How Often Should You Service Your Car? A Simple Maintenance Schedule

“How often should I service my car?” is one of the most common questions car owners ask — and the honest answer is: it depends on your car, how you drive, and what the manufacturer recommends. But there are reliable rules of thumb that apply to almost every vehicle.

This guide gives you a simple, practical maintenance schedule you can follow, and shows how to stop relying on memory to keep up with it.

Always check your owner’s manual first. The intervals below are general guidance. Your manufacturer’s schedule — based on your exact model and engine — is the definitive source.

The two things every schedule is based on

Car maintenance intervals are set by whichever comes first:

Mileage — e.g. every 10,000 km or 12,000 miles
Time — e.g. every 12 months

This matters because a car that sits in a garage still ages. Oil degrades, rubber perishes, and fluids absorb moisture over time — so a low-mileage car can still be overdue on a calendar basis.

A general maintenance schedule

Every month (or before a long trip)

Check tyre pressure and tread depth
Check engine oil level
Check coolant and windscreen washer fluid
Test that all lights work

These take five minutes and prevent a surprising number of breakdowns.

Every 10,000–15,000 km (or 12 months)

Engine oil and oil filter change — the single most important routine service. Intervals vary widely by engine and oil type, so follow your manual.
Visual inspection of brakes, belts, and hoses
Cabin and air filter check

Every 20,000–40,000 km

Air filter replacement
Fuel filter (on many diesels)
Brake fluid check (often replaced every 2 years regardless of mileage)
Tyre rotation

Every 40,000–60,000 km

Spark plugs (petrol engines; intervals vary a lot)
Brake pads — though these depend heavily on your driving style
Transmission fluid check

Every 60,000–100,000 km (or as specified)

Timing belt — critical. On many engines a snapped timing belt causes catastrophic damage. Never skip this interval.
Coolant flush
Suspension and steering inspection

Annually, regardless of mileage

Full safety inspection
Battery health check (especially before winter)
Air conditioning service every couple of years

What affects how often you should service

Your ideal interval shifts with how you use the car. Service more often if you:

Drive mostly short trips (the engine rarely warms up fully)
Sit in heavy stop-start traffic
Tow, carry heavy loads, or drive in dusty or extreme conditions
Own an older or high-mileage vehicle

Many manufacturers publish a separate “severe” or “heavy-use” schedule for exactly these cases.

Why timely servicing is worth it

Staying on schedule isn’t about being fussy — it protects your wallet and your safety:

It prevents expensive failures. A €60 oil change is cheaper than a seized engine.
It keeps you safe. Brakes, tyres, and steering are not places to cut corners.
It protects resale value. A documented, up-to-date service history is worth real money when you sell.

The hard part: actually remembering

Knowing the schedule is easy. Following it for years, across every service, is the part most people get wrong — a missed oil change here, a forgotten brake-fluid change there.

This is exactly what a digital service book solves. Instead of tracking intervals in your head, MyServiceBook logs every service and sends you a reminder based on both mileage and time, so you’re alerted before each service is due — never too early, never too late. Every record stays in one place, so you always have proof of a well-maintained car.

Bottom line

Service your car at whichever comes first: the mileage or the time interval in your manual. Do the quick monthly checks yourself, keep up with oil changes, and never skip the timing belt. Then let an app handle the remembering — so a healthy, well-documented vehicle becomes the default, not a chore.

Never miss a service again — set up free reminders with MyServiceBook.