Green Flag

How to fit a bike rack to your vehicle

Yellow-ish green 4x4 with roof rack and bike rack attached. Luggage container and red box on roof rack and three bikes on bike rack. Greenery and mountains in the background.

Bikes can be a great way to explore while you’re camping, on a road trip, or visiting a specific trail. But if you’re taking your own bike(s), fitting a bike rack can be a bit of a hassle.

So, to help cut down that hassle for you, here’s our handy guide on how to fit a bike rack to your vehicle.

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Learning to drive: be confident before your test

reflection of traffic and tall buildings in side mirror of a car

Learning to drive is a big achievement. You can bask in your independence. You can do late-night big Tesco trips. You can drive yourself to training, work, wherever, whenever (with or without Shakira playing).

No pressure, right?

It takes a lot of confidence to take your driving test. So, we’ve put together some tips to help you get in the zone.

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Supporting our customers with EV qualified technicians

EV technician next to a Green Flag van buzz-ing to see a customer, both waving at each other.

The electric vehicle market is growing. Quickly. And with government plans to phase out new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, the charge of the EV is showing no signs of slowing down.

EVs are exciting, but from a breakdown recovery perspective (one of our favourite perspectives), they are one of the biggest challenges in our industry right now.

Luckily, we like a challenge. That’s why we’re proud to announce that at the end of 2022, more of our technicians became Institute of the Motor Industry Level 3 and 4 qualified to work on EVs.

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The 2023 motoring forecast: innovation inbound

woman driving car with dog in passenger seat, pov from behind them looking forwards to the road

If you’re wondering what’s on the cards for cars in 2023, all eyes are on innovation.

Will we see a new way of powering our vehicles? Could this be the breakthrough year for self-driving vehicles? Here are the big motoring trends to look out for in 2023.

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Expert advice: all about pothole damage to your car

pothole damage
Drive though this and you could inflict all sorts of damage on tyre, wheel or suspension (Picture iStock/Marc Bruxelles)

Now’s the time of year when the number of potholes on our roads starts to increase. Winter weather with its extreme temperature variations along with heavy rain and sometimes snow results in more damage to road surfaces. And more holes mean the greater chance that you’ll drive through one and suffer pothole damage to your car in one way or another.

So I thought it would be the perfect time of year to look at pothole damage and what we as drivers can do to spot and limit the effects of it.

Tyre damage is easy to see

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Breakdown cover: the what’s, why’s, and how’s

Nobody expects (or wants) their vehicle to break down. It’s stressful, it takes up time, it can cost you money if your vehicle needs repairs. Not a great list…

Unfortunately, it happens quite often. Here at Green Flag, we helped with over 500,000 jobs in 2021 alone.

Even though no driver wants to be in that situation, there’s a good chance you’ll have to call on a breakdown cover provider at some point in your life. So, if you don’t have cover already, now may be the time.

That’s why we’ve put all the important info you need about breakdown cover in one place.

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Expert advice: how to use less fuel driving and save more money

use less fuel driving
Follow our tips below and you’ll use less fuel driving (Picture iStock/BrianAJackson)

With the price of fuel increasing almost daily, we’ve had a lot of people asking how they can use less fuel driving and get more miles for their money.

There isn’t a magic solution for using less fuel. It’s all about making lots of little savings that combine to result in more miles per gallon.

The most important factor is how you drive

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Little Green Flag. A recovery service for Cozy Coupes this Christmas.

Photo credit: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

We’re excited to introduce ‘Little Green Flag’, a roadside recovery service that’s a little different to usual.

If a child has outgrown their Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, we’ll recover it, take it to be recycled, and new toy wheels will be gifted to children’s charity, The Toy Project. The Toy Project will then give the toys to disadvantaged families, schools, and nurseries just in time for Christmas.

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Expert advice: what to do if you lose your car keys

lose your car keys
You know you put it somewhere. But where? (Picture iStock/Atkinc)

There are few things as frustrating, stressful and potentially expensive as if you lose your car keys. We know because it’s something that we get thousands of calls about from drivers every year. The question is: what do you do about it?

