Servicing & Maintaining your Vehicle
When It comes to owning your vehicle, carrying out services and maintenance is an important way of ensuring your car operates smoothly. But which service do you need? There are so many terms thrown around it can be difficult to know what you need to organise and when.
Logbook Service
Your logbook service is a standard vehicle examination, as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer, that’s conducted every 10,000kms. This service looks at safety checks, measurements, replacements and repairs if necessary.
It’s different from a more detailed service, like your 100,000km service which will look at more specific parts of your car. It’s called a logbook service because it follows the procedures outlined in the manufacturer’s car logbook, proving that you’ve maintained your car sufficiently and looked after as recommended.
Minor Service
A Minor service is a type of logbook service. Generally a minor service is carried out every 10,000km and we will carry out the following:
- Your engine oil is drained and replaced with new, clean oil.
- The oil filter is replaced
- All of the fluids are checked, flushed and changed if necessary: these include the clutch, transmission, power steering, brake and coolant fluids.
- Your battery is tested to make sure that it holds its charge and is unlikely to need replacing before your next service.
- Your car is given a full safety inspection, to pick up anything that needs replacing or fixing, either now or in the near future.
- A road test is performed, to make sure that nothing has been missed and any other issues or concerns are identified.
- All of the remaining filters (air, fuel and pollen) are inspected to make sure that they don’t need to be replaced.
- The gear box oil, transfer case and diff oil are checked as well.
- Your wiper blades are inspected to make sure that they don’t need to be replaced.
Major Service
A major service is usually carried out at specific intervals which is determined by your vehicle manufacturer. A major service includes everything in a minor service, as well as additional maintenance.
A major service is more involved and usually takes longer than a minor service. Each vehicle manufacturer requires different maintenance during a major service so a lot will depend on the make and model of your car. If you’re not sure if you need a major service or what is required, give us a call and we will be able to let you know.
Why you should regularly service your car
By carrying out regular minor servicing of your vehicle you can feel confident your car remains roadworthy and reliable.
It also extends the life of your engine and other mechanical parts in your vehicle. Long term it also reduces the cost of repairs as you are less likely to have major issues as problems can be caught early.
An engine that hasn’t been serviced regularly will use more fuel than one that is well-maintained. Cheap tyres that are worn operate worse in the wet and have a greater braking distance than quality tyres with good tread, which means you’re not as safe as you could be.