How Often Should You Service Your Car?

We all know cars need servicing, but knowing when to book one can be quite tricky, and it tends to be where things can get a little less obvious.

It’s pretty common knowledge that your car needs a service once a year. Some might say that you should do it every 10,000 miles, some say 12,000 miles. Then your dashboard decides to join the conversation by flashing up a service reminder just when you weren’t expecting it.

So, who do you listen to?

The simple answer is your car’s manufacturer. While every 12 months or around 12,000, whichever comes first, is a useful rule of thumb for many cars, the correct service interval will depend on the vehicle you drive and how you use it.

How Do I Know When My Car Needs a Service?

When working out when your next car service is due, there are two main things to keep an eye on: time and mileage.

Let’s say you only cover 5,000 miles a year. You might not reach the mileage shown in your servicing schedule, but that doesn’t mean you should wait another year before thinking about maintenance. Fluids can deteriorate over time and components still need checking even when your car spends more time sitting on the drive than travelling up and down the motorway.

The opposite can also be true for high-milage drivers. If you cover 20,000 miles a year, you might reach your recommended service interval long before the 12-month mark.

Thankfully, these days modern cars are pretty good at reminding us. Many even have dashboard service indicator or onboard system which will let you know when the maintenance is due. Just make sure you don’t take it personally if yours pops up earlier than expected, your car isn’t trying to ruin your weekend, it’s just informing you that it might be worth getting it checked.

If you’re unsure when your vehicle was last serviced, have a look through its service history. Depending on the vehicle, this might be recorded in a traditional service book or stored digitally.

What Type of Car Service Do I Need?

This is another area which can get a little bit confusing because you’ll often come across terms such as interim service, full service and manufacturer service.

An interim service is usually a bit of a smaller check than the others carried out between scheduled services. It’s particularly useful for drivers covering a lot of miles because it gives key components another inspection without waiting until the next full service is due.

A full service is more comprehensive. It will usually involve a wider inspection of the vehicle alongside maintenance such as changing the engine oil and filters where required.

Manufacturer servicing is based on the schedule created specifically for your vehicle. Rather than applying the same checklist to every car that comes through the workshop doors, technicians follow the requirements set for that particular model at its current age and mileage.

That’s an important distinction. Cars have changed considerably over the years and servicing isn’t really a one-size-fits-all job anymore. The requirements of a small petrol hatchback can be very different from a plug-in hybrid, while an electric vehicle brings another set of maintenance requirements.

Do Electric and Hybrid Cars Still Need Servicing

The simple answer is yes.

There is often a common assumption that because electric vehicles have fewer moving parts, they don’t need servicing. But just because there may be fewer traditional engine components to worry about, an EV still has plenty going on underneath the surface.

One of the key things that need checking are brakes and tyres. Even suspension is important to check, just because the car has a battery doesn’t mean it becomes immune to potholes! Also, systems relating to cooling, charging and the high-voltage battery may need inspecting as part of the manufacturer’s schedule.

Hybrid cars combine an electric motor and battery with a combustion engine, so their servicing requirements can include elements from both.

Service intervals for electric and hybrid vehicles vary between manufacturers and models, which is why following the schedule for your particular vehicle is always better than relying on a generic timeframe.

Why Is Regular Car Servicing So Important?

It can be tempting to put a service off when your car feels completely fine.

No warning lights. No strange noises. Nothing has fallen off. Happy days.

But that’s actually part of the reason regular servicing matters.

A technician isn’t just looking for something that has already broken. Servicing gives them the chance to identify components that are beginning to wear or maintenance items that need attention before they develop into something more serious.

One of the best things about spotting something relatively minor is that it could potentially save you from a much more expensive repair later on. More importantly, regular maintenance helps make sure important areas of the vehicle continue working as they should.

Keeping up with servicing can also help maintain a good service history. When the time eventually comes to sell or part exchange your car, being able to show that it has been properly maintained can make a difference.

