Smoke from your car's exhaust can be a worrying thing to see, as it's usually an indication that there's something wrong.

The one upside to the smoke, however, is that it can be very useful in diagnosing the issue, as different issues produce different colours.

We’ll explain the potential causes for any colour exhaust smoke you’re likely to see.

What each colour of smoke means from an engine

, keep an eye out for what colour it is. This can either be done by having a friend rev the engine slightly while stationary, or checking behind you while driving.

What causes white smoke from your exhaust?

White smoke is likely to be steam or water vapour.

A little white smoke at the very start of a journey is normal, but thick, consistent clouds of white smoke mean your engine is burning coolant. This indicates a 

warped engine block or a cracked cylinder head

How to check if white smoke is caused by a blown head gasket

A blown head gasket is the best-case scenario when seeing white smoke from your exhaust. Typical signs include:

If you can see one or more of these signs, your white smoke is likely due to a blown head gasket.

. The cause depends on which component has started allowing oil into the engine. Likely causes include:

What causes black smoke from a petrol engine?

Large amounts of black smoke tend to indicate the fuel-to-air ratio is too rich. This can be from either too much fuel or not enough air. Likely causes include:

What causes black smoke from a Diesel engine?

Diesel engines operate differently to petrol engines. The issues listed above can be present in a 

. However, there are some issues only a diesel car will experience. These are usually due to the DPF.

The diesel particulate filter is a diesel-specific emissions device that reduces the amount of soot present in an engine's exhaust gases. Soot is created as part of the diesel engine cycle, but in cars fitted with a DPF, it is trapped and converted to ash. A problem with the

Every diesel car from 2009 should have a DPF. Check out our guide on 

What causes grey smoke from your exhaust?

Grey smoke can be caused by a few different issues. If a small amount of engine oil is being burnt, it may not present as thick black smoke but a lighter colour that looks grey in daylight.

 use a modulator system that is powered by negative pressure. As the engine's intake manifold experiences negative pressure in most situations, gearbox modulators are sometimes connected to the intake manifold.

If a problem occurs with the modulator, the vacuum in the intake manifold can suck transmission fluid into the intake, causing it to be ignited along with the fuel. This isn’t a very common problem and will only happen if the following conditions are met:

With a car that’s running well, you should never expect to see much from the 

Light-coloured white smoke or steam is normal, especially when starting the engine on a cold day. The moisture from the air condenses in the exhaust as it heats up. The force of the exhaust gases then expels this as steam from the tailpipe. 

White smoke coming from the exhaust in cold weather 

A small amount of white smoke when the car is cold is usually not a sign of anything serious. It’s actually just water vapour and is usually more noticeable on colder days. 

Minimal white ‘smoke’ when the engine is cold is similar to seeing your breath on a cold day. The cold, humid air condenses inside the exhaust and is then turned into steam by the extremely hot exhaust gases. 

Once the exhaust has warmed up, the smoke will stop.

If you can smell exhaust or fuel fumes inside the car, refrain from driving as soon as possible and finish the journey with the windows open. Being able to smell exhaust fumes inside the car is an indication there is a significant exhaust leak.

If you can smell exhaust or fuel fumes inside your car, take it to a mechanic or garage as soon as possible. Continuing to drive could cause coughing, breathing difficulties and other long-term effects.

Can I drive my car if the exhaust is smoking?

If the smoke dissipates quickly after the engine has warmed up, it's probably just water vapour and the car will be okay to drive. However, if the smoke is constant, regardless of the colour, you should not drive any further than necessary, ideally to a garage or repair centre.

Not only could the smoke-causing issue damage your engine, but it could also get you in trouble with the police if you’re obstructing the view of other drivers.

Why smoke is coming out of your exhaust and what the colours mean

Why is white smoke coming out of my exhaust?

¿Qué significa el humo blanco del tubo de escape?

Warum kommt weißer Rauch aus dem Auspuff meines Autos?

We’re pleased to announce our first Dealership of the Month for 2024 is Mercedes Benz South West Exeter. 

The site has enjoyed large successes with Bumper's interest-free instalment option, harnessing the power of PayLater to boost customer retention and satisfaction. 

