry them but not fit them? Do we even need them?

I also purchased a magnetic UK plate - but discovered that the boot lid is entirely plastic!

Thanks for help/advice.

March 25, 2022

The satnav works just fine in western Europe - that's the area covered by the maps. It may be worth making sure that your map database is fully up to date.

You need to tell it the country that your destination is in. That's 'obvious' really but we are so used to everything being in the UK that we forget that's the current default.

It's worth carrying the headlamp deflectors. Check before you travel whether you actually need them - i.e. does the headlamp beam actually 'tick up' at the left hand edge of the beam. If it doesn't, you can't dazzle oncoming drivers anyway so you needn't fit any deflectors at all. The beam on my 2020 car is completely flat, so I carry a set but haven't seen any need to fit them. The law is that you mustn't dazzle oncoming drivers; there's no law that says you have to have defectors fitted.

It's really quite annoying that a magnetic UK plate won't stick - I've got one and it doesn't stick either! 😉

I've found that a standard stick-on Badge sits nicely at the bottom left corner of the rear screen (viewed from behind) and it's virtually invisible from inside the car so doesn't obscure my view either.

Enjoy