For as long as you own your vehicle, there will be a paper trail. From the title to service summaries to repair receipts, it’s a lot to sort through if you need to find something in a hurry.
To prevent stress and frustration, follow these simple organization tips to keep the history of your vehicle in one neat place.
Glovebox Documents
The vehicle-related items and paperwork you should always keep in the glovebox include:
Owner’s Manual
Unless you are looking something up, the vehicle’s owner’s manual should never leave the glovebox.
Car Registration
The car registration is the printed document you receive from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) along with your renewed stickers or plates. You’ll get a new registration each year when you renew your plates, so replace the document in your glovebox each year.
Proof of Insurance
This document is what you receive from your car insurer showing your vehicle has liability coverage. You should get an updated proof of insurance car every time your car insurance policy renews.
While some folks keep this card in their wallet, it can’t hurt to paperclip it to your registration and stow away in the glovebox.
The car registration and proof of insurance will come in handy if you get pulled over for a traffic stop or if you are in a car accident.
Why You Should Organize Your Car-Related Documents
Keeping copies of all replacement parts and visits to the body shop or service station will come in very handy for a few reasons.
Documented Proof of Vehicle Service
If ever there’s a question or problem with the vehicle, you can simply refer back to the paperwork or receipt for date of service and work completed.
You can quickly check model numbers of replacement parts and find names and phone numbers of service technicians and contacts.
You’ll be able to find the information quickly and easily so there’s no frantic searching or looking through credit card transactions for dates.
Helps with Resale
If selling your vehicle, you’ll be able to provide potential buyers with a complete history of all services completed, parts replaced and a snapshot of the vehicle in a neatly organized file.
It shows the potential buyers that you maintained the vehicle properly and you made an investment in preserving the life of the vehicle.
Leased Vehicle Contract
Many times with a leased vehicle, it’s up to you, the lessee, to maintain the vehicle including all service visits, oil changes, tire rotations, etc. for the first two or three years of the lease. By keeping copies of all pertinent documents, you’ll be able to walk into the dealership at the lease end with proof of all service obligations fulfilled.
Warranty
If a warranty or recall issue comes up, you’ll have documentation of when the vehicle was serviced and what was replaced or repaired.
Keeping it Organized
While taking a picture of documents and storing in your phone also works, the only issue might come into play if you need to print something out.
It’s just as easy to buy a basic, inexpensive binder or expandable file and keep all documentation together there.
Things to hang on to and organize include:
Initial Contract / Dealership Notices
Keep all original contracts you received when you bought or leased the vehicle. This includes vehicle inspection reports, warranty information, title documentation, loan or financing information, pre-owned historical documents.
Receipts
Whether it’s a receipt for something you bought or replacement parts from a dealership.
Service Records
All copies of any service or body work done on the vehicle.
Insurance
The auto insurance policy number, name of insurance agent, reports of any accidents and any accident-related money paid or received from insurance claims.
Organization Made Easy
It doesn’t matter whether you choose a binder or accordian file, what does matter is keeping a neat, organized record of everything done or related to your vehicle.
Keep the information labeled and separated however it makes the most sense to you.
Tuck the title inside a file pocket so it stays with everything else related to your vehicle.
Conclusion
Now that you’re on your way to putting together an organized history of your vehicle, call on the professional auto body repair technicians at Downtown Autobody for all your car repair, paint or damage estimate needs in Sonoma County.