Breakdown Problem
Dashboard Warning Lights — When to Stop and When to Drive On
The colour is the shortcut. Red means stop as soon as it's safe to do so; amber means get it looked at but you're not usually in immediate danger. The two that catch people out are the oil pressure light, which is red for a very good reason, and a flashing engine management light, which is far more urgent than a steady one.
What you're likely seeing
- Red oil pressure light — stop the engine immediately, this is not 'low oil', it's no pressure
- Red temperature or coolant light — pull over and switch off
- Red battery light — the alternator has stopped charging, you're running on battery alone
- Red brake warning with a hard or long pedal — do not continue
- Flashing engine management light — misfire dumping fuel into the catalyst, stop and call
- Steady amber engine management — book a diagnostic, but generally driveable
Do this before anything else
- 1A red battery light means you have maybe twenty to forty minutes of driving left. Turn off the heated screen, air con and radio and head somewhere safe rather than home.
- 2A flashing engine light will destroy a catalytic converter within a few miles. That's an expensive part to sacrifice for convenience.
- 3If the ABS and traction lights come on together after a jump start, they usually clear once the battery is properly charged.
On a motorway or dual carriageway, ring 999 and ask for National Highways before you call any recovery company. Motorway breakdown advice →
How we move the vehicle
If you tell us which light and what the car is doing, we can usually tell you on the phone whether this needs a recovery or whether you're safe to drive to your garage in the morning. Where it's a stop-now fault, we flatbed to your garage. We'd rather talk you out of an unnecessary call-out than take the booking.
What it costs
Advice over the phone costs nothing. If it turns into a recovery, it's priced as a standard local or long-distance job depending on where the vehicle needs to go, and quoted before the driver sets off.
Full recovery cost guideQuestions we get asked
The service you probably need
Worth reading
Other problems we're called to
Tell us what the car is doing
Describe the fault on the phone and we'll tell you honestly whether this is a roadside fix or a recovery — and what it will cost — before a driver leaves.