That moment I realized my whole 5 year DIY system for tracking engine work was backwards

I spent 5 years recording every repair job in a spreadsheet sorted by date, and last week a customer asked me for a part number history on his Ford F-150 and I had to dig through 400 entries. Then a buddy showed me his system where he logs everything by vehicle VIN instead, and it took me 30 seconds to find what he needed. How do you veterans organize your service records so you don't end up like me searching through a mess?

3 comments

3 Comments

amy_martin23h ago

Wait, did your buddy use an app or just a better spreadsheet system?

ward.anna18h ago

Yeah I read something similar about organizing records by VIN making things way easier.

tessaperry18h ago

Better spreadsheet system" is what I ended up doing too. Just added a VIN column and a few dropdowns for status, and it cleaned everything up way more than I expected.