Winter is here and with the cold weather comes a whole lot of challenges, and not just for us drivers. Cars too will be suffering in the lower temperatures. Here are the different ways icy conditions affect your car and some handy suggestions for ways to reduce their impact.
As millions of British families enjoy a staycation during the first half term of 2017, experts at Green Flag are warning drivers to beware of being left stranded by a flat battery.
Whether staying at home or exploring a new part of the UK, this week will see huge numbers of drivers park their car and leave it until the half-term break comes to an end. But in the current wintery weather, many of those cars won’t start for the journey home because of a flat battery.
This Saturday (18 February) is National Battery Day. And Green Flag’s expert technicians expect to have to ride to the rescue of 2800 drivers whose car batteries have packed up.
On the face of it, a car battery is a boring piece of equipment that’s often hidden away and rarely given a moment’s thought. But drivers who don’t want to end up stranded at home or, worse still, at the roadside should pay more attention to their car’s battery, or it could go flat.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the battery is the heart of a car. If it goes flat, your car stops working. And flat batteries are the number one cause for technicians from Green Flag to be called out to rescue drivers.
The reasons car batteries are the number one culprit causing breakdowns are simple. Batteries don’t last forever; they typically have a working life of between five and seven years. And batteries are placed under increasing strain, as new cars offer a rising number of convenience features that can drain them with precious little warning.
Happily, you don’t have to be a trained technician to care for a battery. These are the simple steps any driver can follow to prolong the life of their car’s battery. Continue reading
A car battery is a bit like the family pet dog. With the right care and attention, it will be faithful and obedient. But drivers who don’t give it a moment’s thought could find it lets them down and goes flat when they need it the most. And unfortunately, that’s most of us: a flat battery is one of the most common causes of car breakdowns for Green Flag members, and the most common in winter.
That goes some way to explaining why this Thursday (18 February) has been named National Battery Day. Knowing how to care for a car battery means knowing how to charge it from time to time. Researching the charging process will throw up all manner of well-meaning amateur and professional advice with conflicting guidance. So this guide is intended to help drivers understand how to better care for their car and charge its battery. Continue reading
Sensible drivers have breakdown cover and ring to be rescued
For some drivers, Friday the 13th really will be unlucky. They’ll be the thousands of car owners whose vehicles break down. Obviously cars are very complex machines with a lot of different components working together. At Green Flag we’re proud of our ability to get members’ cars going again when we attend breakdowns. And last year we helped out nearly 200,000 people. Here are the most popular reasons for calling out our technicians in 2014. Continue reading