Do I Really Need to Service My Car Every 6 Months?

If you don’t drive your car very much, being told to bring it back for a service every six months can seem excessive.

You might drive only 5,000 or 6,000 kilometres a year. Maybe the car spends most of the week parked in the garage. So why would it need servicing twice a year?

The answer depends on both time and kilometres — and, importantly, how you actually use the vehicle.

At Motorfix, we don’t believe every customer should automatically have the same service interval forever. We start conservatively, then use your vehicle’s service history and actual driving pattern to determine what reminder interval makes sense.

For some vehicles, six months is right. For others, eight or nine months may be more appropriate. For very low-kilometre vehicles, an annual service may make more sense.

The aim is simple: service the vehicle at the right interval, not simply the shortest interval.

Why are services often scheduled every 10,000 kilometres?

Many vehicles have scheduled maintenance based around a kilometre interval such as 10,000 kilometres, along with a maximum time interval.

If you drive 20,000 kilometres a year, you’ll reach 10,000 kilometres approximately every six months.

In that situation, a six-month service reminder makes perfect sense.

But what happens if you only drive 12,000 kilometres a year?

You won’t reach 10,000 kilometres every six months. A six-month reminder could therefore have you servicing considerably earlier than the kilometre-based schedule requires.

This is where the time component of servicing becomes important.

What if I only drive a few thousand kilometres a year?

This is where things get more interesting.

Suppose your vehicle has a 10,000-kilometre service interval, but you only drive 4,000 kilometres a year.

If you waited for the car to reach 10,000 kilometres, you could go more than two years between services.

That doesn’t necessarily make sense.

Vehicles still age while they are sitting in the driveway. Engine oil and other fluids can deteriorate or become contaminated over time, batteries can discharge, tyres and rubber components age, and brakes and other components can be affected by the conditions in which the vehicle is stored and operated.

There is also a difference between low kilometres and easy kilometres.

A vehicle that travels only a few thousand kilometres a year doing repeated short trips can experience very different operating conditions from one that travels the same distance in longer journeys.

For a very low-use vehicle, an annual service can therefore be a sensible maintenance strategy, even if the vehicle has nowhere near 10,000 kilometres on the odometer.

So why does the dealer keep telling me to come back every six months?

A six-month reminder isn’t necessarily wrong.

For a vehicle that is travelling enough kilometres to reach its 10,000-kilometre service interval approximately every six months, it is exactly what you would expect.

The problem is assuming that the same interval necessarily makes sense for every driver.

If your driving pattern is very different, the appropriate reminder interval may also be different.

The important thing is to look at the vehicle’s actual manufacturer service requirements and then consider how the vehicle is being used.

At Motorfix, your service interval can change as we get to know your car

When a vehicle first comes to Motorfix, our service reminder system defaults to six months.

That’s deliberate.

When we don’t yet know the vehicle or its owner, we’d rather start conservatively than risk a customer going too long between services.

But the reminder doesn’t have to stay at six months forever.

After we’ve looked after your vehicle for a couple of services, we start to build a useful picture of how it is actually being used.

We can see:

• how many kilometres you drive
• how quickly you are approaching the next service interval
• your vehicle’s service history
• the condition we consistently find the vehicle in
• whether there are particular maintenance issues we need to keep an eye on
• whether a shorter or longer reminder interval is appropriate

That allows us to tailor the reminder to the vehicle and the customer.

Your service interval doesn’t have to be 6 or 12 months

This is an important point.

It’s not necessarily a choice between servicing every six months or every twelve months.

If your vehicle has a 10,000-kilometre service interval, we can look at how quickly you are actually accumulating those kilometres.

For example:

A high-kilometre driver

If you’re travelling around 20,000 kilometres a year, you’ll reach 10,000 kilometres roughly every six months.

Six months makes sense.

A moderate-kilometre driver

If you’re travelling around 12,000–15,000 kilometres a year, you may reach 10,000 kilometres in around eight or nine months.

An eight- or nine-month reminder may be more appropriate.

A very low-kilometre driver

If you’re travelling only 3,000–5,000 kilometres a year, you may not reach 10,000 kilometres for two or three years.

In that situation, waiting for 10,000 kilometres doesn’t make sense. An annual service provides a sensible maximum interval for maintaining the vehicle.

The exact interval still needs to take account of the manufacturer’s requirements and the way the vehicle is being used.

Why we don’t simply tell every customer to come back once a year

It might sound attractive to say that everyone who drives fewer kilometres should just service annually.

But that’s not necessarily responsible either.

A customer who drives 18,000 or 20,000 kilometres a year shouldn’t be waiting twelve months for a 10,000-kilometre service.

That’s why we don’t use a blanket rule.

The service interval should reflect the vehicle’s requirements and the customer’s actual usage.

Six months might be right for one customer.

Eight months might be right for another.

Nine or ten months might be right for someone else.

And for a very low-kilometre vehicle, twelve months may be the appropriate maximum interval.

What happens if I don’t drive much?

Don’t assume that low kilometres mean you can ignore servicing.

If you barely drive your vehicle, there are still reasons to keep it on a regular maintenance schedule.

An annual service can provide an opportunity to check things such as:

• engine oil and other fluids
• brakes
• tyres
• battery condition
• belts and hoses
• suspension and steering components
• leaks
• warning lights and fault codes
• general vehicle condition

It also gives us an opportunity to identify small problems before they become expensive repairs.

The objective isn’t to service a low-use vehicle unnecessarily.

It’s to keep an eye on it while it’s being used very little.

What if the dealer says my six-month service is due?

Ask what the service interval is based on.

You can reasonably ask:

“Is this service due because I’ve reached the kilometre interval, because the time interval has expired, or because there is additional maintenance recommended for my vehicle?”

There is an important difference between those things.

If you’re unsure, an independent workshop can review the vehicle’s requirements and service history and explain what actually needs to be done.

You shouldn’t have to choose between servicing too often and neglecting the car.

The right service interval is about your car

A service reminder is useful. But it is only a reminder.

It shouldn’t replace looking at the actual vehicle, its maintenance requirements and the way it is being used.

That’s why at Motorfix we start with a six-month reminder for vehicles we don’t know yet, then adjust the reminder as we build a history with the customer.

If the vehicle is travelling enough kilometres to justify six-month servicing, we’ll keep it there.

If the customer’s driving pattern means the vehicle will reach its 10,000-kilometre interval in eight or nine months, we’ll adjust the reminder accordingly.

And if the vehicle is doing only a few thousand kilometres a year, an annual service may be the sensible approach rather than waiting years to reach 10,000 kilometres.

It’s not about servicing more often. It’s about servicing at the right time.

Not sure whether you really need that six-month service?

If you’ve been told your car needs servicing every six months but you don’t drive very much, Motorfix can look at your vehicle’s service requirements, history and actual driving pattern and help work out an appropriate maintenance interval.

You may find that six months is exactly right.

Or you may find that your vehicle is better suited to a longer interval.

Either way, you should know why.