It’s vital that you take your vehicle for regular servicing in order to ensure that it runs smoothly and that all of its functions continue to perform at the highest possible level. Not only will this save you a great deal of stress and frustration, but it’s also likely that you’ll also save money in the long term, both on running costs such as fuel consumption and on any repairs that may result if small issues are allowed to worsen unchecked.
Finally, and most importantly, serious problems such as engine and brake faults and malfunctioning lights can prove extremely dangerous, and failing to get these rectified at your earliest possible convenience may mean the difference between life and death.
However, it can be difficult to figure out which of the different types of car services your vehicle may need at any one time.
Here, the team at Dronsfields has put together a guide to the difference between car servicing types, providing answers to questions like “how many types of car services are there?” and “which car service should I choose?”.
How Many Types of Car Services Are There?
Overall, there are two different types of service, although some garages may offer them under different names. Most commonly, they are known as an “Interim Service” and a “Full Service”.
Interim Service
This is the more basic of the two services and takes around an hour and a half to complete.
An interim service usually involves:
- – Checks for damage and wear (body, wheels and trims, brakes, steering)
- – Engine check and servicing (replacing oil and filter, sump plug seal or full plug replacement check, timing belt check, spark plug check, coolant check and top up, undertray check)
- – Checks for oil and fluid leaks
- – Fuel filter check
- – Clutch, gearbox and driveshaft gaiter check, clutch fluid replacement
- – Lights and horn check
- – Battery check
- – Steering and suspension check (power steering reservoir top up, steering rack gaiter check, wheel bearings check, shock absorber testing
- – Exhaust checks
- – Brake checks and adjustments (callipers, service brake shoes, wheel cylinders, hydraulic system, handbrake checks and lubrication, brake discs, brake fluid top up
- – Tyres and wheels check and adjustment (tyre fitting, tread depth, pressure, wear, wheel balance, wheel nut torque)
- – Windscreen and wiper checks (wiper condition check, windscreen washer position, screen wash top up)
- – Interior checks (cabin filter, dash lights)
Many garages recommend that you book an interim service every six months for safety, but if you drive very little, you may find that a full service once a year suits you fine.
Full Service
A full service usually takes around three hours to complete, and includes everything you’d get as part of an interim service, along with:
- – Extra engine checks and adjustments (radiator condition, leaks, cap seal, coolant hoses, cooling fan, alternator belt and auxiliary drive belts and air filter replacement)
- – Greasing prop shaft, axle oil check and top up
- – Gearbox fluid check and top up
- – Extra electrical checks (diesel heater plug indicator, battery checks and terminal lubrication, High Tension leads check, alternator charging check)
- – Steering and suspension greasing
- – Bonnet catch lubrication
- – Extra brake checks (brake servo, fluid boil test)
- – Extra visibility checks (windscreen chips and cracks, mirror condition, number plates condition)
- – Extra interior checks (seatbelts, door locks, door hinge lubrication)
If your car is a hybrid, you may find that your garage provides a few extra elements within the service, including diagnostic checks, charging port checks, checking of cables and connections and coolant and brake binding checks.
The service provider should then update your vehicle’s information to indicate that the service has taken place.
What Service Does My Car Need?
In the end, the decision is entirely up to you. Servicing your car is not a legal requirement, but it can make a huge difference to its operation and safety.
It’s highly recommended that you arrange for your car to undergo a full service once a year.
You can book this to coincide with your MOT, so that any minor problems that come to light during the legally required checks can be rectified immediately after.
An interim service, on the other hand, is perfect if you need to take your car in for a check up between your annual services – whether this is because you’re on the road a lot more regularly than others (more than 2,000 miles per month), you’re planning on heading off on a long road trip, or you simply feel as if your car needs a bit of a tune up.
You can choose whether you prefer one or both of these two different types of car services.
With this easy guide, we’ve sought to answer the common question: “what service does my car need?”. The simple answer is: at the very least, you should book a full service once a year. If you’d like a six month checkup after that, or you drive more than 2000 miles a month, opting for an interim service on top of that is definitely a good idea.
For information about the services provided by our team at Dronsfields, click here.