Get Your Car Winter-Ready: How to Avoid a Breakdown

Cold weather is the breakdown season. Flat batteries, thickened oil, low tyres and damp electrics all pick the frostiest morning to strike. A few minutes now saves you a miserable roadside wait later — here is a simple winter checklist.

Battery — the number one winter killer

Cold saps battery power, and a battery that struggles in autumn will fail in winter. If yours is slow to turn the engine, get it tested or replaced. If it dies anyway, a mobile jump start gets you going fast.

Tyres

Check tread and pressure — grip matters most when the roads are wet, icy or slushy. The legal minimum is 1.6mm, but 3mm is safer for winter. Do not forget the spare.

Fluids and screen

• Coolant/antifreeze — at the right concentration so it does not freeze.
• Screen wash — a winter mix that will not freeze on the glass.
• Oil — check the level; cold thickens it and stresses a tired engine.

Lights and wipers

Darker mornings and evenings mean your lights work harder — check every bulb. Replace smeary wiper blades before they let you down.

Pack a cold-weather kit

A scraper, de-icer, a warm layer, a torch and a charged phone. If the worst happens and you break down, get to safety and call — we run 24/7 breakdown recovery every day of the winter, no membership needed. See all the areas we cover.