Car Servicing Prices and Procedures

There are very few constants in the automotive world; things change rapidly and often, even more so now that technology is as much a ‘driving’ factor as the internal combustion engine.

However, one of the few that is a constant, is servicing.

Servicing is an important part of car ownership, not just because the manufacturers say so, but it helps to maintain reliability, keep running costs down, keep you safe, and of course, add to the resale value. Here's everything you need to know about car servicing in the UK.

In this article

Book Car Service

What should you look for when perusing the options to book a car service?

There was a time (not that long ago), where car manufacturers insisted that any warranty or guarantee would be voided if a new car was serviced outside of their dealer network. They can no longer do this.

What this now means is that your car, regardless of age, can be taken pretty much anywhere, on the proviso that approved parts are used, and the servicing schedule is maintained. This doesn’t mean that ‘Keith, the nextdoor neighbour who knows a thing or two about cars’ is qualified to service it, but so long as it’s a recognised garage, you should be safe.

Of course, for some owners, only an official manufacturers stamp is good enough, and there is nothing wrong with that. There is also the comfort of the known environment – many owners feel a little anxious when dealing with a small, independent garage. This could be a (usually unfounded) fear of ‘back street’ dealings, or maybe even having to demonstrate their lack of knowledge to the person wearing overalls standing before them.

The good news is that there are plenty of options open to you.

Whether it’s booking through the main dealer network, a large chain of workshops (such as Kwik Fit), an independent specialist, or even having a mobile specialist come directly to you.

You’re bound to find an option that suits you best.

Halfords Car Service

Perhaps one of the most well-known automotive ‘high street’ brands is Halfords. Originally created as a one-stop shop for all your parts and service items, they now offer full servicing and repairs by trained, qualified technicians.

There are advantages to using such a high street brand; you can be assured that the work carried out is of a sufficient standard, there won’t be any ‘added extras’, and all parts used are approved.

However, prices would be similar to those you’ll find at the main dealer, and for some, the official authorised dealer network stamp carries more prestige than a Halfords stamp.

Kwik Fit Car Service

Kwik Fit have been looking after the motorist for over 50 years, they have more than 600 service centres located throughout Europe and the UK, and although they’re known more for tyres and exhausts, they offer full servicing, MOT, and diagnostic facilities.

The Kwik Fit technicians are all trained, in fact in 2015, Kwik Fit received the “Level 1” grading from Ofsted for its apprenticeship scheme, and has 200 open apprenticeships throughout the UK.

Similar to Halfords, it’s a well-known automotive high street brand, which lends itself to being trusted and reputable, but also in a similar vein, the prices are high street; you’ll be charged full retail price for parts and labour – you wouldn’t find anyone in the ‘trade’ having their car serviced there, purely on price alone.

Car Service Garage

Amongst the options for your car service, is the regular, non-franchised garage.

These are the places that you’ll find parts sourced from a motor factors (aftermarket part supplier), usually a ‘pattern’ part. Which is to say that they’re generally made to the same design or specification as official parts, but without the branding.

Labour tends to be cheaper at these garages too – depending on your geographic location, you could be paying as little as £25 per hour for labour, compare that to a dealer and you could be looking in the region of £75 per hour (in the same geographic area). There is also the human factor – regular customers will become known to the garage, the level of trust is unquestionable, and they’re more open to being amenable.

Generally, you’ll find that a number of these independents specialise in a particular marque or model, and their knowledge can be invaluable when it comes to upgrades, fault-finding, and general maintenance tips on what to look out for.

Car Service Dealer

As we’ve already mentioned, for some owners, only an official dealer stamp will do when it comes to their pride & joy.

There was a time that having a full dealer service history added value when it came to sale time, and for the main part that’s less-so now. However, if your car is something a little more specialised, then it can certainly help sell it.

Main dealers are expensive. Perhaps the most expensive option for servicing, and there is no getting away from that fact. They’ll justify that expense with “who better to look after your car than the people that made it?” or that their parts are 100% manufacturer owned. Truth be told, there’s some negotiation in both of those statements (in our opinion).

With that said, certainly having an official dealer stamp won’t do you any harm, and of course there’s usually the opportunity to have a courtesy or loan car, perhaps even an upgraded model to try and lure you in to a new car.

Mobile Car Service

Mobile car servicing is relatively new in the great scheme of automotive things. For those of you that haven’t heard of it, it is literally as it sounds; the technician comes to your home or workplace, at a pre-arranged time, and services your car, just as they would if you took it to a service centre.

