Car CareCar maintenance app vs spreadsheet or paper logbook
Car Care: Maintenance Tracker, a free car maintenance app for iPhone, keeps the same service records as a paper logbook or a spreadsheet and tells you when the next service is due. All three hold the date, the mileage, the work and what it cost. A paper logbook stays with the car and needs nothing to read it. A spreadsheet takes whatever columns you give it, and you can print it or send the file. Car Care reminds you by mileage or by time, whichever comes first, and recorded trips keep the mileage current.
This comparison was written by Car Care, following our method for comparisons. If you find something wrong or out of date, tell us through Car Care support.
A paper logbook, a spreadsheet and Car Care side by side
| Paper logbook | Spreadsheet | Car Care | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowing when service is due | You check the book against the odometer | You check the sheet against the odometer | A notification by mileage or by time, and the miles and days left on each item |
| Keeping the mileage current | You read the odometer and write it down | You read the odometer and type it in | Recorded trips add their distance to the odometer, in miles or kilometers |
| Logging a service visit | Written by hand, the receipt kept in a folder | Typed in, one line per service | A scanned receipt fills in one service record with each job and its price, and stays attached |
| Seeing what the car costs | Added up by hand | Formulas you set up yourself | Per month, per year and overall, with a 12-month chart |
| Several cars | A book for each car | A tab or a column for each car | Each car keeps its own records and costs |
| Printing and sharing | Hand over the book or photocopy it | Print it or send the file | No printable or shareable history report for now; we are adding it |
| Where it opens | Anywhere, with nothing to install | Wherever you have a spreadsheet app | On your iPhone, synced through your own private iCloud |
| Price | A notebook | Whatever your spreadsheet app costs | Free, with every feature included |
Where a paper logbook or a spreadsheet is the better choice
A paper service book lives in the glove box and works for anyone who opens it. When you sell the car, it goes with the keys, and the buyer reads the history without installing anything.
A spreadsheet suits you if you want the layout to be yours: your own columns, sorted and summed with formulas you write. It opens wherever you have a spreadsheet app, and you can print it for your mechanic or send it to whoever shares the car with you.
Where Car Care does more
A spreadsheet holds the date and mileage of last spring's oil change. To know whether the next one is due, you open it, read the odometer and work it out. In Car Care, that same record starts the oil change's reminder, which shows the miles and days left and notifies you when it gets close.
Paper and spreadsheets know the mileage only when you write it down. Turn on trip detection in Car Care, and each drive adds its distance to the odometer, so mileage reminders stay on time without you typing in a reading.
In a logbook or a spreadsheet, you write or type in each visit yourself. Car Care reads a photo of the mechanic's receipt, printed or handwritten, or its PDF, and fills in one service record with each job and its price. Work it recognizes, such as an oil change, starts its next reminder right away.
Every price you log, fill-ups included, adds up in the car's costs per month, per year and overall, with no formula to write.
Which one suits you
Keep the paper logbook or the spreadsheet if you want only the record, laid out your way. Choose Car Care if you want the record to tell you what is due next, with the mileage kept current for you. You can also keep both: the book with the car, and Car Care on your iPhone for the reminders.
Moving your records into Car Care
Add the services from your book or sheet to Car Care, typed in or scanned from their receipts, and they become a digital service book that reminds you when service is due. Your records stay on your iPhone and sync through your own private iCloud. You can export all your data to a backup file at any time.
Questions and answers
Is a car maintenance app better than a spreadsheet or a paper log?
An app is the better choice if you want to be told when service is due, and a spreadsheet or a paper log is enough if a record is all you need. A paper log stays with the car and goes to the buyer when you sell it, and a spreadsheet can be printed for your mechanic or sent as a file. Car Care: Maintenance Tracker, a free car maintenance app for iPhone, keeps the same history, tells you when the next service is due and keeps the mileage current from your recorded trips.
Is there an app for a car maintenance log?
Yes. Car Care: Maintenance Tracker is a free car maintenance log for iPhone. It keeps each service with its date, mileage, service center, jobs and prices, and sends service reminders when the next one is due, by mileage or by time, whichever comes first.
What is a vehicle maintenance log?
A vehicle maintenance log is the record of the work done on a car. Each entry holds the date and mileage of a service, what was done, where, and what it cost. It can be a paper logbook, a spreadsheet or an app. Kept up to date, it shows when each job was last done.
Is an Excel template enough to track car maintenance?
For keeping the record, yes. A spreadsheet template with columns for the date, mileage, work and cost of each service holds the whole history. To see what is due, you check it against the odometer yourself. Car Care: Maintenance Tracker, an app for iPhone, keeps the same records and sends you a notification when service is due, by mileage or by time, whichever comes first.
How do I create a vehicle maintenance log?
Start with the car's mileage today and the latest service of each item, such as engine oil, brakes and tires, each with its date and mileage. Then add every new service as it happens, with the work done and the price. In a notebook or a spreadsheet that is one line per service. In Car Care: Maintenance Tracker on your iPhone, a scanned receipt fills in the record for you.
Can I keep my paper service book and use an app as well?
Yes. Keep the book with the car and add each new service to Car Care: Maintenance Tracker on your iPhone too, typed in or scanned from its receipt. The book stays a record in the glove box, and Car Care keeps the reminders running.
Get Car Care: Maintenance Tracker on the App Store
Free on iPhone, with every feature included, no subscription and no account to create.