Servicing can be particularly important if your car is still covered by a manufacturer warranty. Missing scheduled maintenance or failing to follow the manufacturer’s servicing requirements could affect a future warranty claim.

We’ve covered that subject in more detail in our guide to Why Regular Servicing Protects Your Warranty.

Is a Car Service the Same as an MOT?

No. Although booking them together can make life easier, an MOT and a car service aren’t the same thing.

An MOT checks whether your vehicle meets the required road safety and environmental standards at the time of the test. Servicing is about maintaining the car and looking after its mechanical condition.

Think of an MOT as checking whether your car meets the required standard today. A service is more about looking after it so it continues to perform as it should tomorrow.

This also means a car can pass its MOT and still be overdue a service. Equally, having your vehicle serviced doesn’t remove the need for an MOT when one is legally required.

If you’d like to know exactly what gets checked, take a look at our What Does an MOT Include? A Simple Guide.

Should High-Mileage Cars Be Serviced More Often?

If you’re clocking up serious mileage, your car may need a little more attention.

A driver covering 20,000 miles every year is naturally putting more use through their vehicle than someone covering 5,000. Components such as tyres and brakes may wear more quickly simply because they’re being used more often.

How those miles are covered matters more than you think.

Long motorway journeys place different demands on a vehicle compared with repeated short trips or stop-start driving around town. That’s why mileage is useful, but it doesn’t always tell the entire story.

For higher-mileage drivers, an additional inspection or interim service between schedule manufacturer services can sometimes be worthwhile. If you’re unsure, it’s better to ask a technician rather than trying to play servicing roulette and hoping for the best.

What Should I Check Between Car Services?

Getting your car serviced doesn’t mean you can completely forget about it for the next 12 months. There are a few simple checks every driver can keep an eye on between services.

• Tyres: Check tread depth, general condition, and tyre pressures
• Fluids: Keep an eye on washer fluid, engine oil, and coolant levels
• Lights: Ensure headlights, indicators, and brake lights are functioning
• Sensations: Listen for unexpected noises, feel for vibrations, or watch for warning lights

Your tyres can be a great place to start. Check their pressure, condition and tread regularly. It’s also worth keeping an eye on your lights and fluid levels where appropriate. More importantly, pay attention to how the car actually feels.

You drive it regularly, so you’re often the first person who will notice when something changes. A new noise, vibration or warning light is worth investigating rather than turning the radio up and pretending it isn’t happening which we’ve all done at one point or another.

If something doesn’t feel right, you don’t need to wait until the next scheduled service before having it looked at.

When Was My Car Last Serviced?

If you’ve completely forgotten, don’t panic.

Your first stop should be the vehicle’s last service history. Older cars may have a physical service book containing stamps and records from previous visits, while many newer vehicles now use a digital service record.

If you’ve recently bought a used car, the paperwork supplied with the vehicle may also contain previous servicing invoices.

Can’t find anything? Contacting the dealership or garage that previously maintained the vehicle may help establish when the last service was completed. Once you know the date and mileage of the previous service, you can compare this with the manufacturer’s recommended servicing schedule to work out when the next one should be due.

So, How Often Should You Service Your Car?

For many cars, every 12 months or around every 12,000 miles, whichever comes first, is a useful starting point, but we’d never recommend treating that as a universal rule.

Different manufacturers have different schedules and your vehicle’s age, mileage, engine or powertrain can all influence what needs doing and when. The best answer will always come from the servicing schedule designed for your particular car.

If your vehicle is due some attention, you can find out more about the options available on our TMS Motor Group Servicing & Parts page, where you can also book your car in with one of our servicing teams.

And if you genuinely have no idea when your next service is due, that’s fine too. You don’t need to arrive knowing exactly which filters need changing or what type of service your car requires. That’s our job.

At TMS Motor Group, our servicing teams across Leicester and the Midlands look after petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric vehicles every day. Give us your vehicle details and mileage and we’ll help you work out what it needs and when it needs it.

After all, looking after your car now is generally a lot nicer than meeting it on the back of a recovery truck later.