The AUTOsist app helps car owners stay organized

Back in the post-war era, you have these little car diaries in your glove box. They are about the size of a Field Notes notebook, and have places to enter and track things like oil changes (mileage, brand, quarts used), air consumption (mileage, gas station, gallons pumped), hanging grease Connector supplement and other content.

They were handy little helpers that a certain kind of gearhead (like my dad and his brothers) were in love with.

Well, AUTOsist is a digital version of that.

Peachy Keen

Digital Organization

Keeping Records

Financial Tracker

Sharing Is Caring

Peachy Keen

Many, many moons ago, my dad bought a mid-fifties Willys two-door coupe, three-tone blue exterior, two-tone blue interior and a continental kit from the son of the original owner. It was down in some dairy farm in rural Oregon (Prineville? Madras? Something like that). Well, the thing had been parked in a barn, driven to church on Sundays most of its life, and was in pristine condition. When we went down to check it out on a sunny spring Saturday, the owner – late-50s, bib overalls, 6 foot 9 maybe, weighed about 113 pounds soaking wet – said “here’s all the maintenance records,” and set down a fistful of these notebooks for the car.

My dad just beamed when he saw that. This car was a peach (as he would say). That kind of attention to mechanical detail could only mean it was in great shape. The notebooks were full of literally everything mechanically done to the car throughout its life: oil changes, gearbox maintenance, lube jobs, brake linings.

Literally, everything mechanical recorded, including date and time and who did the work.

My dad bought the car 15 minutes later after taking it for a short drive. $2500. Paid the guy in 20s, stacked up in piles on the kitchen table. The guy sincerely asked my dad, “mind if I jus’ look at that for a bit,” gesturing at the money. “I haven’t seen that much cash since we paid off the bank for th’farm.”

Fast forward to the present, modern, digital day. AUTOsist does all that, only you never have to set that stubby pencil to paper.

Zorrane Abdeali was inspired to build AUTOsist while selling one of his cars. When a potential buyer, who lived out of state, wanted to see all the maintenance history before looking at it, Abdeali realized he was missing some of the records. Although he eventually sold the car, the experience helped Abdeali create AUTOsist. Photo: qimono.

Digital Organization

AUTOsist helps you store, track, and share things like maintenance records, insurance/registration documents, fuel logs, reminders, and any other information related to your vehicle.

AUTOsist has a whole slew of features that will help any gearhead keep on top of their car. There’s a Service / Maintenance Tracker where you can attach receipts and monitor your ride’s budget. A Fuel Tracker for your fill ups, plus you can attach receipts and monitor MPG. You can set reminders for when your next service is due or when you want to be reminded about something important – either by mileage and/or date in the Reminder Notifications section.

It works on both Apple devices and on Android stuff too. The app is available through the App Store or Google Play, by searching for “AUTOsist.”

Keeping Records

There’s also a Glovebox / Notes subdivision for things like insurance and vehicle registration information. You can also make custom notes and attach images so you never forget anything related to your vehicle again. This is handy because it eliminates the guesswork when you are keeping track of important vehicle records.

If you’re running an iOS device there are Maintenance Recommendations and Recalls, which allows you to view factory-recommended maintenance for your vehicle based on time/mileage as well as any open recalls issued. The Service History Report option creates reports on demand that compile all your receipts and other records in seconds.

Email them to whoever you please (Your shop? Potential buyer?).

Financial Tracker

And, perhaps the most dangerous section of AUTOsist, is the Spend Analysis Report. Now, yes, it’s always good to know just how much you’ve sunk into any given car, even if sometimes you do not want to know. But imagine if you will, this falling into the hands of, oh, your significant other.

Imagine hearing the words “YOU’VE SPENT HOW MUCH ON THE 911!?!?!” screamed from another portion of your house.

AUTOsist probably has a nicely worded disclaimer somewhere in its EULA absolving them of all liability concerning scenarios like this. I’m not 100% sure of this, but c’mon, they’d have to. Anyhoo, the Spend Analysis Report analyzes the amount you spend based on records loaded in the Receipts and Fuel section.

You think Lamborghinis are expensive to operate? Now you’ll know.

Sharing Is Caring

And when it comes time to sell your car there is the Transfer Records feature. The new buyer gets the records sent to their mobile device within seconds. How cool is that? You can also export to Excel and backup your data, do search and sort functions, email records, do PDF uploads, and also utilize additional metrics to track your records based on liters, kilometers, and even hours.

AUTOsist also offers fleet management tools which could be a godsend if you run a small business or if you have a collection of cars. Like I will someday. Either after I get a raise or win the lotto, whichever comes first. Most likely win the lotto. Statistically speaking.

Tony Borroz has spent his entire life around racing antique and sports cars. He means well, even if he has a bias towards lighter, agile cars rather than big engine muscle cars or family sedans.

Screenshots & Source: AUTOsist / Cover Photo: TheDigitalWay

AUTOsist app rating: E (everyone)