Just the same with any of the options here, there are positives and negatives to taking this option.

Obviously, you’re paying for the convenience of them coming to you, along with their associated direct and indirect costs (mileage, wear & tear, time delays etc), and of course they’re limited to just what they can offer – no way of carrying out an MOT test for example, and they can’t carry an unlimited supply of new parts, or get an easy same-day delivery from their parts supplier should the unexpected crop up.

Despite mentioning that you’re paying for the convenience, some of that is offset by not paying for a modern showroom, or large workshop. But you’ll need a suitable area for the tech to be able to work safely.

One final thing that’s worth bearing in mind with all of the above options: our inside man tells us that any garage (main dealer, independent, large chain or mobile mechanic) always train their technicians to inspect the car as if they’re looking to purchase it privately – look for the faults!

Average Car Service Cost

It’s extremely difficult to give consumer advice with servicing costs – there is some commonality between models, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that all servicing needs will be the same. Then of course we have the different manufacturers, the type of vehicle, the geographic location – it can all affect the service routine, schedule, and cost.

For the purpose of the article, we’ve picked a range of cars that should cover a number of bases:

Because servicing schedules and mileages vary so much, we’ve taken the average of five prices for each car, from garages in London, Manchester, and Edinburgh for a full service.

The results are quite surprising.

As you’d expect, prices are generally higher for London (except for the standard Renault Captur oddly), and Manchester is the cheapest.

These prices can only really be used as a comparison; opting for the ‘Full Service’ doesn’t necessarily cover the exact service that you may need, but it does show that just changing the locale could save nearly £90 on a regular service. We suspect that if you went in to further detail and booked exactly what was needed, there could be further savings.

Car Service Quote

What should your car service quote include? Are there any specifics to look for when getting a quote?

Assuming that you’re maintaining the official manufactures schedule, then most quotes will be broadly similar, perhaps only really differing with labour costs – you may find differences of £100 per hour, perhaps more.

It’s worth noting that servicing schedules and routines can differ vastly between models, manufacturers, and age too. A small service from one manufacturer could just be an oil change and a ‘comprehensive check’, which is little more than a technician giving your car a once over, with any adjustments, repairs, or work needed done at an extra cost, whilst other manufacturers do a little more for their money.

If you’re relatively au fait with a computer and going online, it isn’t much work to find out what service you’re due, and what is listed at certain mileages or age. It’s worth noting that age can be as crucial as mileage though; even if your vehicle has only covered 500 miles over a few years, there are things that should be checked or replaced as matter of course.

One such example is brake fluid. Brake fluid is known for its hygroscopic nature, which means it readily absorbs moisture, usually from the atmosphere. This can lead to poor braking performance, ‘boiled’ fluid, and in the worst-case scenario, total failure.

And of course, it’s usually the same fluid that operates the clutch.

If you don’t know what you’re servicing schedule includes, or your car is of an age where the official manufacturers schedule isn’t as crucial, then the easiest way to find out what a specific garage will do is just to ask them, don’t be afraid, your choices are almost limitless when it comes to finding the right place for you.

If we exclude manufacturers schedules and look at a generic service, the bare minimum should generally include oil & filter change, air filter change, brake fluid check (moisture) & top up, tyre pressures and condition, brake wear, lights, and coolant levels.

Cheap Car Service

There’s no denying that there is a cost-of-living crisis happening right now, and people are looking to save money where they can. Is it possible to save money on car servicing?

Yes. Perhaps.

Of course it’s all too easy for us to say “if you’re careful”, but what does that actually mean? Doing a quick online search for “cheap car servicing near me” will no doubt return more results than you’ll have time to investigate, but are they any good? Will they find ‘added extra’ work that needs completing? Do you have any options once your vehicle is there?

Social proof can be invaluable in this situation. Do your friends and family have any recommendations? Does the garage have any ratings on consumer sites? Or even on social media? We live in a connected world, and it’s easy for disgruntled consumers to make their feelings known to a wide audience, even when it may be unjustified.

Unfortunately, it may not just be the smaller independent garages either. Our inside man, with 30+ years of automotive experience once had a main dealer tell him that his front shock absorbers were in need of replacement whilst they were carrying out some warranty work (which the manufacturer pays an absolute bare minimum cost for). Those faulty shock absorbers are still going strong six years later.

