How many used cars will be sold with "perfect" registration documents but less-than-transparent histories? The answer will always be the same: too many. A fake stamp will always cost a few euros and will transform a mistreated car into a certified jewel. The used market has always had this Achilles heel. But technology is about to close the deal. digital booklet It will make counterfeiting obsolete by moving everything to centralized, secure servers. No more "disappearing" pages, no more compliant stamps, no more miraculously scaled kilometers.
Every repair will be recorded by the workshop directly in the manufacturer's database, with date, mileage, and technical details. The owner will be able to consult it whenever they want, and the buyer will too. And the difference between a well-maintained car and a cheap one will finally become verifiable.
How the digital booklet will work
The mechanism is straightforward. When a vehicle enters the workshop for routine maintenance or a repair, the mechanic will no longer stamp a paper record. Instead, he will access the manufacturer's online portal using certified credentials. He will enter the details of the intervention: type of work performed, current mileage, spare parts used, and date. The system will record everything in a centralized database protected by cryptographic protocols and blockchain, making information immutable and traceable.
The car owner will receive a notification via app or email. They can view the complete history from their smartphone or computer: every service, every oil change, every pad replacement. The data will be organized in chronological order, filterable by type of repair, and accompanied by any technical notes from the workshop. It's a bit like having a perfect logbook, but managed by someone who knows what they're looking for.
The regulations ISO18541 e ISO18542 They will ensure that independent workshops also have access to the manufacturers' systems. They won't necessarily need to go to the official dealer: any qualified mechanic will be able to record the interventions, thus maintaining the owner's free choice and respecting the EC Regulation n. 461/2010.
The end of the climbed kilometers
One of the most tangible advantages of the digital logbook will be the elimination of mileage fraud. Today, tampering with the odometer is relatively simple: there are tools that can reset it in just a few minutes. The buyer relies on the number displayed on the dashboard and the paper logbook, hoping they match the reality.
With the digital system, every time the car enters the shop, the mileage will be automatically recorded. If a seller claims 80.000 km, but the last certified service shows 120.000 km, the discrepancy will immediately emerge. Tampering will become easily verifiable by checking the mileage recorded during the various services.
According to a 2025 study published in Computer Systems Science and Engineering, the adoption of blockchain in automotive systems It can reduce vehicle history disputes by 40% and buyer complaints about undeclared damage by 25%.
The recorded data becomes virtually impossible to manipulate.
Who is already using it
Mercedes-Benz It was among the first companies, and for some time now, to completely digitize the maintenance booklet. Since 2007 the models Class E e CLS class they started using the Digital Service Booklet (DSB), a system that centrally stores the entire service history. Followed by BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Land Rover e Mazda.
Renault took a step further in 2017, announcing a partnership with Microsoft and VISEO To develop a logbook based on blockchain technology. The open architecture allows for secure data sharing between the manufacturer, insurer, and repairers, while maintaining complete control with the owner. If the owner wants to sell the car, they authorize the potential buyer to access the data with complete transparency.
The Tesla e Jaguar Land Rover use digital systems to track maintenance and software updates. Other brands such as Opel, Fiat, Nissan, Citroën, Peugeot are following this trend. The transition to digital represents an important step for the digitalization of the sector and to improve the customer experience.
Future scenarios: what will really change
When the digital logbook becomes the standard for all vehicles, we will witness more profound changes than we might think.
The second-hand market It will rebalance. Well-maintained cars will be worth more because their history will be verifiable. Neglected ones will no longer be able to hide behind fake stamps. Prices will finally align with the vehicle's technical reality, not the seller's claims. This will translate into added value for those who maintain the car properly. and greater security for buyers.
Insurance companies They will be able to offer personalized policies based on actual maintenance history. A car with perfect maintenance and no accident records will receive lower premiums. One with inconsistent maintenance will pay more. The system will reward diligence and penalize neglect.
Workshops will have to adapt. It will no longer be enough to do the work: it will also need to be recorded correctly. Platforms like TecRMI Service Book They're already offering standardized solutions for independent mechanics, allowing them to compete on equal terms with official networks. Those who don't comply will lose customers, because an unregistered repair will be considered as if it hadn't been done.
Predictive maintenance will become the norm. With data collected in real time by the car's sensors and cross-referenced with the history of interventions, manufacturers will be able to warn the owner before a component fails. No more fixed-mileage maintenance, but targeted interventions based on actual vehicle use.
An even more ambitious scenario foresees complete integration between digital logbook, artificial intelligence and connected vehicles. According to a study published in Frontiers in Blockchain in 2025, the use of technologies such as Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) and InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) could create an ecosystem where every data in the life of the car is tracked, secure and instantly accessible.
The problems to be solved
Not everything will go smoothly. There are technical and cultural obstacles to overcome.
First: Access to systems. A 2023 survey by the Italian Association of Independent Automotive Spare Parts Distributors (ADIRA) revealed that approximately a third of Italian auto repairers were still unaware of the need to update their electronic logbooks. Some manufacturers charge subscription fees for access to their portals, ranging from a few euros per hour to over €2.000 annually. These costs will be passed on to end customers.
Second: standardizationEach car manufacturer has developed its own system. There's still no single standard defining content and access methods. A mechanic working for multiple brands will have to manage different platforms, with varying procedures and costs.
Third: privacyWho really controls that data? Can the owner decide who can see it? And if the car is resold, does the data follow the vehicle or remain tied to the previous owner? Data protection regulations (such as GDPR European) will impose precise rules, but it will take time to define a clear framework.
Fourth: the transition. Millions of cars on the road still have paper registration documents. It will be decades before the vehicle fleet is fully digitalized. In the meantime, two systems will coexist, creating confusion and bureaucratic complications.
Digital booklet, towards a shared memory
The digital ownership logbook isn't just a technological upgrade. It's a paradigm shift. The car will go from a private object with an opaque history to a hub in a transparent network where every piece of information is verifiable.
As long as the data remains locked in the manufacturers' servers, the system will have limitations. But if vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication continues to develop, we could arrive at a network where cars share information in real time: component status, detected anomalies, safety alerts. A connected ecosystem where preventative maintenance becomes collective intelligence.
It will take time. It will require agreements between manufacturers, clear regulations, and robust infrastructure. But the direction is set. The paper logbook, with its faded stamps and lost pages, will become a melancholy memory for those who love paper. For everyone else, it will simply be the way things worked before cars learned to remember.
And when every vehicle has a perfect memory, the used car market will stop being a gamble based on trust. It will become a transaction based on facts.
