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You are here: Home / Travel / What to Do if Your Car Breaks Down on Vacation

What to Do if Your Car Breaks Down on Vacation

May 9, 2017 By Stefanie

Car-Break-Down-Vacation
Have you ever been on vacation and your car breaks down? If not, consider yourself lucky. If you have, hopefully you were prepared enough. Here is what you do if your car breaks down on vacation.

Preventative care is important

You probably don’t want to hear this. However, preventative care is super important. Before you even head on your road trip, it’s best to get your vehicle looked at. Of course, once you have left, there’s no turning back. Just a quick tip before you head out on vacation and to help save you some time down the road.

Keep an emergency kit in your car

Emergency kits always come in handy when you don’t think you’ll need them. Which is why always having an emergency kit in your vehicle is important. Don’t even leave home without a kit with the essentials. When you’re putting together your emergency kit, think of things like water, snacks, extra blankets, flares, first aid kit, jumper cables and so on. We even carry fun activities for the kids in case we are stuck for a little bit.

Call your insurance company

When you break down, while on vacation, there is one important thing you can do. Call your insurance company. You may have coverage to help you called roadside assistance. What this means is your insurance company contracts with someone to come to you. If you don’t have this, it’s worth looking in to. You never know when you may need it.

Make a plan as soon as your car breaks down

If you don’t have roadside assistance, it’s imperative that you plan as soon as your car breaks down. Call a tow truck and try to get your vehicle worked on ASAP. This is especially true if you’re in a dangerous situation (on the side of the road in the dark). If you have kids, it’s even more important that you get things taken care of ASAP.

Get to a safe place

If your car breaks down, while on vacation, get the vehicle taken care of and then get to a safe place. A safe place could include your hotel room, away from harm’s way. If you don’t have anywhere to go, a public place is always best. If you aren’t quite to your destination, you may be camping here for a few days until your vehicle gets fixed.

When your car breaks down while on vacation, call a tow truck, get it into a shop, and get your family to a safe place. What tips do you have for car problems on vacation?

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Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: car, travel

Comments

  1. Sam Gibson says

    July 16, 2018 at 7:57 AM

    Your tip about calling a tow truck company, getting your vehicle to a shop, and your family to a safe place if your car breaks down is excellent. I would imagine that doing some initial research and having some reliable towing companies contact information on hand could help prevent some stress in a stressful situation. My family and I are planning on a road-trip this fall to see the colorful trees. Having a good towing company’s contact information on hand might be a great idea.

  2. Penelope Smith says

    July 16, 2018 at 7:18 PM

    This is some really good information about roadside assistance. It is good to know that it would be smart to have an emergency kit in my car. I just bought my first car and I want to know what to do if I have issues with it. I should find a good roadside assistance service to help me out as well.

  3. Sarah Smith says

    August 28, 2018 at 7:30 PM

    I really appreciate your advice to get to a safe place like a business or shop while you wait for the tow service to retrieve and fix your car. Your advice to keep an emergency kit in your so that you have access to jumper cables and a first aid kit is also great. Along with these, I think it would also be good to review the towing services in the area you are vacationing in so that you know of a reputable service to call.

  4. Jess says

    September 4, 2018 at 7:18 AM

    I really appreciate this article, this will help me a lot

  5. Kit Hannigan says

    November 8, 2018 at 6:06 PM

    I liked how you highlighted the fact that you need to immediately call on a tow truck to get your vehicle repaired as soon as possible; especially if you are in the side of the road with children on board. One can really imagine how frightened that the kids can be if they know that they are in a considerable level of danger. Being calm and composed during these situations can definitely soothe their worries while you wait for the towing company to arrive.

  6. Car Problems says

    November 10, 2018 at 12:19 PM

    I’m impressed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s both educative and interesting, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is an issue that not enough folks are speaking intelligently about. Now i’m very happy I stumbled across this during my hunt for something regarding this.

  7. Ellen H. says

    January 14, 2019 at 10:43 PM

    It was nice to know that you can call your insurance company so they can call roadside assistance for you when your car breaks. My husband and I have a scheduled road trip soon. We want to make sure that we can get an immediate help should our car acts up while on the road. Maybe, it’s best for us to find a reliable towing company as early as now.

  8. Ava Murphy says

    January 15, 2019 at 6:12 PM

    It was helpful to know that you can ask your insurance company to call road assistance to make sure that someone will come to you to help you when your car breaks. This is a good tip for me because I’m planning a long road trip soon. My biggest fear is for my car to act up while on the road because I don’t want to end up helpless. I will consider all your tips.

  9. Penelope Smith says

    January 28, 2019 at 9:18 PM

    I liked what you said about how it would be smart to call your insurance company. It does seem like they would be able to give you a list of good roadside assistance companies near you. I know that I wouldn’t want to do the research myself while I am stuck in the middle of nowhere.

  10. Yoshiko Flora says

    May 3, 2019 at 9:23 PM

    I find it helpful that you suggested that parents should bring their kids to a hotel room once their car breaks down in the middle of a trip. Aside from that, they should also call a local tow truck service to bring it to a repair center as soon as possible. Doing this will help restore it back to normal quickly in order for the family to go back home safely.

  11. Zeeshan Manzoor says

    May 12, 2019 at 7:13 PM

    hi Its so nice thanks for providing valuable information, Such a great kind of post Thanks a lot for sharing with all.

  12. Zeeshan says

    September 17, 2019 at 1:33 AM

    thanks for giving such beautiful knowledge with us, I hope you will share more info

Trackbacks

  1. Schedule Your Car Maintenance: When to do What - Making of a Mom says:
    November 21, 2024 at 12:46 PM

    […] things fixed when necessary, otherwise your car can break down at any moment. In case it happens, check this […]

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Spending time with my family is my favorite thing to do. Together we love to travel, make crafts and bake. I love milk chocolate and cruise vacations. Email me at: makingofamom@gmail.com

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