I've been building the most advanced automotive diagnostic app on the market
I used to be a mechanic, and spend a lot of my free time working on project vehicles, motorcycles, tractors, trucks etc. I wanted a tool to track the tasks I needed done, then a way to easily access VIN info for parts search, then I DMV records, and finally built an iphone app to scan the OBD2 diagnostic codes and hook them up to a custom ai diagnostic prompt.
It's been a blast to work on, I need to focus on marketing it and get some users that aren't close friends, but it's been serving my purposes this summer so far.
I've seen nothing with anywhere close to this depth of diagnostic reporting.
https://crewchief.cc https://apps.apple.com/us/app/crewchief-auto/id6760673109
Very cool indeed. Make it really easy also for non mech people to diagnose and get an idea on a problem while having only an OBD2 adapter. How are the reparations prices calculated? Is there some kind of dataset you builder or is it just a guide prompt to an LLM?
Thanks, yes its been empowering my less handy friends to fix things on their own, and building their confidence. I figure, we can't have right to repair without a more informed/confident public to demand better, repairable, and surveillance free cars.
For Pricing calculations it's a mix of the fetched tool search prices data and guided prompt. There are lots of published records on what hours jobs _should_ take and average labor hours per region.
I wish Apple exposed serial on iOS so that we could just use any generic USB - OBD2 cable on iPhones
same
Does it have any make-specific features? For instance, I've used vcds for VW/Audi since it has better reporting than generic odb2 code readers.
At the wire level, no: it speaks generic OBD2 (ELM327), so it sees powertrain codes and standard PIDs. It won't talk to every module on a VAG car the way VCDS does — no ABS/airbag/body modules, no adaptations or coding. If you need that, VCDS stays on your bench.
Where it is make-specific is the interpretation layer. The code database includes manufacturer-specific DTCs for the 10 major makes, and there's per-model data down to the generation level — known failure patterns, which codes are common on which engines. So a P0171 on an E46 gets read in the context of "this generation eats intake boots and DISA valves," not a generic lean-code writeup. The AI report is conditioned on the exact year/make/model/engine, which is where most of the diagnostic depth comes from.
That being said, I'm continually expanding support, it really just depends on what sort of barriers I run into with these bluetooth scanners. For certain types of diagnostics (large truck / Buses etc) I'll likely need to make a separate desktop app that connects directly wired.
Would love to see more Subaru support
It looks really impressive. Well done. Wishing you luck with it.
Looks great, I would like to try it out. Can you recommend any OBD2 adapter? I’m driving a Ford from 2019.
the Vgate works good, there is a spec for the OBD2 Devices over bluetooth, so any of the cheap ($20-$30 range) should work fine, I haven't found one that hasn't connected to the app yet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGB4873?th=1&tag=crewchief-20"
Nice one! Is the iPad app a full fledged iPadOS app or just a browser for now?
I haven't targeted for ipad yet, I should test soon, I have an ipad mini that would be great to use, since I keep manuals on there anyways.