Is the key really lost?

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Expert advice: what to do if your electric car battery goes flat

electric car battery
It’s worth charging an electric car before the battery goes completely flat (Picture iStock/Ziga Plahutar)

They call it range anxiety when you’re worried that your electric car won’t have sufficient charge in its battery to complete your journey. But what happens if you do then run out of charge? And is there any way you can stop it happening?

Reasons not to run out of charge

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Four scenic drives to enjoy this summer

Taking the car in the UK opens up some of the world’s most stunning views (Picture iStock/Judd Brotman)

With travel abroad still uncertain, many people are staying in the UK. And what better way to enjoy the great British summer than with some scenic drives? Here we look at four possible routes you could take in England, Scotland and Wales. At their heart, all feature roads that are brilliant to drive on with awe-inspiring backdrops and fun activities for all the family.

Scenic drive along the south coast

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Expert Advice: all about turbo trouble in your car’s engine

turbo trouble
This is what a turbocharger looks like inside an engine (Picture iStock/Kool99)

Ever more cars use turbocharging on their engines. And that makes turbo trouble a problem some drivers might face for the first time. A turbo is a way of getting a smaller, more fuel-efficient engine to match the power of a larger capacity unit.

To work their magic, turbos have to work at high speeds, high temperatures and high pressures so they can be susceptible to failures. But if a turbo packs up, the engine won’t necessarily stop. Here I look at what a turbo is and the kinds of problems your turbo car might experience.

What is a turbo engine?

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Expert advice: how to tell if your car has suspension trouble

suspension trouble
Car suspension is complicated and hard-wearing (Picture iStock/kvsan)

The suspension on our cars is a very hard-working piece of kit. And it’s one we take for granted – until we experience suspension trouble. While we’re driving forwards, the suspension is constantly in motion too, coping with undulations in the road surface and other forces on the car.

It’s the suspension that keeps the car’s road wheels in touch with the ground when we go round corners. And it’s the suspension that helps to insulate the driver and passengers from the outside.

Unsurprisingly with something that’s so busy, cars can suffer suspension trouble. And the number of potholes on our roads seem to be making suspension trouble more likely. Read on to discover how to diagnose it.

Signs of suspension damage

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Buying a used car? Our tips should help make it easy and trouble free

buying a used car
Buying a car should be the start of a beautiful friendship, not a relationship to regret (Picture iStock/1001nights)

Research by Green Flag suggests that almost a third (32 per cent) of Britons are now planning to buy a new or used car to avoid exposure to COVID-19 on public transport.

It doesn’t matter whether a car is brand new or not, getting a new motor should be a joyful moment. After all, it’s got to be better than the old smoker it’s replacing. To ensure it is, follow the tips below on how to buy a used car.

Research is rarely wasted

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Expert advice: how to check your car’s fluids

fluids
It might look complicated but checking fluids is a simple task that anyone can do (Picture iStock/Ljubaphoto)

During lockdown, there’s every chance you won’t have been using your car as much as usual. Before driving it again regularly, it’s a good idea to check it and its fluids thoroughly.

All cars rely on fluids to operate properly. And it’s simple to check oil, coolant, brake fluid and screenwash. Follow my tips for doing so below.

When you’re checking a car’s fluids, it’s important that you park on a flat surface or you may think you haven’t got enough when you have, or more worryingly, vice versa.

How to check your oil

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Expert advice: car care during the COVID-19 lockdown

COVID-19 lockdown
If your car is equivalent to this during its lockdown lay-up, follow our expert tips to keep it in the best shape (Picture iStock/Istanbulimages)

Updated: 07 April

With lockdown measures easing across the country, you may be using your car for the first time in a while very soon.

If you’ve not been driving regularly during the COVID-19 lockdown, your car may need some attention before you hit the road. That’s because some car parts rely on regular use to stay in tip-top shape.

Follow these tips and there’s a much greater chance your car will start first time after a lockdown lay-up.

1. Look after your battery

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