Vehicles are not necessarily something you trade in every couple of years now. With the rising cost of fuel and the cost of the vehicles themselves, these vehicles tend to stick around a lot longer. Having a vehicle longer means that you need to take more care with it in terms of maintenance in order to ensure it does not break down, it is safe, and it can eventually be re-sold for a good price.
The problem is that you are busy working and running from Point A to Point B, so maintenance often gets overlooked. However, the "don't worry until it breaks" philosophy does not complement the need to retain that reliability, safety, and value. Thanks to new technology, however, it is becoming easier to stay up to date on maintenance while also tracking any expenses you incur with your vehicle that you can write off your taxes, especially if you use the vehicle for work.
What is Cloud-Based Technology?
Before you learn how this technology can help with reliability, safety, and re-sale value, it is important to understand what this technology is and how it works. Like a cloud, it is a way to have data drift along with you wherever you go. It can be accessed through all types of devices, including any computer, laptop, tablet, and even smartphone.
All you need is your username and password and then any device can deliver the most current data that you have so that you can check it or even update it on the fly. More than convenience though, cloud-based technology systems have other benefits:
- Your data is safe from being lost, hacked, or destroyed.
- The cloud-based system will grow with your data so that, as you add information, it can handle it without requiring you to move to a different solution.
- It can integrate with other types of software programs so you can upload, download, and share the information in different ways.
- It is easy to use and does not require significant set up and training.
- It is not expensive so you are not investing in something that will take considerable time to be paid a great return.
Reliability
When it comes to having a reliable vehicle, it means you can be confident, safe, and secure that it will work all the time and you will not get stuck somewhere or get in an accident because of mechanical failure. The reality of life is that we are not proactive when it comes to making sure our vehicles stay reliable. Instead, we often wait until we hear that funny sound or the car just stops working before we consider some type of maintenance. By then, it becomes a costlier proposition in terms of money spent on the repairs and money lost by missing work.However, using a cloud-based solution can help you to focus on ensuring that your vehicle is reliable. The solution provides automated maintenance reminders, an expense tracking system, and recall notifications so that you are more likely to handle these issues before they become larger and expensive problems.
This includes staying on top of routine maintenance-related issues, such as engine oil replacement; low coolant, brake fluid and transmission fluid levels, belt replacements, air filters, and tire pressure. This type of technology can also offer user-friendly reporting tools that make it easy to check on what services have been performed and when. Additionally, fuel usage graphs can help gauge any possible mechanical problems.
Safety
It can be dangerous out there on the road, especially when seasons change and road conditions become dangerous. That's why it is important to keep up with vehicle maintenance, especially when it comes to things like tires, fluids, and accessories like windshield wipers. All of these are imperative to extreme temperature conditions as well as rain, snow, and ice.
However, using this cloud-based vehicle maintenance management system, you will get reminders during the seasonal changes what type of vehicle maintenance is recommended for that particular season. You can log these maintenance tasks on your system to remind yourself when safety aspects of your vehicle were handled.
Re-Sale Value
As the saying goes, take care of things and they will take care of you - and that goes with how you take care of your vehicle. Take care of it and one day when you sell it, you could get a higher price than if you had not kept up with the maintenance tasks.
When it comes to retaining your vehicle's value, it is not just about actually doing the maintenance, but is also means showing prospective buyers proof that the work was done. Kelley Blue Book found that you can increase the value of your vehicle by 10% or even more just by keeping a well-documented service history that shows oil changes, tire rotations, full services and recalls that were performed.
A cloud-based vehicle management system can help you do this by giving you a portal to store all the information on work done, including the ability to scan receipts and paperwork related to those maintenance tasks. Additionally, you can use a system like this to access additional content related to vehicles that offers recommendations on what you can do to retain that value, including how any aftermarket parts or changes can add or detract from your vehicle's value.
The Other Benefits
Another benefit to using such a cloud-based system is related to your taxes, especially if you use your vehicle for work as you can write off many of the expenses related to that vehicle. These expenses include mileage, maintenance, gas and vehicle registration. The cloud-based vehicle management system provides a place to store all your receipts and offers a way to log your mileage. Many of these solutions also have mobile capability so that you can log information about your vehicle on the go through your smartphone.
Technology really does help make keeping up with your vehicle maintenance and expenses easy and convenient, saving you time and money in the short and long term.