Grandpa's Vehicle Spreadsheet
 

Many of us have "Pre-owned" Mini's. Not only are these vehicles pre-owned, but we maintain, upgrade, and do much of the maintenance ourselves. However; how many of us take the time to actually document the work we do? Do you track the parts you have bought? Do you write down the dates you made the purchase or the date you installed the part? What is the warranty of the part? How many times have you "re-purchased" a part that was still under a "Lifetime Warranty"? Well maybe this little spreadsheet will help you save some money and keep track of the major parts you have purchased. If you are doing your own oil changes, when, what weight of oil, what manufacturer of oil and filter, what was your cost. (Monitor cost changes over time). Have you performed "Upgrades"? Why?

When you are younger, it is easy to remember these things however; as you get older you tend to forget the little things. Sometimes these little things can make the difference in the price you get for you vehicle if you ever sell it. It is also pretty interesting to see how costs change over time.

I have re-created the spreadsheet I made years ago for any and all who wish to use it. It is very simple (so that it is easy to fill out because we spend so much time pampering our vehicles), and quick to fill out.

Grandpa.

Nice!

For the smartphone generation, I suggest checking out the app Fuelly: http://www.fuelly.com/
(On Android it uses the aCar app.)

Yes, it focuses on MPG. But it is designed to track all of your cars' service history. Here are a few screenshots:

Attachment 186144 Attachment 186142 Attachment 186143

I use it to track both fuel and service for my car, and service for my spouse's car.

Happy motoring!

Well, Grandpa, I don't wrench but I've got every service ticket in a file and a spreadsheet reflecting those with date and mileage. Also, there is a chart/reminder for various service intervals. An added advantage is that there is an excellent microbrewery/pub just a few blocks from the shop.

I just write everything down in the nice little notebook that Mini gave me when I bought the car. Date, cost, who did it, etc. I keep it in the glove box.

I "used to".
My motorcycles, I kept track of EVERYTHING that happened to that given bike. I was (now retired!) driving 1000cc+ sport bikes, 75 to 86+ miles (depending on where I worked) a day for 30+ years.
Broken parts, worn out parts, oil changes, spark plug changes, valve adjustments, air cleaner replacements/cleanings, miscellaneous adjustments, chains/sprockets, tires, part swaps/changes, various modifications, especially on the fuel injected engines...EVERY computer (ECM) mapping change I made, and yea, even the three crashes I had.

But, my last bike I kinda slacked off. I found that, "except" for the ECM mapping changes, I never used any of that information...for anything.

I thought about keeping track of my new "little car". But decided na. Except for oil changes, the car does that..!

Mike

I'm a spreadsheet guy too, tracking LOF, tire rotations, cost of new parts & vendor, labor to install, mileage & dates, etc. I started when I got my R53 in 2010, and when selling her last month, enjoyed looking back on the history of what had been done, from fixing little things found during the PPI to the performance upgrades.

Even tho my R53 has moved on to a new home I'm continuing the practice: I just added a tab to the workbook for my new JCW :thumbsup: