Car maintenance schedule by mileage: check your manual

There's no one maintenance schedule by mileage that fits every car. Your owner's manual lists each job by miles, by months or by both, and often gives a second, shorter column for hard use. The table below gives typical starting points to compare it against, so you know what a reasonable number looks like before you open the book.

This is for a car that burns gasoline or diesel and is measured in miles. It isn't your car's schedule, and where the two disagree, your manual wins. Electric cars skip the oil, plugs and belts on this list and have their own items, which the manual covers.

Typical intervals to compare with your manual

These are generic rules of thumb, the same starting points a maintenance tracker might suggest. A blank means there's usually no mileage or no time limit for that job. Newer cars often run longer between oil changes than the first row shows, and some manuals say 7,500 to 10,000 miles.

The same jobs, in the order they come round

A rough milestone view of the table above. Yours will shift to match your manual.

1. Every 5,000 to 6,000 miles

   Oil and filter, tire rotation, a look at tread and pressure.

2. Every 12 months or so

   Brake inspection, cabin and engine air filters (often at 12,000 to 15,000 miles), battery test.

3. Around 30,000 miles

   Brake fluid and fuel filter, if your car has one to change.

4. Around 60,000 miles

   Coolant, transmission fluid and spark plugs.

5. Around 90,000 miles

   Timing belt, on engines that have a belt rather than a chain.

How to read your own manual

1. Find the maintenance section. It's usually called maintenance, service or schedule. If the paper copy is gone, the maker's owner website usually has one for your year and model.
2. For each job, write down the miles, the months, or both. If the manual gives only one, use only that one. Don't fill in the other from the table above.
3. Look for two columns, normal and severe, or a list of special conditions. Many manuals count short trips, towing, stop-and-go traffic, dust, and very hot or very cold weather as hard use. If that's how you drive, write down the shorter figure.
4. Note the difference between inspect and replace. Some lines only say to check a part, and the replacement comes later or when the check says so.
5. Put the jobs and their intervals on one page and keep it with the log. You shouldn't have to reopen the manual every time.

An example: one job, two columns

Say your manual reads like this. The numbers are made up to show the reading, not a real car's schedule.

Miles or months, and why the months matter

Take the oil line. A driver who covers 4,000 miles a year will reach 12 months long before 7,500 miles, so months set the date. A driver who commutes 20,000 miles a year hits the mileage first. The job comes due at whichever limit you reach first, and the low-mileage car is the one that gets forgotten. Here's how to work out what's due right now from an interval and a last-done date.

On hard use, short trips are the condition people miss. A car that never runs long enough to warm fully lets moisture and combustion byproducts build up in the oil, which is why some manuals shorten the interval for it. Some sources describe cutting the interval about in half as a common adjustment, but the amount varies by maker, so use your manual's figure.

When the chart or the manual won't do

• You have no manual and can't find one online. Use the typical table as a placeholder, label it as one, and ask a mechanic you trust to say what they'd change for your car.
• A shop's sheet disagrees with the manual. Shops sometimes suggest sooner intervals than the maker does. Ask them why for your car. It's your call, and it helps to note both figures.
• Your car is a few years old and has a long history. Don't assume the intervals started at zero on your date. If you have no dates, see how to handle a used car with no records.
• Your manual gives kilometers. Convert once, write the miles down, and note the original beside it.

Questions people ask

Where the Companion fits

Vehicle Maintenance Companion has a small table headed From your manual, with three columns: job, miles and months. You type what the book says and it tracks each job against the date and mileage you record. If you'd rather start from something, Start with the usual jobs adds typical jobs, much like the table above, with intervals you can change. They're a generic starting point, not a factory schedule, and the manual is the real source. A severe duty toggle on a job halves the interval you typed. That's the app's own rule, not your maker's, so use it only if your manual doesn't give a hard-use figure.