Those of you who own a vehicle know how essential it is to keep your car regularly serviced. Because a key part of being a responsible car owner is to pay for its regular maintenance. However, it is not a legal requirement like MOT, but, you must keep your car safe.

By failing to do so, the rate of wear and tear will exceed, which could cause costly and serious faults later on. In addition, if you decide to sell your car, it will also negatively affect its value because you have been failing to keep up with servicing.

Although there are a variety of different types of servicing available from garages all over the UAE. The question is: How often you should service your car? What type of service your car needs the most?

It’s very likely you are already familiar with the term annual service, or full service. Still, some people may not know that there are other options as well, such as an interim service and major service.

Here, we will look at each perspective as the servicing specialists at PitStopArabia have explained this is detailed below. So, whether you are a new driver and are unfamiliar with the servicing rules, or if you want to clear something, you would find this article useful.

Interim Service And Its Car Servicing Checks

As part of interim vehicle service, you will receive a variety of easy checks to keep your vehicle roadworthy and in good condition. During an interim service, the car’s most important parts are focused on rather than detailed work as in full service.

A high-mileage interim service is designed for drivers who travel a lot. It’s recommended after 6 months of motoring, covering distances of around 2,000 miles each month.

The 25 checks include:

• Check brake pads, wheels, and steering for wear and damage.
• Check the engine coolant, timing belt, and spark plug.
• Replace oil and fluid leaks.
• Inspect car lights, horns, windscreen wipers, and washers.
• Wheel checklist – tyre adjustment, tread depth, wheel balance, pressure, and wear.
• Examine handbrake checks, brake discs, brake fluid, power steering fluid.
• Check the vehicle battery.
• Check exhaust, clutch, gearbox, and steering rack gaiter.
• Clutch fluid replacement check.

How Long Interim Service Takes To Be Completed?

A car’s type determines the length of time it will take to complete all checks. As its accessibility to the components that need to be tested or changed affects how easy it is to accomplish the task.

A typical interim car service, however, usually takes around an hour and a half to complete. But, if more than one problem is discovered, your mechanic may have to take a little longer to resolve them.

How Often Does Your Car Needs Servicing?

In case you drive more than the average number of miles, you may want to consider having an interim service every six months. This will ensure that your car is operating well and that none of the parts is wearing prematurely.

Full Service And Its Car Servicing Checks

In comparison to a full service, interim services require slightly fewer checks. It includes an exhaustive set of tests and adjustments, along with elements completed within an interim service.

Unlike regular oil changes, this type of service also includes more comprehensive inspections of the engine, brakes, drive belts, and heating and cooling systems.

As a part of this process, your car will usually undergo between 65 to 70 checks, rather more than it would in an interim service.

• Extra inspection of engine and adjustment which includes leaks, radiator condition, cooling fan, coolant hoses, replacement of the air filter, alternator belt checks, and auxiliary drive belts.
• Check and fill axle oil and grease prop shaft.
• Ensure gearbox fluid checks and top up.
• Checks for extra electrical components – includes diesel heater plug indicator, car battery replacement, battery terminal lubrication, and checks for High Tension leads.
• Greasing steering wheels and suspensions.
• Lubrication of the bonnet catch.
• Testing additional brake components – includes brake servo, fluid boil test.
• Inspection of visibility features (windscreen chips and cracks, mirror condition, number plates condition)
• Performing extra interior inspections that include seatbelts, door locks, door hinges.

How Long Does a Full Service Take To Be Completed?

As always, it depends on the type of car you own and the accessibility of each of the relevant components. However, because of the extensive nature of the checks and changes, a full service usually lasts about three hours.

How Often Does Your Car Needs Servicing?

According to estimates, we drive around 12,000 miles over the course of a year. If your car goes that far then it will be ready for its regular refills and fluid replacements.

Major Service And Its Car Servicing Checks

Major vehicle services include all the same checks as the full version, but in much more detail and with additional replacements of wearable parts and consumables. An inspection is performed on parts of your car designed to last two to three years but still needs regular maintenance to function properly after that.

All of the 60 checks in a major service include those in a full-service checklist as well as:

• Fuel filter replacement (if externally mounted).
• Performing an inspection of the doors, bonnet, and locks of the car.
•  Ensure that air conditioners are in good working order.
• Spark plugs may need to be replaced based on mileage and age.
• Test the clutches
• Checking for any damaged radiator caps and electric fans.

How Often Does Your Car Needs Major Servicing?

The major service should be provided every 24 months or 24,000 miles.

Wrap Up!

In the end, you are responsible for the decision about taking your vehicle for tuning and checking. To make sure it runs as smoothly as possible, to save money, and to keep you and those around you safe, we recommend booking annual full services. Moreover, if you expect your vehicle to accumulate more wear and tear than average, then it would be wise to arrange for interim servicing as well.