Breakdowns and roadside assistance

Get somewhere safe, put your hazard lights on, and call ETERNAL roadside assistance on the number in your rental agreement. It is included in every rental and answered 24 hours a day. Do not keep driving with a warning light on — that usually turns a small problem into an expensive one.

First steps

• Pull over somewhere safe and switch on your hazard lights
• On a motorway, get out on the side away from traffic and wait behind the barrier, never in the car
• Put on the high-visibility vest and place the warning triangle, if it is safe to do so
• Do not attempt any repair yourself

When you call us

• Your exact location, the registration plate and your reservation number
• Which warning lights are on and what the car is doing
• Whether the car is drivable and whether you are somewhere safe

What it costs

ETERNAL arranges roadside assistance for a mechanical fault not caused by the renter. A call-out caused by a lost key, a key locked inside, wrong fuel or an empty tank is chargeable. All charges and any replacement or continuation arrangement follow the signed agreement.

Pull over as soon as it is safe. Every car carries either a spare wheel or a repair kit, so you can deal with it yourself if you are confident — or call us and we come to you.

If you change it yourself

• Only do it if you are somewhere safe — never on a motorway hard shoulder
• Follow the instructions in the vehicle manual in the glovebox
• Drive gently afterwards and tell us, so we can get the proper tyre back on the car

A slow puncture

• Stop as soon as you safely can
• Do not carry on at speed on a soft tyre — that ruins the rim as well as the tyre, and the rim costs far more
• Call us and we will tell you whether to change it or wait for us

Good to know: tyre damage is covered from Eternal Protection upwards. With Basic Protection or no plan at all, a damaged tyre is yours to pay for.

Call us and we arrange a jump-start. Please do not accept one from a passer-by, however well meant — a jump-start done wrong can damage the electronics, and that damage is not covered.

Before you call

• Automatic gearbox: put it in P. Manual: neutral, handbrake on
• Switch off the lights, the air conditioning and the radio
• Make sure you are parked safely with the hazard lights on
• Have your reservation number and your exact location ready

ETERNAL arranges assistance for a battery or vehicle fault not caused by the renter. If the battery went flat because lights or equipment were left on, the call-out is chargeable. The signed agreement controls the final assessment.

We arrange it. Call us and we send recovery to you — please do not call a tow truck yourself unless we have asked you to, because we cannot reimburse a recovery we did not arrange.

While you wait

• Move the car somewhere safe if it can still be moved, and switch on the hazard lights
• Wait somewhere safe — off the carriageway and behind the barrier on a motorway
• Keep your phone reachable so the recovery driver can find you

After the car is collected

The car goes to a workshop we work with for inspection and repair, and we handle it from there — there is nothing further for you to do about the vehicle itself. If the rental is meant to continue, we sort out a replacement.

Note: recovery caused by a breach of the rental agreement — driving off-road, or to a country we did not approve — is not covered and is charged to you.

Call us and we work out the fastest way to get you moving again. Please do not rent from someone else in the meantime — we cannot reimburse a car you hired without asking us first.

How it works

1. Call us and tell us what has happened and where you are
2. Together we decide whether help on the spot, a repair or a replacement gets you going soonest
3. If it is a replacement, we either bring it to you or have it ready at our office — whichever is faster for where you are

Honestly: a replacement depends on what we have free at that moment, the hour and where you are. We will always tell you straight away what is realistic rather than leave you waiting on a maybe.

Call us. We will arrange a way to get you back on the road, whether that is bringing a key to you or swapping the car. Do not try to force the car open and do not order a key from anyone else.

What we need from you

• Your reservation number and the registration plate
• Where you are now
• Confirmation that the key is genuinely lost, not locked inside the car — the two need different help
• Your ID when our colleague arrives

What it costs: a lost key is one of the costs no protection plan covers, on any tier. You pay for the replacement key and for getting it to you. A car key with its electronics is not a cheap item, so it is worth keeping it somewhere deliberate.

Call us and we will get you back in. Please do not force a door or a window, and do not call a locksmith yourself — damage from either is charged to you, and it is usually more than the call-out would have been.

Tell us

• Your reservation number and the registration plate
• Where the car is
• What exactly happened — key locked inside, key not working, or the car not responding
• Whether anyone or anything is shut in the car, so we know how urgent it is

Getting you back into a car with the key locked inside is charged, as it is not a fault with the vehicle. Have your ID ready — we will not open a car for someone we cannot identify as the renter.

Wrong fuel: do not start the engine. Not even for a second, and not to move the car off the forecourt. An engine that has never been started can usually be drained and sent on its way; one that has run on the wrong fuel can need a rebuild.

If you have used the wrong fuel

1. Leave the engine off and take the key out
2. Call us straight away and tell us what went into the tank
3. We arrange recovery and a fuel drain

If you have run out of fuel

• Pull over somewhere safe and switch on the hazard lights
• Call us — do not walk along a motorway or an unlit road to find a petrol station
• We bring fuel out to you

What it costs: both of these are charged, because neither is a fault with the car. The wrong fuel is by far the more expensive of the two, which is why the one rule that matters is not to start the engine.

For anything else about how the car works — the fuel flap, a control you cannot place — the manual in the glovebox answers most of it. If it does not, call us and we will talk you through it.