As a car owner regularly driving throughout the busy streets and backroads in and around Windsor, maintaining the performance, longevity, and integrity of your vehicle depends upon two things. First, choosing an auto repair and car maintenance service that you can trust to care for your vehicle as much as you do; and second, consistently scheduling (and keeping) your routine car maintenance appointments. What’s helpful in knowing exactly when to visit your local auto repair shop is keeping an organized, up-to-date car maintenance log. Here’s 4 ways to keep a car maintenance log:
Start a Paper Trail
Whether you use a pen to jot down on paper the dates and details of every car maintenance service that your vehicle undergoes, or you type the information in your computer, print it, and put it in a file folder, having an easily-accessible paper trail is still a very common and practical way to keep a car maintenance log. This option is particularly convenient if you want to sell your car at a dealership or privately; having an easy-to-read, tangible folder of documents detailing how you’ve maintained your car can help to increase its market value.
Download an App
A great way to keep track of all things car related, aCar is an all-in-one, easy-to-use, highly-customizable FREE app for Android 2.1+ devices. Once you’ve entered your car’s make, model, and year in the app, it can provide tons of helpful statistics, graphical charts, and interesting reports about your car(s). (Yes, you can use if for more than one vehicle). If you put in the current mileage and then the price you pay for gas every time you fill up, it will calculate what it costs you per day (and per mile) to drive your car! It can also let you know how much you drive each day, and track when you bring your car in for service and how much you spent. aCar even keeps detailed information about your business and leisure trips ~ making it a breeze if you need this information for tax purposes. Other FREE apps for car maintenance information include My Cars (for Android ) and myCarfax (for iOS and Android).
Use Microsoft Excel
Use a car maintenance log template to keep track of your auto repairs and maintenance upkeep. Vertex42 offers spreadsheet templates for Microsoft® Excel®, OpenOffice.org, and Google Docs. With their template of columns, you’ll be able to keep track of the dates you have your car serviced, what was done, and how much it was. In addition to providing a detailed car maintenance log, you can also use the template to create a vehicle maintenance schedule so that you know exactly what your car (really) routinely needs and when it needs it.
Choose a Reliable Auto Repair & Maintenance Shop
Sure you can have your neighbor change your car’s oil, or you can stop by your local gas station to have your car’s battery looked at if it suddenly stops functioning to capacity; in fact, you can probably even do many auto repair services on your own. Unless you are a professional mechanic yourself, however, none of these options are recommended ~ especially if you ever plan to sell your car and/or if you want to feel safe and confident in its performance every time you drive it. Instead, another viable way to ensure you have a precise and detailed car maintenance log is to choose a reputable and reliable auto repair shop. Neither your neighbor nor your corner gas station are going to care for and maintain detailed repair records on your vehicle like an established auto repair shop.
