The Garage131 Blog
Practical guides on equipment management, maintenance tracking, and ditching the spreadsheet.
Looking for what has changed in the app? Browse the release notes.
Your KitchenAid Mixer Needs a Grease Change, Too
Every machine with gears needs grease eventually — even the one on your counter. The real interval, the signs it's already overdue, and a full DIY regrease walkthrough (plus the parts to buy before you start).
What's New: Parts Filters, Better Shared Parts, and a Tidier Menu
Filter the parts list by stock, sharing, and rating, report or retire shared parts, a reorganized menu, a new Contact page, and sign-in that remembers your organization.
Logging Maintenance Isn't Sexy (But Neither Is a Flatbed Tow Truck)
Nobody gets an adrenaline rush from typing an oil weight into an app. Here's the honest pitch: ninety seconds of boring buys you a safe rig, a shorter argument at the service counter, and real money at resale.
What's New: Redesigned Parts and Purchases, Machine Power Source, and Bigger Photo Galleries
Rebuilt part and purchase pages, a power source for every machine, profile photos with room for nine, photos when you create a part, private part ratings, and a caption for your QR code.
The Hotel Parking Lot Walk of Shame: Why You Shouldn't Have to Memorize Your License Plate
Rain, midnight, a line of guests behind you, and a front desk clerk asking for your license plate number. Here's how to never make that walk to the parking lot again.
What's New: A New Service Screen, Machine Statuses, and Service Types
A hub-style service screen replaces the step-by-step wizard, machine statuses and service types are yours to define, the machine form gets a make-over, and Shopping Lists become Lists.
What's New: A Rebuilt Dashboard and Snap-a-Fuel-Pic (Beta)
A dashboard that answers what needs attention and what to do next, plus Snap-a-Fuel-Pic: photograph the pump or the odometer and let Garage131 fill in the fuel log.
What's New: Machine Passport, Branded Printouts, and More Ways to Start
Publish a read-only Machine Passport link for selling or sharing, add your logo and a QR code to printed service records, and start with machine types that fit how you work.
What's New: Preferences That Follow You, Feature Toggles, and a Photo Gallery
Personal preferences that sync across devices, per-organization control over VRS, maintenance, and sharing, a click-to-open photo gallery, and a fix for slow first loads.
The Waiting Room "Guilt Trip": How Your Wife (Or You) Finally Stopped Getting Hustled at the Dealership
Service advisors are trained to make you feel guilty about maintenance. Here's how having your vehicle history on your phone changes the entire dynamic of a service visit.
Why Your Fuel Tracker Needs to Do More Than Track Fuel
If you’re only tracking your fuel economy, you’re only getting half the picture of what it costs to keep your car on the road.
The Trip We Almost Took: A Lesson in Camper Brake Failure
They made it exactly three blocks. A fully loaded camper, kids buckled in the back seat, and dead trailer brakes. Here's why timing is everything when it comes to seasonal prep.
The Truck Camper Prep I Really Should Have Done in March
Memorial Day is this weekend and you're fixing the leaky sink, the propane situation, and — yes — the bed support on your wife's side. A March reminder would have helped.
Get Off Excel Now: Why Spreadsheets Break Down for Equipment Teams
If your service history lives in a shared Google Sheet with 17 tabs and a prayer, you already know it's not working. Here's why, and what to do instead.
What's New: Install the App, Sharing Controls, and Smoother Service Entry
Add Garage131 to your phone's home screen, control machine sharing for your organization and per machine, and enjoy clearer service entry and bot-resistant sign-up.
What's New: Dark Mode Arrives in Two Flavors
Garage131 now has a light theme (Arctic White) and a dark theme (Warm Stone), a new slide-out machine panel, and a modernized foundation under the hood.
What's New: Reminders, Shopping Lists, Machine Sharing, and Calendar Feeds
Machine reminders with in-app and email notifications, shopping lists, sharing machines with other organizations, calendar feeds, an audit log, and a workspace switcher.
What's New: Organizations, Roles, Badge Login, and Vehicle Reservations
Bring your crew into Garage131 with organizations, member roles and per-person permissions, badge-and-PIN login, and the new Vehicle Reservation System (VRS) for shared vehicles.
What's New: A Friendlier First Day, With Sample Data to Explore
New accounts get a welcome wizard with realistic sample equipment, adding a machine lets you snap a photo right away, and updates roll out behind a friendly maintenance page.
What's New: A Guided Service Wizard for Recording the Whole Job
Record a service, its parts, and the receipt in one guided flow, with a review step, multi-part purchases, duplicate-part protection, and easier cost editing.
What's New: Share a Machine's Story With a Link (and a PDF)
Send a read-only public link to a machine's details, photos, and service history with a one-tap PDF, plus a more consistent look across the app and a fix for creating service records.
What's New: Supplier Locations, Locked Shared Parts, and Smarter Gas Station Search
Suppliers can have multiple locations, shared parts lock so history stays trustworthy, only owners can edit or delete, and nearby gas station search gets better.
What's New: Parts, Purchases, and Suppliers Get a Real Home
A rebuilt parts list with fast search, part numbers that match how you shop, average and last-paid cost, purchases with receipt photos, and gas station lookup for fuel logging.