What Maintenance Do You Keep Track Of? Options

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

[edit] Darn it, I meant to title it with "What maintenance do you keep track of"...anyway...[/edit]

I'm curious as to what people keep track of for their vehicles.

For example, on all my vehicles I have a separate notebook and in it I have the full date and odometer reading of the event. Events are oil changes, air filter service, valve adjustments, wheel bearing lubrication...typical maintenance procedures. I also include other stuff like tire replacement (so I can see how long they last), clutch job, catalytic converter replacement, and other significant changes (one-touch sunroof install on the Jetta, 5-speed tranny for the Squareback, floorboards and heel-toe shifter for the Goldwing, etc.). Okay, so some of those items aren't necessarily "significant" but when some asks how long that one-touch has lasted or if the carbon fiber overlay on my bike has lasted more than 6 months I can tell them. I don't do tire rotations nor windshield wiper blade/fluid changes as those aren't critical/necessary data points in my opinion and are done on an as-needed basis.

So, what do YOU log and how (Excel workbook, notebook, by memory or by the stack of receipts (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif))?

BTW, gas mileage I would not include. That should be its own little book.

[Spoke]

I use an Excel spreadsheet keeping track of the date, mileage, item(s), and cost. I sum up all of the costs. It's quite scary when I look at the bottom line including brakes, tires, wheels, parts, paint, ...

Spoke

[drew365]

I just keep a running log of major items and dates on the computer. I used to keep the milage but I got rid of the speedometer gear last time the trans was rebuilt. It helps to gauge how long brake pads and other parts last. A friend I race with doesn't keep a log and he's always trying to remember when he last installed a part that's now broken again. I could probably use the data to come up with a recurring maintanence chart someday. Yeah, that'll happen.

[ThinAir]

I keep a notebook in every one of my vehicles that gets everything recorded in it - every oil change, and every other maintenance and repair event, every change or upgrade of equipment, and every refueling. I keep all the refueling data for 2 reasons. First so that I can always go back an calculate mileage - I frequently check what mileage I'm getting so that I can watch for significant changes as a signal of something not right. Second so that if I ever provide the records to a future buyer they will feel confident that nothing has been left out because the records are obviously so thorough.

No, I'm not anal. This is the only area of my life that is so orderly and thoroughly documented. Don't ask to look at my checkbook (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/huh.gif)