Long weekend tip: batteries are a leading cause of breakdowns

One of the leading causes of breakdowns is often avoidable. Photo/Getty Images.

Planning to go away this weekend or for a day trip? You might want to check your battery and tyres.

Figures from State Roadside Assistance show nearly half (45 per cent) of all its 1300 call-outs over the Christmas and New Year period related to batteries failing.

Leaving the lights or electrics going resulting in a flat battery was the cause of 454 call-outs but in 67 cases batteries were too old to retain charge and 49 call-outs were because the battery needed replacement.

Sean Craigen, head of strategic partnerships at IAG which owns State Roadside Assistance said New Zealanders needed to get into the habit of regularly checking their car batteries.

"Batteries can have issues for a number of different reasons. It might be your battery is old or drained due to GPS or applications using the charge.

"There's also the chance that the good old lights were left on or doors left open," he said.

Craigen said while checking the car may be the last thing on the priority list for people travelling around the country for day trips to the beach or campsites it was worth doing.

"The good thing is that generally most batteries carry warranties of up to three years so we encourage vehicle owners to take advantage of this and get a check-up or a new one fitted before hitting the road."

Tyres were also a problem for many drivers with 87 drivers needing help to replace or change a tyre and 57 call-outs relating to tyre punctures, blowouts or damage.

Six unlucky drivers had two flat tyres at once.

Craigen urged people to check they had a compliant spare tyre in the boot which was inflated to the recommended level.

Broken cam belts, overheated or flooded engines, faulty ignition switches, locked steering wheels were also common reasons for call-outs.

And on the more forgetful side - 100 pairs of keys were accidentally locked inside vehicles.