PDF template to download
Car maintenance record template to download (PDF)
This car maintenance record template in PDF format downloads for free and prints in a few seconds: a vehicle record, a service entry tracking table and a deadlines calendar. It lets you rebuild the maintenance history of a vehicle whose original record was lost, or keep a clean paper record to show a buyer.
What the template contains
Four pages, designed to be filled in with a pen, not to look pretty.
Page 1, the vehicle record. Everything that identifies your car: make, model, version, number plate, serial number, first registration date, mileage at purchase, recommended service interval. You fill it in once, and it never changes.
Pages 2 and 3, the service entry tracking table. The heart of the document: one line per service entry, with its date, mileage, type, detail, who carried it out, its cost, its invoice number and the next deadline. About fourteen lines per page.
Page 4, deadlines and checks. The MOT, tyres, battery and fluids, plus a space for free notes.
How to fill it in
Use one line per service entry
One service entry, one line. An oil change done the same day as a brake pad change is two lines: the day you need to find out when the pads were changed, you will be glad you kept them separate.
Note down the essentials
Four things, and they are enough: the date, the mileage read off the odometer that day, the type of service entry, and who carried it out. Without the mileage, a line is worth almost nothing: it is what tells you whether the belt has 60,000 km or 140,000 km on it.
Don't forget the invoice number
The invoice number. It is the narrowest column in the table and the most useful one: it is what turns a handwritten line into verifiable proof. Write it down, and keep the matching invoice with the record. Second classic oversight: the exact mileage rather than a rounded figure.
Vehicle maintenance tracking sheet: the printable version
The document is designed for home printing: A4 portrait, black and white, no colour fill on the page background. It prints just as well from a laser printer as an inkjet, without draining the cartridges.
Three tips to avoid reprinting:
- Print pages 2 and 3 double-sided if you want a compact record, single-sided if you plan to add more tracking pages later.
- Keep a hole-punch margin: tick the option in your print driver, otherwise the first column ends up in the binder holes.
- Keep it with the rest. Staple it into the original record if it still exists, or slip it into the vehicle registration certificate wallet. A record that does not travel with the vehicle ends up not being filled in.
Need more lines? Simply reprint pages 2 and 3 as many times as needed, and number them by hand.
Rebuilding a lost record with this template
This is the most common use of this document. You gather the invoices you have, ask your garage for a record, retrieve the MOT reports, and copy each service entry you find into the table, in mileage order.
For periods with no trace, leave them blank. An honest gap is more credible than a line reconstructed from memory, and far less risky at resale.
Paper has a limit
This template does the job, and does it well. It simply has the weaknesses of paper: it only exists in one copy, it gets lost in a house move, it gets wet in a boot, and it sometimes leaves with the previous vehicle.
There is another limit, less visible. A handwritten line proves nothing on its own. What proves it is the invoice, and the invoice is not in the record: it is in a folder, somewhere else. On the day of the sale, you need to find both.
An online record solves exactly these two points: every service entry carries its invoice, and the whole thing is passed on with a link. You can keep both in parallel, the paper one in the glovebox and the online one as a backup.
Frequently asked questions
Does this template work for every make?
Yes. The document does not include any manufacturer-specific recommendations: the columns are the same for every vehicle, and the 'recommended service interval' box is left blank for you to fill in with what your car's manual says. It does not replace the manufacturer's original record, it lets you keep track alongside it.
Can I use it for a motorbike?
Yes, the tracking table works just as well for a motorbike: the date, mileage, type of service entry and invoice columns stay the same. Only the deadlines page has blocks designed for cars, such as the MOT. You can use them or leave them blank.
Do I need to attach the invoices?
Yes, and it is even the most important point. A handwritten line says what was done; the invoice proves it. Write the invoice number in the column provided, and keep the invoices with the record, in date order.
Is a handwritten record accepted at resale?
No format is required: a handwritten record with its invoices is only as good as its supporting documents. A buyer first looks at the consistency between mileage, dates and invoices. It is that consistency that reassures, not how polished the document looks.