Having joined the Bumper network in 2022, the Mercedes Benz South West Exeter team recently attended a Bumper training session. Available to all partners on the network, the session is an opportunity to sit down with Bumper’s engagement team and discuss best practices when offering our payment products to drivers. 

Steve Johnson, General Service Manager for the Exeter-based site, found that offering customers flexible payment options significantly boosts red work conversion, improving the safety of customers’ vehicles. 

He said, “Bumper Pay Later has significantly enhanced our ability to maximize eVHC (Electronic Vehicle Health Check) red work identified sales. By offering customers the flexibility to defer payment for necessary repairs, we've removed financial barriers that might otherwise deter them from approving essential work on their vehicles. This approach has increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, as it aligns with their financial preferences and circumstances. 

“Additionally, Bumper Pay Later encourages customers to address red work promptly, leading to improved vehicle safety and performance while boosting revenue for our service department. Overall, integrating Bumper Pay Later into our eVHC process has proven instrumental in optimizing sales and enhancing customer experience.” 

Matthew Squire, Senior Service Team Manager, said, “I really enjoy being able to offer Bumper, it’s a complete ease for the customer and for us to work with. There has been lots of positive feedback from allowing customers to spread the cost monthly at 0%”. 

Congratulations to Steve, Matthew, and the whole team at Mercedes Benz South West Exeter!

Mercedes Benz South West Exeter: Dealership of the Month 

 is a new option when it comes to paying for their car maintenance costs. Although they’ll probably be aware of it as an alternative payment method with retailers such as Ikea or ASOS, many won’t know the option exists at garages and dealerships. 

To make sure drivers know how easy it is to fit repair costs into their monthly budget we need to introduce them to Bumper during their visit. 

But what’s the best way to do it? And when is the best time to do it? Let’s take a look. 

Introducing PayLater to the customer at your first interaction means the customer has all the information available to them from the get-go. 

Bringing your car in for a repair or service can be a daunting experience for customers. Most drivers don’t know much about cars and could be facing a potentially large repair bill. Let the customer know about Bumper when they arrive and put their mind at ease. 

Below is an example script you can try with your next customer.

“Just to let you know, we have multiple payment options available including pay monthly with Bumper.”

What does the customer need replacing following their vehicle health check? A fluid top-up, new tyres, and brakes? It’s a particularly negative list of essential repair work to have to read out to customers. Break it up by offering Bumper. Let PayLater ease the burden of mounting repair costs and you might find the customer can afford more essential work than they thought. 

“Your vehicle health check has identified your car requires new front brake pads and 2 new tyres. That comes to £600, or can be split over 4 monthly payments of £150. Which payment method would you prefer?”

Since you let the customer know about Bumper early on, completing the payment process should be a doddle. Customers are increasingly looking for new digital methods of payments and a pay monthly option at the point of sale is something they’ll be pleased about. The key is to position PayLater as a payment method like cash or card. 

Would you like to pay that by card or in monthly instalments?"

Looking for more ways to boost customer experience using Bumper? Contact our Engagement Team to request training 

When to offer Bumper to customers 

The Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in east Cambodia protects almost 300,000 hectares of forest. Previously known as the Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area from 2002-09 and the Seima Protection Forest from 2009-16, the protected area is home to a wide range of biodiversity, forests, mountains, and indigenous communities.

For the Bunong people who live there, the forest is a key source of income and plays a large role in their spiritual beliefs. 

The region is also home to two geographically distinct areas of natural significance. The Annamite Mountains are notable for their vast evergreen forests and high levels of local species and the Mekong dry forest is crucial for local wildlife typical of the region to survive.

84 globally threatened species can be found in the project area, including Asian Elephants, primates, wild cattle, and birds such as the Giant Ibis and Green Peafowl. The world’s largest population of black-shanked douc and yellow-cheeked crested gibbon lives in the area.

However, local biodiversity and forest-dependent communities are increasingly under threat from unstainable resource extraction such as logging, hunting, and fishing.

The conservation work by the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary has had a huge impact on reducing emissions and protecting local wildlife and communities. Through their work, more than 20 million tonnes of CO2e emissions have been prevented from being released into the atmosphere and 25,000 hectares of forest saved from destruction. Shielding areas from deforestation prevents the release of emissions held within the forests’ biomass and soil.

The project also gives back to local communities, creating employment opportunities and supporting education and training programmes. An ecotourism venture has been established that supports these communities. 

