A service book printed for a market with cold winters and dry roads is not wrong, it is simply about somewhere else, and following it exactly here costs people money in the fifth and sixth year.
What we see go early on this island: brake fluid, because it draws water out of the air and this air is wet all year; suspension bushes and ball joints, because of the roads and the salt together; exhaust hangers and every bracket underneath; the air conditioning condenser, which sits at the front of the car catching everything; and the underside of the body wherever a stone has taken the paint off.
What lasts longer than the book expects: the engine itself, because nobody here does long cold starts or motorway miles.
So we advise a minor service every six months rather than by distance, because a car that does four thousand kilometres a year still ages, and a major service every three years whatever the odometer says. That advice is on the card and it is advice, not a condition of anything.