Car maintenance schedule: how often should you service your car

An amber light that looks like a spanner has started blinking on your dashboard. Perhaps you’ve never seen it before, or maybe you know it all too well. As part of your car maintenance schedule, that light is just one step in a process covering when it’s time to service and what needs replacing, catching problems before they become more serious.

This guide takes a deeper look at interim, full and major services, seasonal checks, typical costs, and how a car's history can help you understand what needs your attention next.

What is a car maintenance schedule?

A car maintenance schedule is set by the manufacturer and helps you work out when certain inspections, fluid changes and part replacements need to happen. It’s worked out either through mileage or time, and you can find the exact schedule in any car’s handbook.

Unlike an MOT in the UK, servicing isn't actually a legal requirement. But failing to keep to a proper car maintenance schedule can have serious consequences. All drivers have to keep their vehicles roadworthy by law, and driving a car in a dangerous condition could result in a fine of up to £2,500, three penalty points and a ban.

By understanding your vehicle’s maintenance schedule and arranging services to fit, you can start catching problems early on, saving money later on.

How often should you service your car?

You should generally service your car every 6 months or 6,000 miles for an interim service, every 12 months or 12,000 miles for a full service, and every 24 months or 24,000 miles for a major service. However, the exact intervals depend on your car, driving habits and manufacturer’s guidelines, so always check your vehicle handbook for the recommended schedule.

In each service case, you should take whichever comes first, either time or mileage.

• An interim service is the lightest, at around 25 checks, including an oil and filter change, along with a look at the tyres, brakes, lights, wipers and exhaust.
• A full service is typically annual, with around 40 checks that include everything in the interim, plus an air filter change, drive belts, suspension and steering inspections.
• A major service adds spark plugs, fuel and pollen filters, brake fluid change, and clutch and air-con checks, usually around 60 items in total.

Finally, there's also the manufacturer service, which follows the exact checks and replacements your car's maker specifies for that mileage or age.

UK car maintenance schedule by mileage and time

While the service schedule above outlines the basics, there are also specific mileage milestones at which certain maintenance work needs to occur. The following periodic maintenance schedule describes what is usually required at 30,000, 60,000 and 90,000 miles, with some seasonal checks that are also worth thinking about.

What maintenance should be done after 30,000 miles?

At around 30,000 miles, most cars need at least one major service. Typical jobs at this stage include:

• Replacing the air filter, and often the fuel filter, as part of a full service.
• Testing the 12V battery, as from year three onwards it's worth checking capacity.
• Inspecting drive belts and hoses for cracks and degradation.
• Checking suspension components for play and wear.
• Testing the air conditioning system for cooling performance and leaks.
• Checking tyre tread and pressure, the legal minimum in the UK is 1.6mm across the central three quarters, and getting the correct tyre pressure also improves fuel economy and stopping distance.
• Rotating your tyres is another smart way to reduce wear across all four, giving you extra time between replacements.
• Changing spark plugs if the handbook recommends it at this interval.
• A standard oil and filter change – usually one of the quicker jobs, and you can even save a bit if you know how to change your oil yourself .

Some older guides list power steering fluid at this milestone, but many modern cars use electric power steering and have no fluid to change anymore. Always refer to your car’s handbook.

What maintenance should be done after 60,000 miles?

The 60,000-mile mark is where inspections start becoming more expensive, as more parts and fluids need to be replaced:

• Timing belt and water pump. The RAC puts the range at 50,000 to 100,000 miles, or five to ten years, depending on the maker.
• Automatic transmission fluid if fitted. Checking transmission fluid regularly can give a heads up on problems long before a service is due.
• On four-wheel-drive cars, differential and transfer case oil.
• Inspecting engine and gearbox mounts for wear.
• A coolant condition check or full flush if the handbook specifies it.

What maintenance should be done after 90,000 miles?

Past 90,000 miles, the focus shifts from replacing to inspecting:

• Inspecting the timing chain, if fitted, for stretch or slack.
• A full suspension check, since worn dampers and bushes are one of the top MOT failure categories.
• Changing brake fluid if it's overdue. The RAC's standard advice is every two years or 24,000 miles.
• Inspecting brake discs and pads for scoring and thickness.
• Ongoing oil, filter and belt changes as directed in the handbook.

Seasonal car maintenance

As well as the mileage schedule, building in some seasonal car care can catch problems stemming from the elements:

• Spring: Check brakes and callipers if winter exposed the car to grit and road salt, top up screenwash, and inspect wipers if they've been through an icy season.
• Summer: Test the air conditioning, check coolant level, and confirm tyre pressures adjust with heat.
• Autumn: Test the battery before cold starts get harder, and think about replacing headlight bulbs before the clocks change. Lamps and electrical faults are the single largest MOT defect category.
• Winter: Check the battery again, use screenwash rated for freezing conditions, and inspect tyre tread. Winter tyres aren't legally required in the UK, but they change how a car handles in temperatures below 7°C. Changing your wiper blades before a wet winter is also a good idea.

How much does car maintenance cost?

