My car broke down. What do I do?

Get the car off the road if you can, hazard lights on, everyone out on the side away from traffic, then call for help. Here's the order, and what each option costs you in time and money.

We're a panel and paint shop, not a mechanic or a tow company, so this is general advice from people who see a lot of cars after a bad day. If the breakdown involves a bump or a scrape, the end of this guide covers what to do about the damage.

1. Get safe

• Pull over as far left as possible. On a motorway, use the emergency lane or the next exit if the car will make it.
• Hazard lights on. At night or in rain, leave the parking lights on too.
• Get out on the passenger side and stand behind a barrier if there is one. Don't stand between your car and the traffic.
• On a busy road, it's safer out of the car than in it.

2. Work out what it is

A few things you can check without tools:

• Won't start, lights dim or nothing: flat battery. A jump start or a new battery usually fixes it.
• Starts then dies, or died while driving with no warning: could be fuel (check the gauge, honestly), a fuel pump or an electrical fault.
• Overheating warning or steam: stop. Don't open the radiator. Let it cool. Driving on will cook the engine.
• Flat tyre: if you have a spare and a safe place to change it, do that. On a motorway shoulder, call for help instead.
• Warning light and a limp: the car's protecting itself. Don't push it.

3. Call someone

• Roadside assistance if you have it (RACQ, your insurer's roadside cover, or the manufacturer's for newer cars). Check your policy or the card in the glovebox. They'll jump start, change a tyre, or tow.
• A tow truck if you don't. Ask for the price before they hook up, and tell them where to take the car. In Queensland, towing from an accident scene on some roads is regulated; towing a breakdown is a normal commercial job.
• Police (131 444, or 000 if it's dangerous) if the car is blocking a lane or in a dangerous spot.

4. Where to tow it to

If it's mechanical, to your mechanic. If it's a breakdown caused by a crash, or the car is damaged, you can have it towed straight to a panel shop. If it is coming to us at 77 Moss St, Slacks Creek, call 0402 106 456 first so we know it is on its way and someone is there to receive it.

5. Don't accept work on the spot

A tow operator or a passer-by offering to fix it there and then is a gamble. Get the car somewhere safe and get a quote.

When a breakdown is really body damage

Some "breakdowns" are the result of a hit: a wheel rubbing on a bent guard, a bumper hanging and dragging, a bonnet that won't latch after a front-end bump, a radiator pushed back by a low-speed collision. If the car was hit before it stopped working, the body repair comes first and the mechanical check follows. Send photos through the quote form and we'll tell you what's body and what's mechanical.

After a crash rather than a breakdown

Read what to do after a car accident in Queensland for the details to swap, photos to take and when to report it.

Keep in the car

A phone charger, a torch, water, a high-vis vest, the roadside assistance number, and your insurer's claims number. It turns a bad hour into a manageable one.