Some people may tell you that you should always ask to see to the replacement parts once removed from the vehicle, but in all honesty, would you actually know if they came off your car? Or even if they were for the same model? Doubtful.

Our best advice is to do your research beforehand, agree a price (based on agreed service work), and have them contact you before carrying out any work not associated with the service. In some cases, a garage may let you inspect any faulty components on the vehicle before any work is carried out, but that means you need to be available, and with complications arising from Health & Safety regulations, and their public insurance, those opportunities are becoming fewer.

Best Car Service Near Me

Car Service London

As you may expect, servicing a car in London comes at the more expensive end of the scale. In a recent survey, all but one in the top ten of most expensive locations were based within the M25.

The average labour cost is between £112 - £141 per hour, depending on the location (South West London £141 per hour, North and North West London £112).

Interestingly, the average labour cost in 2017 was just £81.

Car Service Edinburgh

When compared to the prices in and around London, prices in the north are significantly cheaper—a car mechanic in Edinburgh (on average) charges just £20 per hour, or £155 per day. It’s worth noting that these are independent prices, not main dealer, but main dealer prices will also be significantly cheaper.

Car Service Manchester

Manchester has the largest UK office market outside of London; it’s a very busy city which means that prices are generally on the up. The average cost of a car mechanic in Manchester is £37 per hour, or £235 per day.

Car Service Liverpool

Liverpool is the fourth largest combined authority area in the UK, with a population in excess of 1.5m people. Despite this, hourly rates for car servicing are still at the reasonable end of the scale. On average, you’ll pay £40 per hour for a mechanic, or £288 for a full day.

Car Service Sheffield

Once known worldwide for its cutlery and ‘Sheffield Steel’, the region has been a major contributor to the industrial age, not only in the UK, but throughout the world. Given it’s manufacturing background, car servicing garages are plentiful and well priced – the average hourly rate is just £32, or £211 for the day.

Car Service Glasgow

Being the largest economy in Scotland, you’d expect prices to reflect that, but the reality is that servicing prices are relatively low—£196 for the full day, or just £31 per hour which isn’t much higher than the capital city’s charges.

Car Service Milton Keynes

Everything seems to happen in Milton Keynes, and it’s at the heart of the commuter-belt. Perhaps it’s the excellent rail links that means less reliance on cars, but servicing prices are comparable to Liverpool—£41 per hour, and £234 per day.

Car Service Leicester

Home to University of Leicester, De Montfort University, and Leicester College, the student population is high, which must be a factor in keeping car servicing prices low. Typically, you’ll pay an average of £27 per hour, or £163 for a full day.

Car Service Reading

Reading is one of the largest urban areas within the UK that hasn’t been listed with “City” status. Car servicing prices reflect that – average prices are £316 for the day and £49 per hour, more than double than you’ll pay in some of the cheaper areas.

Car Service Northampton

Home to the ‘Best British High Street’ and vast swathes of redevelopment, you’d think that car mechanic prices in Northampton would be quite high, but in actual fact they are some of the lowest in the list—£28 per hour, and £178 for the full day.

Car Service Nottingham

Popular with tourists, known for its trams, and very student-centric, Nottingham is part of the East Midlands best known for its shoe industry. Servicing prices are still relatively low but expect to pay an average of £38 for an hour, or £258 for a full day.

Car Service Birmingham

Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain, the wider metropolitan area has a population of 4.3 million people, the largest outside of London. This means that competition is healthy between garages, keeping prices relatively low—£36 per hour, or £217 for a full day on average.

Car Service Swindon

Swindon is part of the ‘M4 Corridor’ for commuting, so car ownership and use is common. This means that there are plenty of options for garage work, but given its close proximity to London and Bristol, prices seem to be relatively high, especially for the day-rate—£317 for the full day, or £38 per hour averagely.

Car Service Bristol

Bristol was recently reported as one of the most expensive places to buy property in the UK, outside of London. Of course, this reflects in prices for all goods and services locally, so servicing prices for your car tend to be quite high too—£53 per hour typically, and £392 for a full day.

Car Service Leeds

Leeds is well-known for its shopping, engineering, and printing industries. It’s the largest settlement in Yorkshire, and has seen the fastest growth rate of private sector jobs of any UK city in recent years. Despite the bustling industry, prices for car servicing are still low—an average of £35 per hour, or just £221 per day.

