Updated sep. 22, 2019.  Originally published Jun. 11, 2013.

If you’re just stumbling across this, please click here for the other posts in the series.

Auto Maintenance

First of all, in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that for the next month or so, we’re getting into areas where I am less knowledgeable than in past months (and upcoming months), because I am not the primary person responsible for overseeing the car care or the finances in our household.  So I will do my best to cover the basic overview for each of the next few sections, but I welcome your suggestions/comments even more here than on other posts.  (And I always welcome your comments!)

All automobiles will, of course, require different care, depending on the circumstances of their use, the strengths & weaknesses of each particular model, and what wears out on each one.  But there are some basic things that need to be done – or at least should be done! – on a routine basis to keep them all running as smoothly and for as long as possible.

If you’re anything like us, you drive your cars for what seems like forever, so it’s important to keep them going!

We’re talking about things like:

• oil changes
• tire rotation (and less frequently, tire replacement)
• wiper blade replacement
• air filter replacement
• tuneups
• washing
• waxing
• detailing (probably not essential, but having this done – or doing it yourself – at least once in a blue moon can help)

General cleanout of the interior (taking all your stuff into the house and vacuuming out the crumbs and such) can be part of this list if you like, or you may just consider it part of your general routine household cleaning.  The standard “vehicle maintenance log” is the heart of this section but, ideally, all car repair and maintenance should be noted.

Any of these things that are considered “regular” for you, in your household, should have some means of getting done at the appropriate times.  Either they need to be written in your calendar, or they need to be designated in your household chore rotation so you remember to schedule them, or some similar reminder system needs to be in place.  (You may want to keep reminders for inspections and registration renewals, too.)

It can also be helpful to have a record of when each of these things — or any larger repairs — was done for each car.  Nothing fancy, just a brief record, like:

“5/13 – oil change”

…listed under the appropriate car.  This way you can see at a glance how up-to-date things are.

It might also be beneficial to have a note of the “vital statistics” for each car your family owns: make, model, year, VIN, license plate number, oil weight.  (This can be especially helpful when your car needs to go to the shop and you can’t remember!)

STEP 1: Create a page for each of your vehicles, writing down all the vital information.

I like for this to include the make, model, and year of the car, as well as the VIN (vehicle identification number), the license plate number, and the recommended oil weight.  You could also include any information you want to have on hand regarding regularly-replaced or -referenced parts – like tire sizes (or appropriate inflation level), wiper blade length, engine size (the shop often asks about this), etc.

STEP 2: Decide where to keep this information, and put it there.

Although it may seem like in the relevant vehicle is the obvious choice, this may not be the best place for it.  It might be.  But you might want to have the information accessible when the car is not readily accessible.  Personally, I keep this in my household binder but, as always, do whatever works for you!

(You might want it somewhere portable – or easy to make portable – for reference when you’re buying wiper blades or oil, or talking to the mechanic.)

STEP 3: Look up the LAST known instance of each major maintenance task, and write it in your log.

If you happen to already have older records readily available, feel free to copy it over.  But at the least, you will want to see if you can locate the date of your last oil change, and write that into wherever you’ve decided to keep your records.  This way you’ll know when it needs to be done again.  (It might be helpful to write down the mileage at the time, too, if you have that.)

If you don’t have any other records, try looking in your checkbook to see when you paid for an oil change, or check the windshield for a sticker.  The shop often puts a small sticker in the corner of the window with the date and mileage of the last oil change.  (If you change your own oil, you might be stuck.  But in that case, keeping records in the future will be even more necessary – and more helpful!)

STEP 4: Create the necessary reminders for your recurring auto-related tasks.

Write them in your calendar, in your chore lists, or wherever else you decide they are best kept, as discussed above.

If you’re just stumbling across this, please click here for the other posts in the series.