Record Keeping?

[rjundi]

My cars are used out of warranty.

I use the receipts to start my woodstove.

 

[Kestas]

I use the same method I've used since 1973. Basically it's a log book with all scheduled maintenance and repairs. For the life of the car, it typically spans 3 pages. This information has been well received by people who bought the cars from me.

 

[ls1mike]

Receipts to me at least, are just that. Who did the work? How well does it run? I keep all my stuff and log oil changes, but overall condition when you look at a car will tell you if it is loved.

 

[TiredTrucker]

I just use a spreadsheet for my commercial stuff. For my pickup, I use the OnStar vehicle maintenance record feature online, which also shares the information with the "my chevrolet" website, so I can see past records on both locations.

As for receipts, I do keep them for business tax purposes, both my commercial stuff and my personal, at least with oils and lubes, since I get all my oils from a commercial supplier. As for a receipt for each maintenance event, not hardly. Not realistic when you buy lubes in bulk quantities. For any personal vehicle shop work, I can always get a record of a particular maintenance event from that shop if I needed it. Commercial shop work invoices are kept for tax purposes.

Out of over 3 decades in commercial trucking and over 4 decades of vehicle ownership with a lot of warranty claims in all of that time, I have never had the need to produce a copy of any receipt. I just don't worry about it like some do. My paranoia gland is under control.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I just keep a folder of receipts and a notebook sheet where I write down my oil changes (date, mileage, oil/filter type, etc.). If I do something myself other than an oil change (spark plugs, air filter, power steering fluid change, etc.) I have another notebook sheet for my own maintenance that is almost identical to my oil change log.