Electric and hybrid car servicing in Poole

You don't have to go back to the dealer.
Your electric or hybrid car can be serviced by an independent garage without affecting your manufacturer warranty, provided the work is done to the manufacturer's schedule, with the right parts, and properly recorded. That's the law, not a loophole.
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Do electric cars even need servicing?

Less than a petrol car, but not nothing. The bits that are left still matter.

What you no longer pay for

No oil changes. No oil filter, no fuel filter, no spark plugs. No cambelt. No exhaust or DPF. No clutch on a single-speed EV. That's a big chunk of a conventional service bill gone, and it's the main reason EVs are cheaper to run.

What still needs doing

Brakes, tyres, suspension and steering. Brake fluid, which absorbs moisture over time whatever's driving the wheels. Coolant for the battery pack and power electronics on most EVs. Cabin filter. Screen wash. The 12V battery, which yes, electric cars still have, and which is one of the most common reasons an EV won't start. Plus the software-side fault codes that only show up on a diagnostic read.

Why your brake pads matter more than you'd think

This is the one that catches EV owners out.

Electric cars slow down mainly through regenerative braking. The motor runs in reverse to recover energy, which does most of the work the brake pads used to. Your pads last far longer as a result. Some EV owners never replace a set.

The problem is what happens to pads and discs that are barely used. They corrode. Rust builds up on the disc face, the pads can seize in their carriers, and the first time you need to brake hard, which is the one time it really counts, the system doesn't perform the way it should. It's a failure mode that has nothing to do with wear and won't show up as a warning light.

So we take the wheels off and actually look. On an EV that's often the single most useful thing in the whole service.

What we check on an electric car

We'll tell you what we find, what needs doing now, and what can wait until next time. If something can wait, we'll say so.

Hybrids

Hybrids need more work than a full EV, not less, because they've got both systems.
That means a conventional engine service and the electric-side checks. Two things worth knowing if you drive one:

Your engine does less work

And that isn't purely good news. Lots of short, low-speed journeys on battery power mean the engine rarely gets fully up to temperature. Oil degrades differently, and condensation doesn't burn off the way it does in a normal car. Sticking to the service schedule matters more, not less.

Your 12V battery has a harder life than you'd expect

It's running the electronics constantly and getting less charging time than in a conventional car. It's the most common hybrid breakdown call we see.

Electric cars and the MOT

Same test, same schedule as any other car: three years from new, then annually.

The difference is what gets tested. No emissions test and no noise test, for obvious reasons. Everything else is identical: brakes, tyres, suspension, steering, lights, wipers, seatbelts, structure. EVs are tested as Class 4, the same as a normal car.

Two things that catch EV drivers out. They're heavy, because the battery pack adds a few hundred kilos, so tyres and suspension components wear faster than drivers expect. And regenerative braking masks brake problems right up until the point it doesn't.

We're a DVSA-approved MOT centre, and if we do the repairs, the re-test is free within 10 days.

What we don't do

We service, repair and MOT electric and hybrid vehicles. We don't carry out work inside the high-voltage system itself: battery pack repairs, HV component replacement, that kind of thing. That's specialist work and it belongs with a specialist.

If your car needs something we can't do properly, we'll tell you straight away rather than take it apart and find out halfway through.

What it costs

You'll get a price before we start. If we find something else, we ring you and agree it before we touch it. No surprises when you come to collect.
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

The questions EV and hybrid drivers ask us most often.

No, provided the service is carried out to the manufacturer’s schedule using the correct parts, and it’s properly recorded. UK and EU rules protect your right to use an independent garage without losing your warranty.

Yes. Same three-year-then-annual schedule as any other car, tested as Class 4. There’s no emissions or noise test, but everything else is identical.

Follow your manufacturer’s schedule, which is usually every 12 months or a set mileage. It’s a shorter and cheaper job than a petrol service, but it isn’t one to skip.

Generally yes. No oil, filters, plugs or cambelt takes a lot out of the bill. Tyres can cost more, because the extra weight wears them faster.

Yes, hybrids need both an engine service and the electric-side checks, and we do both.

We can read the fault codes and tell you what the car is reporting, and we can check the charging port and cable. Repairs inside the high-voltage system itself are specialist work. If that’s what it needs, we’ll tell you and point you in the right direction.

All makes and models.

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