Through a Cash for Communities Programme, that shares the revenue of carbon credit sales, the sanctuary has distributed almost $1 million. Funds go directly to the people of the region, who decide where funds should be allocated. The initiative has supported activities such as developing healthcare, education and building wells and bridges.

The Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the many climate-positive projects Bumper is contributing to through its partnership with 

Protecting Local Communities and Wildlife in Cambodia

Protegemos las comunidades locales y la fauna salvaje de Camboya

We've partnered with Volt to power our open banking payment option with real-time payments for vehicle deposits, repairs, parts, services and outright vehicle purchases. Open banking allows drivers to make secure, account-to-account payments. 

This next phase of open banking addresses friction caused by slow settlement times for dealers. With greater oversight of the transactions via payment notifications, dealers significantly reduce the risk of customer non-payment. The update also includes the option to make instant refunds to customers. 

The collaboration marks a significant rise in the use of open banking for Bumper with more drivers opting for the method at the point of sale. 

For dealers, open banking presents a huge cost-saving opportunity, with transaction fees a fraction of traditional payment methods. As of January 2024, open banking has saved 152 Bumper dealerships an estimated £200,000 in transaction fees. Moreover, open banking reduces the risk of fraudulent payments – customers are required to authenticate the payment within their banking app. 

The news comes at a time of exceptional growth in the used car market with more sold in 2023 than any other post-pandemic year. This rebound is reflected in the £3 million in payments processed through the Bumper-Volt integration since its launch in January 2024. 

Currently available in the UK, the integration will accelerate the rollout of Bumper’s open banking offering across other European territories.

Richard Drury, VP of Partnerships at Volt, said: “For car dealerships, the payments process has been a major challenge, and our solution is a real asset in alleviating those challenges many dealership owners are facing today. We’ve created a perfect solution for Bumper, with the initial results and quick adoption proving that it resonates with both buyers and sellers. There’s huge potential for real-time payments to take off in the automotive industry, so this partnership was a no-brainer for Volt.” 

Jack Allman, CCO and Co-Founder at Bumper, said, "The move to Volt as Bumper's Open Banking payment provider will have a huge impact on functionality for our partnered dealerships and their customers, providing them with a frictionless account-to-account payment experience. 

"This new partnership enhances our open banking infrastructure with increased functionality including settlement accounts, real-time notifications and refunds. These developments will increase operational efficiency and automation across all users, whether they work in accounts, sales or service. 

“Additionally, Volt’s global payment network facilitates Bumper to roll out our Open Banking product across Europe in the near future. We're incredibly excited to have launched this next phase of our Open Banking platform and can't wait to see the increased value this new iteration will bring to our partners." 

Bumper Partners with Volt to Empower Dealers with Open Banking

We’re thrilled to announce the last Dealership of the Month for 2023 is Lookers BMW and MINI Stafford.

The site managed an outstanding end to 2023, increasing the number of drivers using Bumper’s PayLater to split their bill into interest-free instalments by 50%.

Service advisor Kacey led the way in December helping 17 customers to drive away with their bills split with Bumper, closely followed by Andrea, known to the team as Queenie, with 14 PayLaters under her belt.

Driven by Aftersales Manager Lee Tucket, Lookers BMW and MINI Stafford use PayLater via the RTC integration. The team offer the monthly instalment option across both their aftersales and service departments.

Lee said, “Bumper's PayLater has been a huge success for us at Lookers BMW and MINI Stafford. By using flexible payment methods positioned at the right time, we've afforded our customers the opportunity to make what could be a large, unexpected cost much more achievable. This has had a significant impact in boosting our customer satisfaction levels and red work conversion.”

The Bumper-Lookers partnership has also had a positive impact on customer feedback. Mohammed visited the site in January and said, “Went for an MOT test, I was informed the rear tyre needed replacement but also both the front two. I saw I could have interest-free over 3 months, easy to apply and accepted. Saved shelling out in one go and spread over 3 months, great option. I will definitely do that again next time.”

Congratulations to Lee, Kacey, Andrea, Steven, Ashley and the whole team at Lookers BMW & MINI Stafford.

