Turn your car maintenance spreadsheet into an app
A spreadsheet is an honest way to keep a car log — it’s yours, it’s portable, and it never shows you an ad. SteerLog keeps those properties (on-device, your own iCloud, free export forever) and adds what a spreadsheet can’t: reminders by date and mileage on your lock screen, automatic fuel economy, and logging at the pump in seconds. Your existing rows come along — only a date column is required.
From sheet to app in three steps
- Download your sheet as CSV. Google Sheets: File › Download › Comma Separated Values. Excel: Save As › CSV. Numbers: File › Export To › CSV.
- Check your header row against the table below — most sheets already use matching names like
Date,Odometer,Cost,Notes. Rename any that don’t match. - Import it — steps below. Dates, odometer readings, costs, fuel volumes, and notes all land as real entries, and charts and fuel economy compute immediately.
A header row that just works
Starting a sheet from scratch, or want zero friction? Use this header row — every column is recognized as-is, and only date is required:
| date | type | odometer | title | cost | gallons | price | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-14 | fuel | 28450 | Shell | 37.34 | 9.6 | 3.89 | |
| 2026-03-20 | service | 28710 | Oil & filter change | 89.00 | Full synthetic | ||
| 2026-04-02 | expense | Registration renewal | 160.00 |
Your spreadsheet’s discipline, minus the data entry at a desk: log at the pump, get reminded before the next service, and export back to CSV free — forever.
Get SteerLogImporting into SteerLog
- Get your CSV onto your iPhone — AirDrop, iCloud Drive, Files, or email it to yourself.
- In SteerLog, open Settings › Export & Import › Import CSV. The import lands in the vehicle you currently have selected, so pick the right car first.
- Choose the file. SteerLog reports how many entries were added, how many duplicates were skipped, and how many rows it couldn't read.
- Check the History tab — your entries, charts, and fuel economy are computed from the imported fill-ups immediately.
One CSV goes into one vehicle. The free tier is one vehicle with every feature; unlocking more vehicles is a single one-time purchase — no subscription.
Column names SteerLog recognizes
Matching ignores case, spaces, and punctuation — Fuel-up Date, fuelup_date, and FuelUpDate all match. Only a date column is required; everything else is optional.
| Field | Accepted column names |
|---|---|
| Date (required) | date, fuelup_date, service_date, entry_date, day |
| Odometer | odometer, odo, miles, mileage, km, kilometers, odometer_mi, odometer_km |
| Fuel volume | fuel_volume, volume, gallons, litres, liters, fuel_qty, qty, quantity |
| Price per unit | price_per_unit, price_per_gallon, price_per_liter, unit_price, price |
| Total cost | cost, total_cost, total_price, total_spent, total, amount |
| Entry type | type, entry_type, category — values like fuel, service, expense |
| Title / place | title, services, service, station, fuel_brand, location, description, name |
| Notes | notes, note, comments, comment |
| Full-tank flag | full_tank, filled_tank, full |
| Partial-fill flag | partial_fuelup, partial |
No type column? Rows with a fuel volume or unit price are treated as fuel-ups; the rest become service or expense entries. Total cost is computed from volume × price when the file doesn't carry it. European decimals are safe — an entry of 9,6 litres imports as 9.6, not 96. Re-importing the same file skips duplicates (same day, type, odometer and cost), so you can't double up your history by accident.
Questions, answered
What columns does my spreadsheet need?
Only a date column is required — any common format works, like 2026-03-14 or 3/14/2026. Odometer, cost, fuel volume, unit price, type, title and notes are all optional and matched by name. Rows without a readable date are skipped and counted, never guessed.
Is the import free?
Yes — completely. Import, CSV/PDF export, iCloud sync, and backup files are all free in SteerLog, forever. The free tier is one vehicle with every feature; a single one-time purchase unlocks unlimited vehicles. There is no subscription.
Will my fuel economy history carry over?
Yes. SteerLog recomputes MPG (or L/100km) from your imported fill-ups, using full-to-full math. If your file carries a full-tank or partial-fill column, it is respected — partial fills are folded into the next full tank instead of poisoning the average.
My export uses commas for decimals — will it import correctly?
Yes. SteerLog’s importer reads both decimal styles: 9,6 litres imports as 9.6, and thousands separators like 1.234,5 or 1,234.5 are handled too. This matters for exports made on European, Brazilian, and many other locales.
Can I go back to a spreadsheet later?
Yes, any time — CSV export is free forever and produces a clean spreadsheet of every entry. SteerLog’s position is that a log you can’t leave with isn’t yours, so the exit door is deliberately never behind a paywall.
Why the import is free
SteerLog's whole premise is that your maintenance history belongs to you: it lives on your phone and your own iCloud — no account, no company server, no subscription. Import, export, backup files, and CSV/PDF are free forever, because a log you can't move isn't yours. See how SteerLog works.