Car Service Derby

Derby is home to a number of automotive giants; Rolls-Royce, Alstom, and Toyota all have significant plants based in the area. This doesn’t mean that car servicing prices are low though—on average, you’ll pay £38 per hour, or £243 for a full day.

Car Service by Make

Generally speaking, it doesn’t matter what brand of car you own, servicing it should be the same wherever you take it, and will be comparable to any other brands. Of course, there are exceptions, such as electrified vehicles, or prestige marques, but some of that is pure capitalism by the manufacturers.

Ford Car Service

For so many years, Ford always seems to have at least one of the best-selling cars in the UK, and in 2023, the Puma was the number one best-seller. Ford cars are very popular. They are generally considered as cheap to run and maintain, and being so popular, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Land’s End, or John o’ Groats, with 360 official dealerships throughout the UK, you won’t have any problems finding a service garage or parts.

Vauxhall Car Service

With two cars in the top ten of best-sellers (the Corsa and the Mokka), Vauxhall is a brand that’s rising in popularity. Not only that, but they’re second on the list for most official dealerships throughout the United Kingdom, with 282 nationwide.

BMW Car Service

BMW are ranked 13th for the number of official outlets in the UK, with 135 dealerships. Compared to Vauxhall or Ford, this may seem like a small number, but the reality is that they still have decent nationwide coverage, and it’s proportionate to the amount of cars on the road.

AUDI Car Service

AUDI is part of the Volkswagen Group, along with Seat, Bugatti, and Porsche to name a few. Given their stablemates, it’s no surprise that they’re known for being sporty and luxurious. They’re at number 21 in the list of dealership numbers, with 120 located in the UK.

Tesla Car Service

As you may expect, Tesla don’t have that many dealerships in the UK currently, but if their rise in popularity and production numbers tells us anything, it is that surely it won’t be very long before they are in all four corners of the UK. Currently, there are just 21 official outlets listed in the UK.

Nissan Car Service

Nissan have both the Juke and the Qashqai models in the top ten of best-sellers. Their dealer network has 167 official sites in the UK, making them the 7th largest network. No matter where you are in the UK, you won’t be too far away from a dealer.

Volkswagen Car Service

The Volkswagen Group is the largest car manufacturing group in the world, despite not having any Volkswagen models in the top ten of best-sellers. There are 181 official dealerships in the UK for Volkswagen, but to get the real number for the group, you would need to include Lamborghini, Bugatti, Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Cupra, and Seat.

Mercedes Car Service

Mercedes are best known for their luxurious and sporty cars. There are 122 official Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the United Kingdom, making them the 18th largest network throughout Britain.

Car Air Conditioning Service

Most drivers pay little attention to their air conditioning system (AC). It just works when it’s demanded, right up until the day it doesn’t.

It’s not surprising really. There is no requirement for it to work for the MOT test, it isn’t usually included with any regular service, and it doesn’t really affect safety or performance. But the car manufacturers recommend having your air conditioning system serviced every two years.

If you’ve ever noticed a funny smell coming from your air vents when you switch your ac on, it’s likely that there is a bacterial infection within the system, any lack of performance is likely down to needing a ‘re-gas’, and if it just doesn’t work, then it could be something more serious.

You should also know that air-con systems aren’t just for the hot & sunny weather, although that is their primary use, but if you take the words ‘air conditioning’ literally, it really is just that; it conditions the air being used, and produces a much drier air, which is super useful for demisting the windows in the middle of winter.

If we exclude vintage cars, which use a completely different gas, your air-con system will either be filled with the R134A gas, or the newer R1234YF gas. The two gases aren’t compatible with each other, and the charging ports are different, so there’s no chance of a mix up.

Generally speaking, any car manufactured before 2014 will be fitted with the R134A gas, anything after 2016 should be R1234YF, but the years in-between could be either.

Does Car Air Conditioning Need Servicing?

The simple answer to the question "Does car air conditioning need servicing?" is yes.

As briefly mentioned, an a/c system can develop bacterial infections, leading to poor air quality and in some cases, rather bad odours. Further, over a period of time the gas can degrade and even escape, which means the system will fail to work completely.

In most cases, when an air conditioning system stops working, all that it needs is to be re-gassed.

Does a Car Service Include Air Conditioning?

Generally speaking, a regular service on your car won’t include the air conditioning system. You could expect to pay anywhere between a further £40 - £100 extra to have your air-con system serviced at the same time as your regular service.

How Much Does Car Air Conditioning Service Cost?

