Ride Along Mechanic

What's that noise?

Record a car noise while you drive. Get back the most likely causes, how urgent it is, and the questions a mechanic would ask you next.

Download for Android

Installs directly — it isn't on the Play Store. iPhone isn't available yet.

How it works

  1. Photograph the VIN. It reads the 17 characters and looks the vehicle up, so it knows the engine and drivetrain it's listening to.
  2. Record the noise while driving. The phone captures the sound and, at the same time, what the car is doing — speeding up, braking, cornering.
  3. Get a diagnosis. Ranked likely causes with reasoning, an urgency level, and follow-up questions you can answer to narrow it down.

Why the driving data matters

Most apps hear a bare clip. This one records the phone's motion sensors on the same clock as the audio, so it can tell that a squeal happened only while braking — which is what separates a brake problem from a wheel bearing. That was the whole idea behind building it.

What happens to your recording

Audio is turned into a picture of its frequencies and then deleted. Voices are stripped out before even that. Nothing you say in the car is kept, and no recording is ever stored.

Honestly, what it is

A second opinion, not an inspection

This is a helpful first guess from a recording. It cannot see, touch, or test anything, and it does not replace a mechanic looking at your car.

Anything to do with brakes, steering or overheating is flagged as "see a mechanic before driving" — and that's meant literally.