A 2020 Guide To Avoiding And Handling A Car Breakdown

Above: A truly Swedish adventure was finding ourselves with a flat tire in the middle of a mosquito infested forest. A little stressful, but so many nice folks stopped to help and a huge tow truck arrived eventually.

Our Swedish adventure last summer was filled with so many amazing adventures, including this unexpected few hours spent on the side of a road in the middle of a swampy forest, due to our tire blowing out. Some really kind folks stopped to help us, and apologized when they had to leave after hanging out for 30 plus minutes to help! They needed a part for their foresting machinery, so they were in a bit of a “hurry”, Swedish style hurry that is, which is nice and relaxed all the same! They spoke in Swedish to the rental car agency emergency line, which sure helped, even though most Swedes speak English. The mosquitos were terrible, and when the kind folks passed us on their way back they gave us little mosquito repellent stickers, so kind. Speaking of being kind, don’t forget to be kind to your car, as breakdowns can be dangerous, not to mention really inconvenient.

Owning and maintaining the health of a car is no easy task. There are so many different things that one needs to take care of regarding personal safety as well as car care. Most importantly of course is to make sure your driving skills are up to par, and never drive when weather conditions are dangerous, you’re taking certain medications, have been drinking alcohol or are likely to fall asleep at the wheel. Do your very best to prevent involvement in any dangerous collisions or crashes while you’re actually driving. Being very aware of your gas tank level will help prevent journeys from being cut short, and there are financial aspects like insurance and warranties to be taken care of as well. Even the most careful car owner will find that sometimes breakdowns are unavoidable. So do everything you can to make sure you’re prepared, as much as possible, should that day come. What are the kinds of things you should be doing to prepare? Here’s my 2020 guide to avoiding and handling a car breakdown. Just in case!

Above: It was starting to get dark on the side of the road, but fortunately summer nights are very light in Sweden, until at least 10pm.

Now, should you be involved in a breakdown, don’t panic, just realize that you may not be able to deal with the problem yourself. Sometimes, however, it may be a problem you can handle, and the only issue is actually getting under your car to see what’s wrong. In this case, owning a car jack or car ramp can be really handy. You’ll be able to prop your car up and get a much better idea of what’s going on underneath, and possibly fix the problem. Even raising your car up a matter of inches can be incredibly helpful. Find out more about jack stands vs ramps here. 

Aside from having a good jack stand or ramp on hand, make sure that you have breakdown coverage!. There are many breakdown scenarios that could come your way and some of them won’t be simple enough to deal with yourself. In times like these, having good breakdown coverage is really useful. If you are renting a car, be very clear about the process before you leave the rental office! With the right coverage professionals can be called no matter where you’ve broken down and they’ll either have the tools required to fix your problem, or tow your car to a garage. Do some thorough research into finding a good breakdown coverage company as this will avoid lots of worries! And make sure to have the proper information in your car regarding whom to call should a breakdown occur.

Okay, what about if a breakdown occurs and you are stuck waiting for hours on the side of the road? The best thing to do is to distract yourself by fantasizing about a trip or a move to a different city. Thinking that you’d really like to live in London? So why not research the cheapest places in London, for example. Or wish you could travel the world? Spend this time making a list of all the great places you’d like to visit and why.  This could take quite a bit of time, and before you know it, ta da, the tow truck has arrived!

Above: Breakdown situations don’t have to be all bad, look at this gorgeous Swedish sunset we witnessed while waiting for the tow truck! Next time we’ll be sure to travel with insect repellent in the car though!

I’d also recommend that you constantly check up on your car, even if you haven’t broken down before. You might have an underlying issue with your car that doesn’t seem like an issue at the moment, but it can rear its ugly head in the most unwelcoming of circumstances. Performing simple checkups by yourself or having them done for you at a garage every few months will help spot small problems, that could become larger if not taken care of. A little bit of responsibility goes a long way when taking care of your car and avoiding a breakdown. Wishing you safe travels!