DKWalser

Years ago, when I still used a Palm Pilot, I had an app that allowed me to easily keep gas, oil, and service records for my vehicles. Now that I have a 928, I'd like something similar for my iPhone. Do any of you use such an app? If so, can you tell us what you like/dislike about it? There are dozens of such apps -- all claiming to be the best, most flexible, etc. I'd like some real world experience.

I doubt there's an app that's customized for the 928 -- but the kinds of service records one would ideally keep for our cars goes well beyond keeping track of gallons purchased and when the tires were rotated. The app needs to be flexible enough that the user can create categories of services that owners of cars might not worry about. Also, the app should allow the records to be exported and printed -- something that would help when consulting with someone on what's causing that funny noise or when it comes time to sell the car.

Thoughts?

KenRudd

For Android users, I can recommend "aCar". It has the functionality you mention..

DKWalser

I went with Auto Care - Car Maintenance Service and Gas Log by Xper2 Solutions. I'm not in love with it. It has a number of nice features. I particularly like the fact it automatically saves data to iCloud. It allows you to record fuel purchases via a text (via fuelly.com). The app has extensive export capabilities, which is good because the canned reports are not worth too much. The company has a history of making frequent updates to the app; hopefully this will translate into a more robust offering. The price isn't bad: $6.

andy-gts

i keep a little spiral in the glove box and now don't worry about changing apps, losing date etc…..

DKWalser

Oh, sure, I could always do it the old fashioned way. But that would make it more difficult to produce the attached chart that shows the amount spent on repairs & services, by year, from 2006 to the present. (A total of $22,798.92!) I can just as easily produce a detailed report showing when each of those repairs were done and by whom. Or, I can quickly determine when a particular part was changed (the MAF sensor was replaced with a rebuilt unit 10/22/2010).



After purchasing the app, I spent a couple of hours inputting the service records the prior owner gave me from 2006 forwards. (The records from before then were too faded for me to read easily. I may input them at a future date when I have better light.) I think having that information helps predict what might go wrong next, which might help with both preventative maintenance and with budgeting.

It would have been a great help when purchasing the car. The prior owner scanned all the service records and sent them to me by email. I paged through all those records in hopes of identifying items of deferred maintenance. I missed something in that process: In July 2010, all the belts in the car were replaced save one (you'll never guess which one). The tensioner was rebuilt and replaced, but the timing belt was not replaced. Neither was the water pump. Had the service records been in machine readable format, I don't think I would have missed that minor detail. (Why would you rebuild and replace the tensioner at 61,467 miles and NOT replace the timing belt and water pump?! Both items were just replaced and both appear to have been original to the car.)

So, yes, I could keep a paper log in the glove box. Being able to input the data on my phone at the time seems to me to be a better approach. YMMV.

Glen McCartney

Don't let your significant other see those numbers......

yardpro

lol.. i don't want MY significant other to see that chart....lol

heliflyer

I use Road Trip HD on the Ipad - there is also an iPhone version