Servicing your car’s air conditioning system is a specialised job; the gas needs to be vacuumed out, and you need to know the exact charge of gas to refill. The ‘charge’ is done by weight.

Most of the high street chains such as Kwik Fit and Halfords will do a separate air conditioning service, and the prices depend on which gas is used.

Kwik Fit charge £64.95 for the R134A gas refill, and £129.95 for the newer R1234YF refill. Halfords lists the R134A refill for £59.00, and the R1234YF at £122.55.

If you use an independent garage, you’re likely to pay around £45.00.

Electric Car Service

If you have an electric vehicle, there’s a chance that one of the benefits you were sold is reduced servicing. This is a mainly true statement, but an automotive engineer may tell you that it isn’t quite as straightforward as that.

Certainly an electric motor is less complicated and has fewer moving parts than an internal combustion engine, and there’s no gearbox (as such), or exhaust system, but there are still suspension components, brakes to wear, tyres to change and coolant levels to check.

Added to the actual mechanical components is a raft of software that can control systems such as battery cooling, performance, drive-assist, heating/cooling, lighting … in fact nearly every system fitted has some sort of software control.

Taking that a step further, any new(ish) models often have regular software updates, either directly downloaded to the vehicle, or via an OTA (Over The Air) link-up. These updates can often improve performance, either with added range, or power.

Of course, the opposite can be true also; some Tesla owners have complained of losing performance or drive systems after having their car serviced and Tesla deciding to shut down certain aspects of their vehicle.

Prices for servicing your electric vehicle can vary vastly, but our research tells us that generally, a full electric car service will be approximately ten to fifteen percent cheaper than an equivalent internal combustion engine vehicle. It also shows that the majority of service centres won’t advertise a set price, saying that there are so many variables for them to consider, that they prefer to discuss the options with the customer.

While there are many different options available to internal combustion cars for servicing, choices for full BEV servicing are a little more limited. Even if you know that your vehicle isn’t due any software updates, most vehicles use proprietary software and/or hardware, which means the garage must have access to those systems.

Many independent garages have access to complex diagnostic machines that will work (to a degree) with most cars and systems, but with the newer electric vehicles being more complex, and changing on a regular basis, the equipment suppliers usually lag behind the official diagnostic systems by at least a few months, so there is a chance that they won’t be able to diagnose problems or offer updates.

You may think that being able to ‘talk’ to your car isn’t that important, but as vehicles become more complex, so do the manufacturers’ protections; even simple tasks like changing a lightbulb could require the vehicle to be connected to a diagnostic machine.

Servicing schedules for electric vehicles can be similar to petrol or diesel vehicles, but in a similar vein, they can also vary by some margin – some say servicing every 10,000 miles, or annually, and others list their service schedule at 18,000 miles. If you’re unsure, either speak with an official dealer, or a specialist independent garage.

What Does a Car Service Include?

What does a car service include?

This is the sixty-four-million-dollar question.

Small service, large service, interim service, XX-point check, annual service, 12k mileage, 6K mileage … the options or listings are innumerable. It can vary from brand to brand, even model to model; it’s almost impossible to answer the question with any degree of accuracy.

However, we can at least try to make some sense of all the options.

You have probably all seen the adverts at the dealership or garage, offering a “Free 50-point check” (or however many points). It could also be a “Free winter check”, and of course, “Summer check-up”.

They key to any of these services is the word “Free”.

As we mentioned earlier, our man in the trade tells us that any technician is taught to inspect a car as though they were looking to buy it, and to look for all possible faults that they could use to reduce the sale price. This is all that the garage is doing; looking for work.

If you’re really unsure as to the state of your vehicle, it’s worth considering having done, but you can almost guarantee that they will find faults, and charge full price to fix to them.

Some manufacturers (like TVR for example) offer a 6,000 mile service, and a 12,000 mile service, which could be a little misleading – their ‘small’ service is very comprehensive when compared to a manufacturer of a small commuter, and it’s further complicated by the fact that any such car rarely hits that kind of mileage each year.

And if you’re talking about anything exotic, those servicing schedules could be as low as 4,000 miles before a full service is needed.

A quick word about small, intermediate, and full service.

An intermediate or interim service isn’t really a thing, despite some workshops offering that as a product. The reality is that for the main part, it’s an engine oil & filter change, with a visual check on other major components. It’s really only for drivers that rack up large mileage figures between ‘proper’ services.

