Car Servicing - All you need to know
How often should you get your car serviced?
Having your car serviced isn’t a legal requirement, unlike needing to have an MOT performed yearly. However, it can be beneficial to have it checked over regularly, to keep it running safely and efficiently, and to avoid unnecessary repairs. Another added benefit is that your car's value will increase when you come to sell it if you have a full service history.
To know how often you should have your car serviced, you can either check in your owner's manual for your service schedule, or look out for a service indicator on your dashboard, if your car has this.
Another way to know when it’s time for your car to be serviced is the amount of miles you’ve done:
- Interim service - After 6 months or 6000 miles, whichever comes first
- Full service - After 12 months or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first
- Major service - After 24 months or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first
What does a car service include?
Interim Service
- Oil change
- Filter change
- Steering checks
- Brake checks
- Clutch checks
- Tyre checks
- Inspection of hoses and pipes
Full Service
A full service involves checks of the above, as well as:
- Engine checks
- Drive belt checks
- Inspection of the heating and cooling system
- Fluid top ups
Major Service
Everything included in the interim and full service is checked, in addition to:
- Brake fluid change
- Engine oil change
- Air filter change
- Cabin filter replacement
- Pollen filter change
- Spark plug change
How much does a car service cost?
Prices vary for car servicing depending on where you take your car and in which part of the country you’re in.
However, you can expect to pay between approximately £75-£125 for an interim service, £140+ for a full service and upwards of £200 for a major service.
Is car servicing worth it?
Having your car serviced regularly is definitely worth it if you want to prolong the life of your car, and help to retain its maximum resale value. It can also help save you money in the long run, by spotting issues and potentially large repairs early.
Car servicing doesn’t have to be costly either if you consider a servicing plan. This can help you to spread out the cost of having regular services into affordable and manageable monthly payments.