When is the last time you changed your oil? How about your wipers? Tire rotation? If you don’t know the answer off the top of your head… surely you have it written down somewhere, right? RIGHT?!
Ok, this is an exact word for word conversation my husband and I have had at least three times in the last five years. I’m a planner, surly I should be on top of these tasks. Up until recently, I couldn’t tell you the year and or license plate on my car, let alone the date of my last maintenance check. Which is exactly why I created the Auto Care Planner. A one stop shop for documenting all your maintenance, service checks, recalls and more.
From top to bottom this planner has it all. Starting with the Service Schedule page. This is where you can document all the service intervals for the various parts of YOUR car. All of this information can be pulled from your car manual or online. On the flip side of this spread there is also a place to mark down your make, model and license plate (because remember… I can’t remember those details to save my life!) as well as the Part Details for your car. Both the service schedule and the parts/supplies are all going to be specific to your automobile, so it’s nice to aggregated into one neat and tidy chart that is specific to your make and model.
Next up: a place to keep all your Automotive Contacts. From your preferred dealership to the autobody shop your brother works at, store all your car contacts in one space so you don’t have to go googling for them ever again. This is also a good place to jot down notes like: autobody shop A does affordable oil changes and autobody shop B is better for tires!
Now we get into the meat and potatoes of this insert: the Maintenance Log! Knowing how often you’re supposed to be doing things is only good if you’re actually doing the things on time.
What I especially love about the maintenance log pages is there is space to mark down when you are doing the maintenance, what was done, the mileage it was done at, as well as WHEN the next time it’s due! To figure this next due date, all you’ll need to do is refer back to your Service Schedule that you filled in at the start of this book! From there you can easily pop the date into your regular calendar so you won’t forget!
The next section of the book is for Auto Detailing. This is a great place to keep track of where and when you’ve been taking your car for detailing. Be it washing, wax or any other service, if you live in a cold climate with salty roads, you know how important routine washing is in the winter!
The last two sections of the book are hopefully something you won’t need to use too often. The Recall Tracking pages and Major Repair Log are like the medical history of your car. They’re the place you’ll want to document any big service events. This will be super handy if you ever go to sell your car and want to make the buyer aware of the great care you’ve been taking!
For those that use a car for work I also have another car related insert for tracking mileage. This is handy if you need to recoup gas and travel costs for business or tax purposes. It is not included in the Auto Care Planner since not every person needs it, but it makes a great pair for those that do!
HERE'S A HELPFUL HACK
I like to keep my Auto Care planner in my glove box at all times. I pull it out and check upcoming service dates every time I get my car washed, which means I’m looking at it once or twice a month! Which means I haven’t missed an oil change in over a year now!! I know that doesn’t sound like much, but you don’t know how bad I was at keeping track of this stuff before, so for me: that’s a huge win!
Keeping track of Auto Maintenance is a bit of a hassle, but I think this planner makes it a heck of a lot easier. The peace of mind you’ll get from knowing that your car is in tip top condition is more than worth the $7 price point of this insert!