Car Break Down Advice

With the majority of the winter months behind us, I'm sure that most of you are looking forward to summer, but if your car broke down tomorrow, how prepared would you be to deal with the situation? You'll often find that people who come from Australia will be more conscious of breaking down than people who haven't. Why is this? Well if you get out an atlas or a globe it will be staring you in the face.

The simple fact is that the UK is compartively small compared to most other countries in the world, this helps to lend us a false sense of security when it comes to dealing with break downs. Over here, it's usually just an inconvenience, in Australia it could mean your life if you're not prepared.

By placing these items in your car, you could make the whole experience much more bareable, how many of these have you got?

- Ice Scraper (Credit Cards don't count by the way)

- Torch (Every car should have one of these regardless)

- De-Icer

- Warm Coat/Jumper/Blanket

- Break down cover membership details(if you've got any)

- Mobile Phone

If you've got all of these items, well done, if you've got none of these things stop what you're doing and go throw that jumper your grandma gave you for christmas in the boot of your car right now. You won't care how silly it looks if you're sitting there shivering waiting for the recovery vehicle.

Breakdown cover costs about £100/year, although this may seem expensive, you'd be surprised how much it costs to get an independant tow truck out. Their bill is usually double what you'd pay for breakdown cover for a whole year, of course it's your choice, but you'll wish you did if you need it and don't have it.

We've really only brushed the surface of this topic, next time we'll be discussing break down procedures depending where you are(Motorways etc).