I have been following several auctions in Bring-a-trailer.com and have learned that having good documentation can make a big difference in what a car sells for. In all of my cars I have a large zip lock bag where I put receipts and then I keep the bag down by the spare tire. The problem is I do my own work and the only receipts documenting the mileage are new tires and the like. I am always changing oil in one of my old cars and I buy the oil and filter and throw away the receipt. Then I saw a great idea I plan to adopt. Start a log book. They sell blank books people use to write their journal in, or write poetry, I guess. Nice leather covers and not expensive. I am going to get one for each car and then keep records of date, mileage, what I did, where I got the parts, etc. Another benefit is that as I age my memory is not so hot and I find myself forgetting things. I think a nice log book will be of great value to the next owner of my fine Jaguars.

Jeff

 

My dad kept a log book for every car he owned - recorded every tank of gas (date, location, amount, odometer reading), oil change and every maintenance item

 

Yes.. As I have mentioned in one of the older posts, buyers are attracted to cars with a documented history, and will pay a good price for those with one. I use a spare USB thumb drive dedicated to my Jag xj6,.. and it is backed up on an external drive connected to my computer. Works great . Have photos and new wiring diagrams for the car (my car is a fuel injected V8 conversion with modified wiring - simple to understand when a diagram / description of the wiring is available with the car.). I started a Microsoft Excel file years ago that show what was done and when.

Having oil / filter change receipts are not so important, a bit of poking around /checking oil in sump - same for trans... will answer those questions

Major repairs , wheel alignments, engine parts replacement etc will give the potential buyer some idea of the current status of the vehicle.

I must admit I have gotten carried away with recording info as I work on the car. I have no plans to sell my car but,..should I change my mind ,..having a fully documented history will allow the buyer to feel more comfortable with the purchase he / she is about to make.

 

Great ideas guys. Once I find a Jag to restore, keeping a record of everything done is a great ideas. Yes, memory ain't what it was. LOL. I would have been leary of keeping it on a computer, put now with cloud back-up I think I'll head in that direction.

Jeff H.

 

I've owned my XJ6C for over 17 years and attached is my "log". I do this with all my cars and yes it is a major selling point. It takes much DISAPLINE to do this, but it's well worth it. If for nothing but for you to remember what you did in the past. It can read like a diary sometimes, but that's okay.

 

Yachtmanbuttson, Thanks for sharing your maintenance history file. Looks like keying it in gives you a chance to provide more of a narrative which would be a good thing. More flavor and chance to provide background, tips, notes, etc. For me the problem would be that I would have to fire up the PC, remember to do it, etc. Pros and cons to both paper and electronic but the main thing is just do it.

 

Timing is everything...LOL....this just popped up on one of my favorite sites:

Petrolog is a DIYer's Dream Maintenance Journal - The Drive

Jeff H

 

I keep a hard covered journal for every vehicle, everything logged down to new washers & split pins. With pictures of old and new parts for future reference.
As well as hand written notes so myself or the next owner know why and how things have been changed from original.

 

Decades ago, I bought an electronic toy. A Dell AXIM pocket computer. Far more capable than me. I used it in my business. I could write a report in a simple form of MS WORD. Then synchronize on my XP powered desk top, usually a Dell. Edit and print!!!
Hot off the press report to my client.

And, in wait times,. I could amuse myself. Jaguar log. It included a "punch" list of things remaining todo on it's conversion. That is where I missed the boat!!! I used the note function. should have used the document function. Notes did not sync as did DOC.

So, it crashed, A hot reboot got it back, sans notes!!

It is in a dock on anoth4er desk top. Ancient, but functional !! Hmmmmm, kinda like me, my resident goat Billie and Coco my rescue dog...

It has a form of EXCEL that can do neat stuff.

Carl .

 

for a while, i was putting short notes to my kids that they might read years from now in the maintenance records.