Car maintenance in the UK typically costs around £400 to £600 a year for servicing and MOT tests combined, according to dealer group Wilsons, before any unexpected repairs. The exact amount depends on your car, the type of service it needs and where you take it.

For scheduled services, BookMyGarage's live pricing (June 2026) has UK averages at:

• Interim service: around £190
• Full service: around £234
• Major service: around £314

Kwik Fit's full service starts from £246.95 for engines up to 1,400cc, according to its online price list (September 2026), and goes up with size. Independent garages charged an average of £75.87 an hour in December 2024, according to Garage Industry Trends. Franchised dealers typically charge more.

The MOT itself is capped in Great Britain at £54.85, which has been that way since April 2010. Most testers charge less to attract customers, with £30 to £45 fairly standard. Northern Ireland uses a fixed fee rather than a cap, at £38.00 for a car MOT, with a £29.50 retest.

Individual jobs vary in price. A brake fluid change is usually between £40 and £90. Discs and pads per axle could come in at around £175 to £340 depending on the car. The RAC puts the average timing belt replacement at around £430, varying by make, which looks steep until you compare it to how much a snapped belt costs in engine repairs.

Costs also depend on brand and how difficult the job is. Vehicles with more electronics or specific OEM parts are going to be more expensive if they go wrong, and complex build orders are naturally going to require more hours to get them completed.

Altogether, pricing the purchase of a vehicle should always take into account the costs of owning it over three to five years, rather than just the sticker value.

Diesel, hybrid and electric car maintenance schedules

Diesel cars have their own unique set of maintenance characteristics. For instance, the diesel particulate filter (DPF) traps soot and burns it off during regeneration, but it requires longer runs at motorway speed to fully complete. A car used only for short urban trips can therefore clog its DPF if not monitored properly.

As a result, some drivers opt to remove the DPF, which makes the vehicle illegal to drive in the UK. MOT testers will fail cars with missing DPFs, and drivers can be fined up to £1,000 for a car or £2,500 for a light goods vehicle in that state, according to the DVSA. Diesel drivers should also keep an eye on AdBlue levels in vehicles that use it, since running dry usually prevents the engine from restarting.

Hybrids essentially require two types of engine maintenance to function. The petrol engine still needs oil, filters and spark plugs on the usual schedule, but you must also add in the battery pack and electric motor, which need their own checks at intervals specified in their handbooks.

Electric cars need less maintenance overall, but still require checkups as specified. Tesla says vehicles should be serviced "on an as-needed basis" rather than a fixed schedule, but its intervals include:

• Cabin filter every two years (HEPA every three).
• Brake fluid health check every four years, replaced if needed.
• Tyre rotation every 6,250 miles, or sooner if tread depth differs by 1.5mm or more since the last rotation.
• Calliper cleaning and lubrication yearly, or every 12,500 miles, in areas that use salt on roads.

While regenerative braking cuts pad wear by a lot, Tesla's Model Y manual warns that rust and corrosion can still build up on the brake discs, especially where roads are salted in winter. EVs fall into the same MOT classes as petrol and diesel cars, and pay the same capped fee, so there's no saving on the annual test either.

What happens if you skip a service?

Skipping a service can appear to be a saving at first, but it almost always ends up costing more later, and the results show themselves in specific ways over time.

Ignored oil changes shorten engine life, since old oil thickens and stops lubricating properly. A timing belt run past its interval can snap without warning. Worn brake pads eat into discs, adding to the repair bill. In general, ignoring a check engine light or a maintenance required light usually turns a smaller job into a more expensive one.

Resale value can also suffer. Full service history is the phrase every buyer scans for, and Auto Trader suggests it can add about 10 to 15% to a used car's value. Many manufacturers, including Volkswagen, now keep digital service records linked to the VIN, so a missed dealer service shows up as a gap rather than a missing stamp that could be explained away.

Finally, warranty is another aspect which is impacted. While using an independent garage does not by itself void a manufacturer warranty, manufacturers can still refuse a warranty claim if a fault is linked to incorrect or missing services.

Car maintenance schedule based on a car history check

You can follow every suggestion in your own car maintenance schedule, but the previous owner’s behaviour is going to have a much greater effect on what needs attention now. Checking a car's service history is an important first step, as it can give vital insight into what direction to take, but a full history report can go much further.

A basic vehicle history report could show how the mileage has changed at each recorded event, how many owners the car has had, whether it's been declared a write-off, and where damage or repair records exist.

Gaps in the MOT history can hint at a period off the road, which sometimes correlates with unresolved faults. Mileage manipulation, or clocking, is still a real risk, too, as if a car's true mileage is higher than the dashboard suggests, its actual position on the maintenance schedule is completely different.

In that regard, carVertical reports can include a Recommended service schedule section that shows when the last service was recorded and, based on available data such as mileage, when the next one is due.

The Recommended service schedule section relies on data being available for that specific car, and where it does, it can give a valuable, at-a-glance picture of what's coming up next.

You can begin checking a vehicle by entering its VIN number or its license plate number into the website. The resulting report could become one of the most important ways to find out what maintenance a car needs right now, to prevent it from developing more serious problems later.