Lookers BMW & MINI Stafford Win Dealership of the Month 

The automotive industry is undoubtedly one of the most dynamic in the world. It is a sector that lives and breathes on innovation, with those businesses innovating fastest and deepest always winning. Consumers are quick to vote with their wallets if a brand comes out with something they are desperate to get a piece of.

Whether you are a manufacturer or dealer, maintaining competitive advantage is no longer just about the vehicles you make and sell; it’s about product, service and brand seamlessly combining to tell consumers that this is the one for them.

This is where partners like Bumper have a critical role to play. Manufacturers and dealers do what they do best – make and sell cars – and bring the very best partners in the world in other crucial elements of the customer experience to ensure those three components of excellence are delivered.

Given this context, at Bumper we have always known that staying ahead of the curve is not just a goal, it is an absolute necessity. If you stand still, you die – and while we have been on an incredible growth journey to date, becoming what is undoubtedly one of the leading businesses in automotive payments in Europe, we – like our industry partners – strive for better.

The $48 million funding round we announced last week underpins that ambition. We want to be the dominant payment platform for car dealers across Europe, giving their customers the ultimate flexibility in making the necessary payments to keep their cars on the road.

Our journey began with a simple yet powerful idea: to make car repairs less financially burdensome for owners while empowering dealerships with advanced, digital payment solutions to enable those customers to say “yes” to the repairs and upgrades they need. Delivering a product to meet this simple mission has ultimately driven our exponential growth, and the endorsement of investment from JLR’s InMotion Ventures and Porsche Ventures is a hugely positive moment.

The recent funding round, led by Autotech Ventures and bolstered by Shell Ventures, in addition to both JLR and Porsche, is about more than capital: it is a resounding vote of confidence in our vision to become the go-to payment platform for dealers anywhere in the world.

Our strategy is straightforward yet ambitious. We’re expanding our reach, targeting key European markets including the UK, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland. While Bumper is already available through 5,000 dealers, enabling more than 250,000 repairs in the past year alone, our goal is to double this number annually.

While the growth strategies of automotive businesses vary widely from brand to brand, they increasingly have one consistent goal: to support their customers with the car-related challenges they face, take the pressure away when decisions are difficult and, ultimately, give them the most enjoyable car-buying and owning experience possible. Financing servicing and repairs is a fundamental part of delivering that, and there has never been a more critical time for dealers to consider the services they provide, with the cost-of-living crisis leading any car owner or buyer to consider their options more deeply than I have seen in my lifetime.

Bumper’s success isn’t just measured in numbers, it’s reflected in the relief and satisfaction of car owners who can keep their vehicles on the road without financial strain, and in seeing the thriving businesses of our dealer partners that can offer more to their customers. These objectives are ultimately two that not only mean the end customer is hugely positive, it speeds-up the time to purchase and drives incremental revenue.

Innovative payments: Bumper’s new funding will support an exciting future for car dealers across Europe

Pagos innovadores: La nueva propuesta de Bumper abrirá un futuro apasionante para los concesionarios de automóviles de toda Europa.

We're pleased to announce the winner of the Dealership of the Month for November 2023 is York, Ward & Rowlatt.

The site achieved a record-breaking month in November by doubling the number of customers paying for their repairs through Bumper.

York, Ward & Rowlatt has been a part of the Bumper network since 2016 and in that time has established the pay monthly option as a fundamental part of their aftersales process. The team have now installed the Bumper PayPads, giving customers the power to choose between PayLater and PayNow in just a few clicks.

Mutual Bumper and York, Ward & Rowlatt customers agree that the customer service at the site is truly unbeatable. One reviewer said, “Fantastic service and a great team. Really helped me understand everything clearly with good communication.” Another said, “Great to be able to spread the cost of maintaining a car over a set period of time, really helpful in such precarious financial struggles.”

Bumper’s Darren Gloster visited the site to hand over the award. He said, “I’d like to say a big congratulations to York, Ward & Rowlatt. They’ve been a long-standing and valuable partner for Bumper.

“It’s fantastic to see the team working so hard to bring customers greater payment flexibility. They’re incredibly knowledgeable about Bumper’s products and have now adopted the PayPad into their everyday process so easily.”

Congratulations to, Rebecca, Stuart, Paul, Dan and the whole team at York, Ward & Rowlatt!

Alastair Shephard

Content Writer