What a vehicle maintenance log needs to contain

A vehicle maintenance log needs eight columns. Together they satisfy an inspector, support a warranty claim, and add real money at resale, which is the benefit nobody counts.

The eight

• •Date
• •Odometer reading, and engine hours if the vehicle has a counter
• •What kind of work: scheduled service, repair, inspection, defect rectification
• •What was actually done, in enough detail to know what was inspected
• •Parts fitted, with part numbers
• •Who did it, by name, and which company
• •Cost, split between labour and parts
• •What was noted for next time, which is the column everybody omits

The last column is worth the most

"Nearside front tyre at 3mm, replace at next service" written today prevents a roadside failure in six weeks. It is the only column that changes what happens next, and it is the one that disappears when the log is a summary of invoices.

Record the odometer at every event

Not just at services. Every defect, every repair, every inspection. It costs two seconds and it is what lets you calculate cost per mile, spot a vehicle wearing faster than its siblings, and prove a service happened within its interval.

Two mistakes that lose money

• •Logging "service" with no detail, which cannot support a warranty claim or prove a systematic programme
• •Keeping garage invoices instead of job sheets, so you have what you paid and not what was done

Resale is the quiet return

A complete, dated service history is worth real money on a used commercial vehicle, and a folder of receipts is not the same thing. Fleets that keep the log properly recover part of the cost of keeping it every time they sell a vehicle.

Keep it per vehicle, forever

Retention rules set a minimum. The log itself should follow the vehicle for its whole life with you, because its value comes from being complete. A log that starts in year three tells you almost nothing about whether the vehicle was looked after.