Is it illegal to not service your car?

Wednesday 14th July 2021

Unlike an MOT test, servicing your vehicle is not a legal requirement – nor is it a pre-requisite for validating your car insurance.

Although servicing your vehicle is not mandatory by law, is it highly recommended to keep up to date with regular car servicing – as, without it, the condition of your car can deteriorate compromising your vehicle’s safety and performance, but also potentially causing costly repairs.

Why do I need to service my car?

As servicing your vehicle is not a legal requirement, some often wonder why they should service their cars. There are numerous benefits of keeping up to date with regular servicing – as well as multiple disadvantages of not servicing your vehicle:

• Cost – although the cost of a service can often put people off, the cost of the repair work, should your vehicle not have regular servicing, is likely to far exceed that. Over time, vehicles need to be maintained else they’ll likely run into problems that could require costly repairs. Learn more about how servicing your vehicle can save you money.
• Safety – the safety of your vehicle is likely to be compromised should you not maintain regular servicing – as service checks include reviewing components of your vehicle, such as brakes, suspension, exhausts, that are integral to your safety on the roads.
• Performance – if some components of your vehicle aren’t working in the way they should, this can have a detrimental impact on the performance and efficiency of your car.
• Resale value – another key benefit of regular servicing is maintaining the resale value of your vehicle. By not servicing your car, minor problems can often turn into major problems – leaving the resale value of your vehicle affected. But also, regular servicing shows potential buyers that the vehicle has been looked after and maintained.

How often do I need to service my car?

Here at Formula One Autocentres, we have two options when it comes to servicing your vehicle:

• Interim service – this interim service is designed to be undertaken every 6 months, or every 6,000 miles.
• Full service – this full service is designed to be undertaken every 12 months, or every 12,000 miles.

Explore the differences between our Interim and Full services in more depth and understand which type of vehicle service is right for you.

Remember, book your MOT and service together

Top tip: don’t forget to book your MOT and service together, if possible! This is a great way to not only save yourself money later down the line, but also ensure your vehicle is as safe as possible – meaning you can rest assured you can travel from A to B with every component in working order. Not to mention, leaving your car at the garage for the day can often be a hassle – so it’s likely to work out more convenient to get both your service and MOT test completed on the same day!

Ready to book in today? Locate your nearest Formula One Autocentres and book your service and MOT test with us online now for great offers!