The reason you get 14 calls after looking at one Civic is that you are the product. I built the opposite
Quick context. I spent years working inside the auto tech industry. Then I tried to buy my own car and it was still a mess. The big "free" car shopping sites make their money from dealers, OEMs, insurance, and financing partners, so the experience quietly steers shoppers toward whoever's paying the most and farms out your lead. That's why you get 14 calls after looking at one Civic, and why every listing somehow earns a "Great Deal" badge.
So I built Cara (findcara.com). The bet is simple: if I want to actually be on the shopper's side, my main customer has to be them, not the dealer. Consumer-paid only. No lead farming, ever.
What's working today (free beta, no credit card required):
- Conversational inventory search. Search by qualities ("apple carplay", "quiet ride," "good for tall drivers"), not just specs. Smart filters that loosen and tell you what they changed instead of returning zero results.
- Lineup view with editable loan / lease / cash math, fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation. Override any number, totals re-flow.
- Trade-in estimator backed by real market data.
- It's also live on the ChatGPT app store (first automotive startup approved, which I'm still slightly suspicious about).
Stack: Next.js 16, React 19, Tailwind v4, Auth0, Pydantic AI, Anthropic + OpenAI under the hood, Postgres + GCP + Logfire. Fully vibe coded via Claude Code.
What's rough:
- UX is dense. Lots of features packed into not enough screen. Mobile is especially tricky.
- The landing page is mid. Feedback welcome on what feels like marketing fluff.
- Pricing model needs a rework.
What I'd love from this sub:
- Roast the landing page.
- Tell me what's confusing in the app.
- What's the next thing you'd want this to do.
- If you're actively car shopping (or know someone who is), drop a question in the comments. I'll run it through Cara and post the output so you can judge whether it's actually useful before signing up.
Free, no credit card. You sign up only to keep bots out (I'm paying the LLM bill myself).
Honest question I keep asking myself: is consumer-paid the right call here, or am I going to die on this hill? Open to being told it's a bad idea.
Flagging clearly: I built this. Mods, happy to remove if it doesn't fit sub rules.