Depending on the vehicle, or the manufacturer, a large service could include everything possible that could be considered as a wear component, or consumable. But it could also be age or mileage related. A prime example is the camshaft belt, located within the engine.

Taking an older Peugeot model as an example, there would be the full service that was the same throughout the mileage, up to 80,000 miles, then it would need to include the cambelt as part of the service, at extra cost. Technically, it was still a ‘full service’ but with added (necessary and compulsive) extras.

Finally, unless you’re driving something really exotic, clutch replacement is never part of a service, it is always a separate job.

What Does a Full Car Service Include?

This is another of those questions that is difficult to answer with any definitive guide.

It could be that the difference between a full service and small service is that any adjustments needed are included, whereas a small service would charge for any adjustments.

Below is an example of a typical service sheet used by garages and dealers:

What Does an Interim Car Service Include?

As we’ve already mentioned, an interim car service is usually nothing more than changing the engine oil and filter, with a quick visual check on other wear components. It’s really only needed if you’re working on an annual schedule, rather than one based on mileage.

FAQs

We’ve tried to include enough information to give you a good understanding of what’s involved when looking to have your car serviced.

We’ve included a handy ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section to condense some of that information.

How Long Does a Car Service Take?

Let’s assume that we’re talking more than inflating the tyres, changing the engine oil and giving the vehicle a wipe over with a chamois (which genuinely is a service offered by some workshops).

Typically, a small service takes around three to four hours for an average vehicle, although some of the more comprehensive services (while still being classed as small) could be around seven hours.

A full service on a regular car will be around six hours, and again, some vehicles that are more complex or sporty, could need around ten hours.

How Often Should You Service Your Car?

Trying to avoid the complications of large, small, A, B, and interim schedules, we’ve created a simple table for a number of manufacturers that list servicing schedules.

As you can see, most manufacturers list similar schedules, but these figures are very generic. Even between the same car models, the service schedule could differ dependent on which engine, or even fuel, is being used.

Generally speaking, you should look to have your car serviced every 10,000 to 12,000 miles or every year. If you have your car’s handbook, you’ll be able to find the servicing schedule listed, or if you call your local dealership, they will be able to give exact details of what’s due and when.

When is My Car Service Due?

If you’re unsure when your car service is due, there are a number of things that can help you find out the details, and what level of service it may need.

Assuming that you have all the relevant paperwork and handbooks with the car, you should have a service record booklet, which will give details of the service history. Failing that, you could try calling an official dealership who should have details on their computer system.

If your car is a few years old, or you don’t have the service history, then it’s worth remembering that most people tend to have their car serviced when their MOT is due. You could even call the last MOT station to see if they have any servicing records of the vehicle. The ‘testing station’ is listed on every MOT.

There are some apps and digital services available also. The government offers a free online MOT checking service which can tell you when the next MOT test is due, and there’s things like "Vehicle Smart" available on all app stores which you can download to your smartphone.

If you purchased your car new, and don’t yet need an MOT, you can rest easy too—the aftersales team from the dealership will absolutely call you to book servicing, and in some cases, it may be part of the original purchase deal.

If you don’t have the opportunity to pick up the phone to call a dealership, you can usually visit a dealer website and find their service or aftersales page where there will be a box to add your registration number, and it should come up with next service due, and when.

How Much Does a Car Service Cost?

Although we have tried to give examples of costs in the section “Car Service Cost”, the truth is that there is no 100% definitive answer that we can give here, thanks to different brands, sub-brands, models, engines, motive power source, mileage, and age.

With that said, our man in the trade says that for a regular, everyday car, he would expect to pay anywhere between £200 - £300 for a normal service, providing that no extra work was needed.

When you start going in to the higher performance category, or luxury brands, then an average would around £500 - £600 for a regular service.

To give you an idea of just how much that could vary by, certain supercar services require the complete engine to be removed from the car, which of course could mean thousands of pounds extra in charges.

How Much is a Full Car Service?

For the final section here, how about we have a little fun?

If you can absolutely define what constitutes a ‘full car service’, we can give you an absolute price!

With a little more thought to actually giving advice though, we have seen that labour rates can vary by as much as an extra £120 per hour depending on location, we know that a supermini needs much less attention than a Bugatti, and would you honestly expect a Rolls-Royce dealership to sell parts for the same price as a Ford garage?

Simply put, there is no way to answer the question, but we can hopefully give you some advice when looking for a full service: