Only one in five motorists (22%) take notice of the recommended service intervals through their dashboard indicator or their car manual.
New research from Kwik-Fit based on results from 1,407 people that were directly responsible for servicing reveals that the MoT is still the biggest reminder for them to get their car serviced.
Kwik-Fit’s study shows of those motorists who have their car serviced, 12% do so only when it starts making unusual noises and 11% only when the performance deteriorates. A staggering 3% said they never service their car.
A third of motorists prefer to adopt the annual approach and either pick a date in the calendar each year (13%).
Ian Fraser, chief executive of Kwik-Fit, said: “When it comes to servicing, it is worrying to see how many motorists are ignoring the recommended intervals or even not bothering with a service at all.
“We all know that prevention is better than cure, that’s why the recommended service intervals are set. The more regularly a car is serviced, the more likely a problem is to be picked up before something goes seriously wrong.”