Top Ways To Track Vehicle Maintenance Records

Proper maintenance of our vehicles serves multiple purposes. This includes ensuring you have minimal problems while on the trails, and proactively finding things that are worn before they break. Or even identifying parts that go missing before they lead to a serious problem. More importantly, they provide a detailed history when/if you decide to sell which adds to the overall perceived value of the vehicle. The more maintenance records you have on file and the more organized it is, the better it looks to potential buyers.

This can be done in many ways and we wanted to cover a few of the most popular options ranging from old-fashioned pen and paper to on the cloud. Let’s get started and figure out which is best for your needs!

Find It Online: 

• Drivvo
• LubeLogger
• CarFax

Manual

The trusty pen and paper has been used for decades. A notebook, filled with dates, times and the work done, accompanied by receipts for parts and material. What is there not to like? Let’s look at a few of the pros and cons of this method.

Pros

• Costs are low. The occasional pen that runs dry, or the notebook that fills up, and that’s about it.

Cons

• This method is antiquated. Some people’s handwriting is atrocious, making a doctor’s handwriting look like calligraphy.
• Easily lost, or damaged. Spilled drinks or greasy hands can quickly make records non-legible.
• You will need separate books for each vehicle you maintain.
• All receipts will need to be kept, and they can pile up.

All in all, this is not a very efficient method in today’s world.

Drivvo

Drivvo is a cloud-based solution that offers a great way to keep track of fuel consumption, services, and expenses, set reminders, add routes, and create checklists. Some of the built-in categories comprise Expenses, Service, and Refueling, with the ability to create custom ones.

Pros

• Cloud-based, so no lost or damaged records.
• Free – while slightly limited, the free version offers enough to track the basics of maintenance and upgrades. The Pro version is $4.90 per month.
• There is a website and mobile apps for Android or iOS.
• Can support multiple vehicles, but two is the max for the free version

Cons

• You can only have two active vehicles on the free plan.
• Only one income registration per month.
• Your info is in the cloud. While it might not seem like much, this would be one more app, one more account, that you would need to keep track of. If the site is compromised, could result in compromising other accounts with the same credentials (Don’t use the same account information as another website).
• There is a slight learning curve.
• Features like forms are only available in the paid version.
• Attaching receipts is only supported in the paid version.

LubeLogger

Lube logger is a self-hosted, container-based solution. If you have a home-based NAS (Network Attached Storage) that can host container solutions, you should be able to use this method. Other home-based hosting solutions such as Unraid, or TrueNAS, will work as well. Once installed, it is as easy as adding vehicles and adding records.

Pros

• Hosted on your hardware – you get full control of your data.
• No limit to the number of vehicles.
• Can scan receipts and attach them to each vehicle records.
• Free and has unlimited use.
• You can turn features on or off so that tracking can be tailiored to your needs.
• Reports can be generated, and printed.

Cons

• There is currently no mobile app for LubeLogger.
• Learning curve – If you are not tech savvy, familiar with containers, docker, or similar solutions, and don’t own a device capable of hosting, this may not be the solution for you.
• Self hosted, so upkeep and backups are your responsibility.
• You’ll need to have invested in the hardware for a NAS.

CarFax

The CarFax website and app have a lot of great features. The main service history Dashboard provides a fantastic view of your vehicle including tire rotations, registration, oil changes and much more. The service history is automatically updated when servicing at dealerships and some service businesses.

Pros

• The majority of the work is done for you.
• Free.
• There is a mobile app and a website.
• Ability to upload receipts for service records.
• Tracks registration.
• Provides ability to schedule service from site and app.

Cons

• No reporting feature.
• Slight learning curve.

Final Thoughts

There are multiple ways to track maintenance and upgrades for our vehicles. The important thing is to stay on top of it. For yours and your mechanic’s sanity, clear records can help ensure that you’re performing proper maintanence at the correct service intervals. It can also help expedite troublshooting if your vehicle runs into an issue.

What are you favorite apps or tools to track maintenance? Do you do your own maintenance, or have a preferred shop? Leave a comment below and let us know!