Servicing and inspection
A service is the appointment at which a car is checked rather than repaired. What it covers is set by the manufacturer — by mileage, by time, or by an indicator in the car that factors in how it has been driven. A complete service record is one of the few things a later buyer can genuinely verify.
What it covers
- Engine oil and oil filter, plus a new sealing ring on the drain plug
- Air filter, cabin filter and, depending on the interval, the fuel filter
- Spark plugs on petrol engines, at the manufacturer's interval
- Visual check of brakes, suspension, exhaust and lighting
- Fluid levels, tyre condition and the fault memory
When it is due
- The service indicator in the instrument cluster comes on
- The interval in the service book is reached by time, even at low mileage
- Before a long trip, or before selling the car
Worth knowing
A common misunderstanding: the time interval applies even if the car has barely moved. Oil ages not only through mileage but through condensation and fuel dilution on short trips — a car doing 4,000 kilometres a year needs its oil change just as much as one doing 25,000.
Find a workshopOther services
- Oil change
- Brake service
- Tyres and wheels
- Air conditioning service
- Timing belt
- Timing chain
- Clutch
- Transmission service
- Fault diagnosis
- Electric and hybrid service
- Battery and starter
- Exhaust and emissions system
- Wheel alignment
- Bodywork and accident damage
- Paintwork
- Glass and windscreens
- Periodic roadworthiness test