Jump Start and Roadside Assistance in London

Sometimes a vehicle does not need recovering at all. It needs ten minutes of attention at the roadside and it is driving again. MPG Recovery comes out across London at any hour, tries the quick fix first, and recovers the vehicle on the same visit if the quick fix is not there.

When a jump start is the answer

Lights left on overnight. A car that has not been started for a fortnight. A short journey habit that never lets the battery recover. Cold weather, which finds every battery that was already on its way out. In each case the engine turns over slowly or not at all, the dash lights dim when you try, and everything else about the car is fine.

If the car starts and runs properly afterwards, that is usually the end of it. Drive it for a decent run rather than straight home and off again, and get the battery tested soon — a battery that has gone flat once without an obvious reason tends to do it again.

When it is not the battery

A jump start will not save a battery that no longer holds charge, and it will not fix an alternator that has stopped charging, a failed starter motor, an immobiliser fault, an empty tank, or a car that is turning over happily but will not fire.

We would rather tell you that on the spot than jump it, watch you drive off, and have you ring back an hour later from somewhere worse. If the vehicle cannot be relied on, it goes on the bed and we take it where you want it — see breakdown recovery for how that works.

Where you are stopped

If you are on a red route, a bus lane, a live traffic lane or a fast dual carriageway, get yourself somewhere safe and tell us exactly where you are. In those spots the priority is getting the vehicle off the road rather than standing beside it trying things.

In a car park, particularly an underground one, mention the level and any posted height restriction. It decides whether the truck can reach you or the vehicle has to come up to street level first.

What it costs

Quotes are free and the price is agreed before we set off. If the roadside attempt works, that is the job. If it does not and the vehicle is recovered instead, it is still one visit and one agreed price, with no separate callout charge on top.

Part of our recovery work

Roadside assistance is the first thing we try when a vehicle has stopped rather than been damaged. For everything we move on the bed, see vehicle recovery in London, or browse all our services.

Why batteries die in London

City driving is hard on a battery. Short journeys never put back what starting the engine takes out, and a car used twice a week for a mile at a time is running at a deficit almost permanently. Add stop-start systems, parking sensors, dash cams wired to run while parked and a fortnight away, and a battery that tested fine in summer gives up on the first cold morning.

If yours has gone flat once with no obvious cause, get it tested rather than waiting for the second time — which, in our experience, tends to arrive at the least convenient hour. A battery is cheaper than a recovery.

Jump Start & Roadside Assistance FAQs