HOW TO PREVENT YOUR CAR BREAKING DOWN THIS WINTER

Here, we've some top tips to prevent your car from breaking down this winter, including a hidden code that can tell you whether your car battery needs replacing, before the temperature begins to plummet.

Checking your car battery



Car batteries are one of the common causes of winter breakdowns due to colder temperatures affecting how well batteries are able to hold their charge. In fact, the RAC reportedly deal with more than 400,000 battery related vehicle breakdowns each winter. A car battery typically lasts between 3-5 years, so determining its age can indicate whether it is likely to need replacing over winter.



If you purchased the car new, then the battery will have been brand new, and should be a similar age as the car itself. However, if you purchased the car second hand, you are unlikely to know the battery's age, unless the previous owner or dealership provided you with this information.



If this is this case, the first step is to open your car's bonnet and locate the battery. Some batteries will have a sticker on them which has a recognisable date format such as 4/21, which indicates the month and year it was manufactured. In this example, the battery was manufactured in April 2021, which would mean that it falls within the 3 - 5-year mark and is unlikely to need replacing just yet.