The car costs more than the fuel
Running a car generates a small, steady stream of facts worth keeping: what the fuel actually costs per mile, when the cambelt was done, which garage charged what, and what the dashboard was complaining about last Tuesday. Kept nowhere, they turn into guesswork at resale time and into an expensive diagnosis at the garage. Kept in two apps, they take about a minute a fill.
The four things worth recording
| What | Why it matters | What it saves |
|---|---|---|
| Every fill, with the odometer | Consumption drifting upward is an early symptom | A tyre or sensor problem found cheaply |
| Every service and repair, with the invoice | Proof of history | Hundreds at resale, and an argument with a warranty |
| Consumables and their dates | Tyres, battery, wipers, fluids age on a schedule | A failed test for something trivial |
| Fault codes when a light appears | The code narrows the problem before you pay anyone | A diagnostic fee, sometimes |
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The apps
The most complete fuel and cost log of the set. Consumption over time, cost per distance, and a station price list that is useful where other drivers submit prices.
Drivvo. The same job with a friendlier interface and reminders for services and documents, which is the part people actually need.
Simply Auto. Strong on service schedules and on several cars in one household, with a web view of the same data.
A long standing fuel and cost tracker that exports cleanly, which matters when you want the numbers out rather than in.
Lighter again, and a sensible choice if all you want is a log you will keep rather than a dashboard you will admire.
Thorough on maintenance records and reminders. Its recent reviews are rough, so try the free version before paying for anything.
A fault code reader with plain language explanations of what each code usually means, which is the part most apps leave out.
Car Scanner ELM OBD2. The best balance of live data and manufacturer specific extras for most cars, and it works with cheap adapters.
EOBD Facile. Clear code reading and emissions readiness checks, which is the figure you want before a test rather than after.
The free build of the long standing dashboard app. Dated interface, enormous plugin and dial library, and still the one many people prefer for live gauges.
Carly. Deeper diagnostics on specific brands than the generic apps manage, with the licence cost that implies. Check your model is covered first.
Parts by registration or model, which is the fastest way to find out whether a quoted repair is mostly parts or mostly labour.
GasBuddy. Crowd sourced fuel prices, useful in North America and of little use elsewhere. Reviews have suffered since it added payments.
For India specifically: registration lookups, challans and document reminders, which no international app covers properly.
Parking prices and heights before you drive into a car park with a roof box on. The height filter alone has saved people a bodyshop bill.
Paying for a bay from the car and extending it from a restaurant, where the local authority supports it. Check which scheme your town uses.
Not upkeep, but included for one feature: other drivers reporting a closure or a camera a mile ahead of you, which no map derives on its own.
The ten minute check nobody does
- Tyre pressures, cold, against the door sticker Underinflation costs fuel, wears the edges of the tyre and is the most common reason a car feels vague.
- Look at the tyres themselves Tread depth across the width, and the date code if they are more than a few years old. Rubber ages whether you drive or not.
- Oil and coolant with the engine cold and level Two minutes. A slow loss shows up here months before it shows up as a warning light.
- Try every light with someone watching A blown bulb is the cheapest possible test failure and the easiest to miss on your own car.
- Read the stored codes even with no light on Pending codes sit in the computer before they become a warning, which is the cheapest moment to find them.
- Which system reported a fault
- Whether the fault is current or historical
- Live readings while you drive
- Whether the emissions monitors have completed
- Which part has failed
- Whether it is safe to keep driving
- What the repair should cost
- Anything at all about a mechanical noise
Where to stop
A fault code is a starting point. Plenty of codes point at a sensor that is reporting a problem elsewhere, and clearing one without fixing the cause only resets the emissions monitors, which can fail a test on its own. If a light relates to brakes, steering or airbags, the app has done its job by naming the system; the next step is a garage.
The paperwork half is less dramatic and worth more. A folder of invoices and a log of fills is what turns a private sale from a negotiation into a price.
Log every fill, scan every invoice, check pressures monthly, and buy a decent adapter so the warning light becomes a question you can answer.
Frequently asked questions
Will any OBD2 adapter work?
Most will read generic codes. The very cheapest clones are unreliable and are the usual cause of an app that connects and then drops out. Manufacturer specific functions need an adapter the app explicitly supports.
Can I clear the warning light myself?
You can, and if the cause is still there it will return. Clearing also resets the emissions monitors, which then need a period of driving to complete, so do not clear codes the week of a test.
Do fuel price apps work everywhere?
No. They depend on drivers submitting prices, so coverage is excellent in some countries and useless in others. Test yours on a route you know before trusting it on a trip.
Is a phone app enough to track servicing?
For dates and mileage, yes. Keep the invoices as well, scanned or on paper, because a buyer or a warranty will want the documents rather than your log.
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