Service interval
Workshop glossary › Workshop operations · UpdatedThe OEM-recommended period (time or mileage, whichever comes first) between scheduled maintenance visits. Has shifted from fixed 10,000 km to variable, oil-life-based, or condition-monitoring schedules.
A service interval is the period between manufacturer-prescribed maintenance visits. Historically intervals were fixed (every 10,000 km or 12 months); since the early 2000s most premium brands have moved to longlife or variable service: the ECU monitors driving conditions, oil temperature, short-trip ratio, and fuel quality, and signals the next service anywhere between 15,000 and 30,000 km.
Workshops should know both: the longlife interval the dashboard predicts and the fixed interval the manufacturer publishes for severe-use cycles (urban-only, short-trip, towing). For most customer fleets the fixed interval is the safer one to recommend — variable intervals were calibrated on motorway-heavy German driving and shorten significantly under typical European urban use.
The legal minimum is separate again: in the EU, periodic technical inspection (MOT in the UK, TÜV/HU in Germany, besiktning in Sweden, kontrollbesigtigelse in Denmark, contrôle technique in France) is required at fixed intervals — typically 4 years after first registration, then every 2 years — and is independent of the manufacturer's service schedule.