Ford gives its maintenance intervals two jobs: keeping the vehicle dependable and holding down the cost of owning it. The owner's manual adds that sticking to the schedule may help increase what the vehicle is worth when you sell it, and Ford pairs each scheduled interval with a recommended multi-point inspection.

Ford also puts the responsibility with the owner: scheduled maintenance should use materials that meet Ford engineering specifications. Ford does not recommend chemicals or additives it has not approved, and it notes that fluid discoloration alone is often normal and does not by itself necessarily mean a fluid needs changing.

• Ford: maintenance pays off in reliability and resale value
• Use materials meeting Ford engineering specifications
• Discolored fluid alone is often normal
• General Maintenance Advice

Ford's Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor works out when the oil needs changing from how the vehicle is actually used, so owners do not track a fixed mileage schedule. Ford still sets limits: a gas engine should not go beyond one year or 10,000 miles on the same oil, and hybrids may pass 10,000 miles but never one year.

Change Engine Oil Soon appears with 5% oil life remaining, and Oil Change Required means none is left. Ford's owner's manuals say the oil change should happen within two weeks or 500 miles after the oil change message appears. If the display resets early or quits working, Ford says to change the oil six months or 5,000 miles after the last one.

• Change Engine Oil Soon message: 5% oil life remaining
• Oil Change Required: replace the oil now
• Gas engines: one year or 10,000 miles at most
• Oil Change Advice

Beyond oil changes, Ford's current owner's manuals share a core set of time and mileage items, listed below. Both air filters are inspected at each oil change and replaced sooner in dusty conditions, and spark plugs come due at 60,000 miles instead when the manual calls for severe service intervals.

Ford counts short trips, unusually hot or cold weather, dusty roads, long idling, heavy loads and towing as severe driving conditions. Each month, Ford asks owners to check the engine oil level, all interior and exterior lights, tire wear and pressure, including the spare, and the washer fluid level.

• Brake fluid: every three years
• Cabin air filter 20,000 miles; engine air filter 30,000
• Spark plugs: 100,000 miles on a normal schedule
• Coolant: 10 years or 200,000 miles, then every 5 years or 100,000
• Book Scheduled Maintenance

Ford Protect describes its Premium Maintenance Plan as prepaid coverage for all scheduled maintenance in the Owner's Scheduled Maintenance Guide, plus routine inspections and normal wear items. The list includes oil and filter changes, multi-point inspections, tire rotations, brake pads and linings, shocks and struts, spark plugs, clutch discs, engine belts, coolant hoses, wiper blades and a diesel exhaust fluid fill at dealer maintenance visits.

Each plan visit includes a multi-point inspection of the horn, lamps and signals, wipers and washer spray, windshield, radiator and A/C lines, leaks, exhaust, steering, suspension, belts and tires, with key fluids checked and filled. Ford Protect lists terms up to 10 years or 175,000 miles, and its brochure shows First-Day Rental and Pickup and Delivery as add-on plan options.

• Prepaid, with no deductible on covered services
• Intervals: 5,000, 7,500 or 10,000 miles
• Transferable to later owners; fees vary by state
• Honored at Ford and Lincoln dealers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico
• Ford Protect Plans

Federal law leaves the choice of shop to you. The FTC says you do not have to use the dealer for maintenance or repairs to keep a warranty in effect, and a dealer cannot legally deny coverage because routine work was done elsewhere. The rule comes from the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. 2302(c).

What Ford does require is that scheduled maintenance gets done: skipping it invalidates warranty coverage on the parts affected by the missed work. Ford's warranty guide says you may have to show you followed its maintenance instructions, so save receipts and keep accurate records wherever the work is done.

• FTC: no dealer servicing required to keep your warranty
• Ford: skipped maintenance voids coverage on affected parts only
• Keep receipts for every oil change and inspection
• Current Ford Service Offers