A vehicle records and maintenance tracker for the whole household
A car's paperwork decides what it is worth and whether it is legal to drive. Keeping the service history, test dates, insurance and repair receipts in one record turns all of that from memory into evidence.
Most households keep vehicle paperwork in three places at once: a glovebox, an email inbox and a drawer. It works until the week the insurance renewal, the annual roadworthiness test and a garage invoice all need to be found at the same time.
A maintenance record is not bureaucracy for its own sake. It is what a buyer asks for, what a warranty claim depends on, and what tells you whether the last repair on this fault was six months ago or three years ago. In Vekrin this capability is called Vekrin Garage, and it sits alongside the home document organiser that holds the rest of the household's paperwork.
Stop hunting for the logbook
Add your vehicles to Vekrin and keep their documents, servicing and costs in one record.
What belongs in a vehicle record
Requirements differ by country, but the same categories of paperwork exist almost everywhere.
- Identity — Registration or plate number, VIN, make, model, year, engine size and fuel type.
- Registration document — The national logbook, registration certificate or title — V5C in the UK, carte grise in France, a registration and certificate of title in the US.
- Roadworthiness test — MOT in the UK, NCT in Ireland, TÜV/HU in Germany, contrôle technique in France, ITV in Spain, APK in the Netherlands, Smog Check in California — whatever applies locally, with its expiry date. US inspection rules vary by state, and some states have none.
- Insurance — Policy number, cover level, insurer and renewal date.
- Service history — Each service with date, mileage, garage and what was done.
- Repairs and parts — Invoices, tyres, batteries and anything with its own guarantee period.
- Running costs — Fuel or charging, road tax or registration renewal, parking and tolls, if you want a true cost per year.
Mileage is what makes the record useful
Service intervals are set by distance as well as by time, so a maintenance log without odometer readings can tell you when something was done but not whether the next one is due. Recording the mileage at each service, and occasionally between them, gives you an annual distance figure.
That figure quietly answers several other questions: whether an insurance quote's mileage estimate is honest, whether a timing belt is approaching its interval, and whether the car is being driven enough to justify keeping it.
It also protects you at resale. A consistent, dated mileage history alongside invoices from named garages is what a cautious buyer wants to see, and its absence gives them a reason to offer less.
Setting up the record for a vehicle you already own
- Start from the registration document
It carries the VIN and the technical details every form will later ask for. - Add the two dates that stop you driving
The roadworthiness test expiry and the insurance renewal, each with an in-app reminder well before the day. - Enter the service history you can prove
Stamps in a service book, garage invoices and emailed booking confirmations. - Attach the receipts to the vehicle, not to a folder
Tyres, batteries and exhausts often carry their own guarantee, which is worthless if the invoice cannot be found. - Note the current mileage
One reading today gives every future entry something to measure against.
The £640 invoice nobody could find
A suspension repair is paid for in spring. Eighteen months later the same noise returns, and the garage asks whether that component has been replaced before — because if it has, and it was their work, the conversation is about a guarantee rather than a new quote.
The answer exists: a card statement, an invoice in an email, a date. It just takes an hour to reconstruct, and most people quietly pay again instead. Filing the invoice against the vehicle when it is paid — the same habit as a household bill tracker — is what keeps that conversation short.
Vekrin Garage
This capability is Vekrin Garage. It keeps each vehicle as a record with its documents, service and repair history, mileage readings and costs attached. Because bills, receipts and documents already live in the same household record, Vekrin can match them to a vehicle by registration number or VIN.
- Reminders — Inspection, tax or registration renewal and insurance dates surfaced in the app before they expire.
- Regional records — Terminology follows the vehicle's country and state or province, and mileage uses miles or kilometres. Vekrin organises your records; it does not check DVLA, DMV or other government databases.
- History — Service, repair and mileage entries in one timeline.
- Evidence — Receipts and documents linked to the vehicle, with uncertain matches left for you to confirm.
- Costs — A per-vehicle cost history you can export alongside your insurance evidence pack.
A garage invoice filed as an ordinary receipt still shows up in that car's cost history.
Common questions
- What should a vehicle maintenance log include?
- The date, the mileage, who carried out the work, what was done and what it cost, with the invoice attached. Add the parts fitted where they carry their own guarantee, such as tyres, batteries and exhausts.
- Does keeping a service history increase resale value?
- It usually helps you negotiate. A complete, dated history with invoices from identifiable garages removes the buyer's main unknown, which is whether scheduled work was skipped.
- How far ahead should I be reminded about a roadworthiness test?
- About a month. That is enough time to book a slot, fix a minor fault and retest without ever driving on an expired certificate.
- Can I track more than one vehicle for a household?
- Yes. Vekrin keeps each vehicle as its own record inside the shared household, so partners see the same dates, documents and costs rather than each keeping a private copy.
Related reading
Stop hunting for the logbook
Add your vehicles to Vekrin and keep their documents, servicing and costs in one record.