How often should I service my car?

The service requirements of your motor vehicle may be a dark and murky secret but that doesn't mean you should avoid servicing your vehicle. Here is a quick guide to when what and how your car should be serviced.

Lawrence Minnie

28 Jan 2025 · 12:16Car Ownership2 min read

1 / 6

Service with a smile

Your car is, first and foremost, a machine, and machines require maintenance; otherwise, they break down. With a machine in a factory, you call a technician, they fix it, and you're off to the races. With a car, if you don't maintain it, it will break down at the worst possible moment and leave you stranded and possibly in danger. So when and how should your car be serviced to keep it in tip-top shape?

The answer here is rather simple. You should always follow the manufacturer's recommended service intervals, which are found in the owner's manual for the vehicle. The vast majority of manufacturers will require the vehicle to be serviced between 12 000 and 15,000 km. Your vehicle needs two types of services: minor and major.

Chery Tiggo 4 Pro DCT first service

Minor service

During a minor service, the technician should usually do filters, plugs and fluids. This means they will do a nut and bolt check, replace your air filter, replace spark plugs, change the oil and top off the coolant. These services typically take an hour or two and should be able to be completed on the same day. Your car will generally require minor services until it reaches major milestones like 25 000km, 50 000km, 75 000km, 100 000km, etc. At manufacturer-prescribed intervals, other work may be carried out as specified in the manual, such as cabin air filters, fluid flushes, belt replacement and brake services. If you are familiar with your car service schedule, you can make arrangements for these if the vehicle is no longer under its service plan.

Do electric cars need servicing?

Major service

Regarding a major service, these will normally need to be planned for and can take up to 3 days to complete. You will need to book your car in and arrange alternative transport. The technician must order parts they don't normally keep on hand. A major service will require replacing moving parts of the engine, such as cambelts, timing chains, tensioners, rollers, and the normal minor service items. A major service is labour-intensive, requires many work hours in cramped spaces, and is usually much more expensive. A major service should only occur at around 125 000km and 225 000kms

Written by Lawrence Minnie

Lawrence has been involved with motorsports for almost 30 years. Whether it's two wheels or four, if it has an engine, he will try to race it. This love of motor vehicles has led him to ride, drive, film, photograph, and write about his passion. Freelance for a while but now a permanent fixture on the AutoTrader team for over 7 years, Lawrence contributes written, photographic, and video content for AutoTrader and AutoTrader Bikes.Read more