How Often Should My Car Be Serviced
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- 19-10-2022
How often should my Jaguar car be serviced? This article looks at how often you should service a car and why you need a car service.
How often should you service your car?
If your vehicle is still within the manufacturer's warranty, then you will need to have your car serviced as described in the manufacturer's service schedule in order to keep the warranty valid. Older cars can also benefit from being serviced annually.
If your car is serviced regularly, as well as being properly maintained, then the vehicle should be capable of driving for decades and travel thousands of miles with very few issues. If you service your car properly and keep a detailed service history, this will help preserve the value of the vehicle when it comes time to sell it.
What is a car service?
During a car's servicing, the mechanic will look at the vehicle's brakes, oils, filters, and other electronic and mechanical in-car systems. This is done to ensure that everything in the car is in completely safe and working condition.
The mechanic will carry out a very detailed inspection of your car and suggest which parts of the car could be replaced. Of course, this is dependent on the condition and age of the vehicle. The cost of any necessary replacements is rarely ever included in the price of the initial service, so if you are hoping for these issues to be fixed, there will be additional fees.
Why do I need a car service?
Servicing your vehicle is the best possible way to make sure that everything internally and externally in your car is working as they were designed.
If your vehicle needs to have the oil changed and you continue to use the car with very low fluid levels, then this can lead to a lot of major damage being done to the vehicle's engine.
If you choose not to have your car serviced, then it is highly likely that you will find that the car's performance and reliability will begin to deteriorate.
This can mean that you might begin to hear strange noises emerging from parts of the vehicle, have issues with the general operating of the car, and have lights on your dashboard start to flash and light up.
How often should I service my car?
It is recommended by both mechanics and manufacturers that a car should be serviced professionally around every twelve thousand miles or every twelve months. It does not matter which happens first; either way, the vehicle needs to be serviced. Some cars will come installed with a self-diagnostic system. These systems will let you know when your car is ready to be taken to be serviced. If you notice any warning lights on your car, then they should not be ignored.
This goes for all vehicles, even if your car has not travelled twelve thousand miles since the last service. If after the last time you had your vehicle serviced, you were told that your car may need to have an interim service, then this means that you should look to have your car serviced again after only another six months or six thousand miles.
When this happens, it is usually because there is some kind of issue on your car which will get worse within twelve months, and the mechanic is trying to ensure that everything is working as it should in the short-term. This is a precautionary measure.
There is a selection of things that you can do yourself for your car in between your annual services. A couple of these things are checking your tyre pressures and the engine oil in order to keep your vehicle in great working condition.
A regular service is done when the oil and filter in your vehicle need to be replaced.
An interim service is done every six months or every six thousand miles. Whichever comes first.
A full service is done every twelve months or every twelve thousand miles. Whichever comes first.
A manufacturer's service is decided upon by the vehicle manufacturer. You can look at your car's manual for specific details on when this may be.
What's included in a car service?
What exactly is included within a car service will depend on which type of car service you have booked your vehicle in to have. Every service will have a visual check included. This check will include taking a look at the car's wheels and bodywork. The mechanic will also take a look at parts of the car, such as the brakes and the gearbox.
These are essential parts of the vehicle, and they need to be working properly. If you are the user of an electric or hybrid car, then the mechanics will also check the car's charging ports, cables and connections.
Full Service: This is a 77-point inspection. This needs to be done every twelve months or every twelve thousand miles. Included in this service is an engine oil change, an oil filter change, and an air filter change.
Interim service: This is a 50-point inspection. This needs to be done every six months or every six thousand miles. Included in this service is an engine oil change and an oil filter change.
Oil change: This is a service done when the vehicle's oil and filter need to be replaced.
What are interim, major & full services?
The below descriptions refer to the amount of work that will be done on the vehicle which is having the service.
Interim Service
An interim service usually consists of the following. Firstly, the car's engine oil needs to be drained and refilled. The oil filter also needs to be swapped out for a brand new one to eliminate any gunk that has built up over the last six months. Just as with all car services, there needs to be a visual inspection of certain important components of the car. For example, the wheels and the vehicle's exterior.
Major services
During the process of a major service, a mechanic will commonly carry out even more checks than with other services, as well as change more filters.
It is common for the air and fuel filters to be changed, but they may also change the filter that blocks out unwanted particles from entering the car through the ventilation system.
Full service
A full service will add even more steps to the servicing process. What exactly these steps are will depend on the car itself. In a petrol car, you should expect the spark plugs to be replaced and have the power steering fluid, gearbox and/or brake fluid drained and swapped out.
Are you looking for Independent Jaguar Specialists in Warwickshire? Our Jaguar services are available for Snitterfield, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick and the surrounding areas of Warwickshire.