Sanef tolls, Audi A6s and queues of angry Frenchmen
Discussion
On our last couple of trips down to the Alps, we've either paid by cash or card at the tolls.
But my missus has always complained that I never get close enough to the tolls for her to get her arms out the windows.
So this year, I decide to get one of the Sanef Liber-t tags.
They say in the bumpf that it should be placed in the mottled area at the top of the screen. Our car (58 plate A6 Avant) has no mottled area free as it's taken up by the rain sensor for the auto wipers.
So we tried fitting it by the side of this on the glass.
Roll up to the first barrier. No beep.
Cue comedy moment of trying to shuffle the car far enough over to the left to get a ticket.
Then I tried reading the instructions again - which weren't much help.
Has anyone else experienced problems with this on a C6 A6 Avant? I've read somewhere they don't have athermic screens on UK cars, and it doesn't have a heated screen so, theoretically, it should work wherever we stick it.
Tried holding it up and managed to get it to beep once, but then we were so excited that it worked we forgot to check which way up it was and didn't know how to replicate it.
In the end we gave up and forgot about it, leaving it fixed to the back/bottom of the casing on the screen.
It continued to not work all the rest of the way down, but then for some unknown reason it beeped once on all the tolls on the way back up.
Not only is this frustrating (more so because I don't know how much we'll be charged as some roads we took a ticket to get in and the tag beeped us out), but also as the booths seem to be no longer manned, there's no one about to ask for help. And there only ever seems to be a problem when there's about 20 cars behind you.
Anyone use one with success?
Anyone use one without success?
In either case, where do you stick yours? (oo-er missus)
But my missus has always complained that I never get close enough to the tolls for her to get her arms out the windows.
So this year, I decide to get one of the Sanef Liber-t tags.
They say in the bumpf that it should be placed in the mottled area at the top of the screen. Our car (58 plate A6 Avant) has no mottled area free as it's taken up by the rain sensor for the auto wipers.
So we tried fitting it by the side of this on the glass.
Roll up to the first barrier. No beep.
Cue comedy moment of trying to shuffle the car far enough over to the left to get a ticket.
Then I tried reading the instructions again - which weren't much help.
Has anyone else experienced problems with this on a C6 A6 Avant? I've read somewhere they don't have athermic screens on UK cars, and it doesn't have a heated screen so, theoretically, it should work wherever we stick it.
Tried holding it up and managed to get it to beep once, but then we were so excited that it worked we forgot to check which way up it was and didn't know how to replicate it.
In the end we gave up and forgot about it, leaving it fixed to the back/bottom of the casing on the screen.
It continued to not work all the rest of the way down, but then for some unknown reason it beeped once on all the tolls on the way back up.
Not only is this frustrating (more so because I don't know how much we'll be charged as some roads we took a ticket to get in and the tag beeped us out), but also as the booths seem to be no longer manned, there's no one about to ask for help. And there only ever seems to be a problem when there's about 20 cars behind you.
Anyone use one with success?
Anyone use one without success?
In either case, where do you stick yours? (oo-er missus)
You might get some expensive charges where you use the ticket to get in and the tag to get out. They generally charge the maximum possible for that exit point.
I don't think the newer mini tag works as well as old larger tag.
The high speed lanes work better for me, but I found the smaller tag didn't always trigger before I had completely stopped.
I found the support people Ok for getting the charges reduced, but no use at all for the tag problems.
I don't have an Audi.
I don't think the newer mini tag works as well as old larger tag.
The high speed lanes work better for me, but I found the smaller tag didn't always trigger before I had completely stopped.
I found the support people Ok for getting the charges reduced, but no use at all for the tag problems.
I don't have an Audi.
The tech support guys reckon that in all cases, holding it out the window will work as it's done on line of sight. Of course, the beauty of having one of these is to fix it in place and just leave it.
I've also read of someone who claims theirs works from the glovebox, so I can't for the life of me work out why ours wouldn't.
I did write to the tech support people to say that their website doesn't go into enough detail about how it works, which way around it should be, whether there's a right way up, how much of an angle is too much etc.
We thought we had it all ok (and it was installed the right way up) but then one of the booths we approached showed it with the white side facing the driver (which turns out to be wrong).
All in all, not exactly the smooth operation I was hoping for and there's no way of testing it until it's too late.
From what I could see, the scanners were placed up and to the left, but they could have been ANPR cameras or anything else.
I've also read of someone who claims theirs works from the glovebox, so I can't for the life of me work out why ours wouldn't.
I did write to the tech support people to say that their website doesn't go into enough detail about how it works, which way around it should be, whether there's a right way up, how much of an angle is too much etc.
We thought we had it all ok (and it was installed the right way up) but then one of the booths we approached showed it with the white side facing the driver (which turns out to be wrong).
All in all, not exactly the smooth operation I was hoping for and there's no way of testing it until it's too late.
From what I could see, the scanners were placed up and to the left, but they could have been ANPR cameras or anything else.
Edited by Kell on Wednesday 16th March 15:38
I've had one in my 2010 A6 for 4 years and before that it was in my VW. In all that time I've never had a problem. It sits in its holder behind the rear view mirror on the passenger side - I can't see it from the drivers seat. We do 3 trips to the Alps each winter and it's never missed a beat. At some tolls you do have to get close to the barrier before you hear the bleep and the barrier raises. On the no stopping barriers it works fine at 30kmh.
Only time I've had a slight delay is when I've been in the Caterham and I've been holding the transponder in my hand and waving it around above my head. Still less embarrassing than having to climb out to get a ticket from a machine.
Only time I've had a slight delay is when I've been in the Caterham and I've been holding the transponder in my hand and waving it around above my head. Still less embarrassing than having to climb out to get a ticket from a machine.
Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff