A motor vehicle service is a series of maintenance procedures carried out at a set time interval or after the vehicle has travelled a certain distance. The service intervals are specified by the vehicle manufacturer in a service schedule and some modern cars display the due date for the next service electronically on the instrument panel.
The completed services are usually recorded in a service book which is rubber stamped by the service centre upon completion of each service. However at least one manufacturer (Mazda) now records services electronically on a database and prints them out for vehicle owners on request, so that it is not necessary for them to retain a stamped service book . A complete service history usually adds to the resale value of a vehicle. Services like DriverSide in the United States and DriveArchive in the United Kingdom are trying to create tools to help car owners track this service information.
Maintenance tasks commonly carried out during a motor vehicle service include:
Mechanical parts that may cause the car to cease transmission or prove unsafe for the road are also noted and advised upon.
In the United Kingdom, few parts that are not inspected on the MOT test are inspected and advised upon a Service Inspection.
These include:
Mechanical parts of the vehicle which deteriorated below pass standard since testing are inspected and advised accordingly.