Understandably, if you already have issue with keeping up with regularly scheduled vehicle maintenance appointments, such as a regular oil change, it is probably asking a bit much to add yet another responsibility, but heed the advice. It could really pay off.
Some of us are excellent at consistent vehicle maintenance. Some of us are not. If you are not great at keeping track of a regular oil change or even if you are a pro who never lets one slip by,
keeping a detailed record of when and where these and other maintenances were performed is quite important.
An oil change itself really is for the good of the car, but there are some other reasons that good care and well kept record of those repairs will pay off in the future. Savvy budgeting, warranty issues, and resale purposes are three of many reasons that good written records should be kept, most usefully at hand inside of the vehicle.
Unless you are a radical creature of habit, you probably do not drive into the same business each and every time you need an oil and lube. It just is not convenient, and if you are being a responsible stickler when you find yourself hitting tell-tale mileage, you will surely hit up the first reputable looking business you see.
Look inside your owner's manual. Most will provide a maintenance schedule, a spreadsheet-like graph, on which to keep records. If the business puts a little sticker on your windshield to remind you of the current mileage and the suggested incremental mileage at which to visit again, you can easily peel the sticker and place it on the graph in the manual, or you can just write it down yourself. Keeping a dated receipt tucked away in the manual is also suggested. Why these precautions? For one, it just helps you to keep track. While those who use the same business repeatedly, a good record maybe on file, but it cannot hurt to back up the record yourself.
Two words: Hurricane Katrina. Electronic records and paper records were permanently lost especially for smaller local businesses. While this really was a small worry in the wake of the tragedy, as the economy began to run again, little annoyances like these continued to remind residents of their flawed evacuation plans. They all vowed to keep better records.
Let's hope they kept their promises. A poor paper trail can lead to many even more annoying problems. If your car, for example, begins giving you fits seemingly with the engine, you may confidently pull up to the dealer. You are, after all, under warranty. It has happened, however, that car companies have refused to stand by warranties claiming that owners caused the damage citing poor regular maintenance. At this point, can you vividly remember when and where all of your oil change maintenances were performed, or you up a creek without a warranty?
Perhaps this situation is not terribly common, but it is common enough that most car owners will continue a buy-sell/trade pattern with their vehicles. Those selling privately will have an upper hand if they can produce proof that the car at hand was well kept and cared for; those trading at a dealer may be able to draw a slightly higher trade in exchange for an aptly used maintenance graph in a manual.
It makes sense to keep good records for an investment, and a vehicle is, after all, one of the larger investments, second only to a home, that most any individual makes.
