4 Common Causes Of Car Breakdowns

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Just under half of all car owners experience a battery failure in a single year. If your car suddenly stopped running, would you know what to do or what was wrong?

If you experience a broken down car, there are a few common culprits that you should consider first. Follow our guide for the most common car problems to know how to get back on the road again.

1. Dead Battery

The number one reason people get stuck somewhere is because of a dead battery. You’ll know your battery is dead when you try to start your car, and you hear nothing. You may also hear the starter motor as if it’s grinding down to a stop.

What’s happening is that there’s a lack of power flowing from the battery. To fix this, you need to replace your battery.

The easiest way is to call a jump start service. They can get your car running again so you can go to the nearest store, buy a battery, and replace yours. We recommend making things even easier by buying the battery directly from the jump start service and having them install it.

2. Tires

The second most common reason for a car breaking down is a flat tire. You’ll know you have a flat tire if one of your rims is sitting on the ground. You may also hear a loud pop if you drive over something sharp, and the tire pops.

Do not drive your car with a flat tire. This will bend the rim and cost you more money. Call a flat tire service to come out and replace the flat tire with your spare. Then go to your nearest tire center and buy a new tire.

3. Ran out of Fuel

If you fail to fill your gas tank, it will run out of gas. A car without fuel doesn’t run. If you suspect that you’ve run out of fuel, look at your gas gauge to confirm.

If for any reason, you run out of gas, you can call a fuel delivery service to bring you gas. This is easier than trying to push your car to the nearest gas station or lug containers of fuel back to your vehicle.

4. Alternator

The electrical components use power from the battery to run. You need to recharge the battery, so it lasts.

The alternator is what recharges the battery. It converts power from the engine to do this.

If you see flickering lights, battery warning light, or dimmed lights, then you may have a dying alternator. Once the alternator dies, you’ll need to replace it and possibly your battery to get driving again.

Get Help for Your Broken Down Car

If you find yourself stuck with a broken down car, then having an emergency service on-call can be a lifesaver. We specialize in providing emergency assistance for a variety of vehicle-related problems.

We can help you with a car battery installation, fuel delivery, flat tire, or windshield chip.

Contact our team today if you need emergency roadside service, we proudly serve Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Tucson.

How do I know I need new tires?

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At Dugger’s Emergency Road Service, we can help you fix a flat tire on the side of the road. You need to know when your tires need to be replaced. The federal government doesn’t currently have any laws for tread depth, but 42 of the states, and all of Canada, do have regulations. They consider 2/32 of an inch to be the minimum legal tread depth. We used to use a penny for the depth test on your tire, but now for a better safety standard, that same test is now done with a quarter.


Consider this: Consumer Reports recommends tire replacement when tread reaches 4/32 inch/3.2 mm. And the recommendation is backed by some very compelling studies. Now before we go into the studies, you need to know that the issue is braking on wet surfaces. We tend to think of the brakes doing all the stopping, but Albuquerque vehicles also need to have effective tires to actually stop the car. When it’s wet or snowy in Albuquerque, NM, the tread of the tire is critical to the stopping power of your vehicle.

Partially worn tires – at the depth recommended by Consumer Reports – the car was still going at 45 mph/72 kph at the point where new tires brought the car to a halt. The tests were conducted with the same vehicles but with different sets of tires. The brakes were the same, so the only variable was the tires.

How can people in Albuquerque tell when their tires are at 4/32 inch/3.2 mm? Just insert an American quarter into the tread. Put it in upside down. If the tread doesn’t cover George Washington’s hairline, it’s time to replace your tires.


Now you may remember doing that with pennies. But an American penny gives you 2/32 inch/1.6 mm to Abraham Lincoln’s head. The quarter is the new standard – 4/32 inch/3.2 mm.

Tires are a big ticket item, and most people in Albuquerque, NM, want to get thousands of miles/kilometers out of them. Just remember: driving on bald tires is like playing roulette. If you lose and end up with a flat tire, call Dugger’s Emergency Road Service. Dugger’s provides tire changes and other emergency roadside assistance services.