Know what your car is telling you.
Live dials, sat-nav that knows the limit, a dashcam, and an AI mechanic who explains your fault codes in plain English.
It runs on the cheap plug you may already have in a drawer.
Free. No subscription. Try it with no car in demo mode.
The app's home screen, in the colour you pick.
In testing now. Want in?
- Join the tester group with your phone's Google account.
- Then tap the opt-in link. It only works once you're in the group.
- Install OBD Mechanic from the Play page it opens.
Android only. Demo mode works with no car and no adapter, and the mechanic's three example answers inside it are free.
We're very open to feedback, especially while we're testing. Any bugs, comments or ideas, just email ask@jim.scot. We read every one.
Three codes. One cause.
He reads your fault codes, your live readings and your exact car together. Then he tells you what to check, cheapest first, and whether it is safe to drive.
Your first quick look at your own car is free.
See how the mechanic works ›
A real diagnosis screen.
The sign ahead, before you can see it.
Following a route on the motorway? The next lit sign on your way pops up as a card. Same words, same amber, while the real one is still a dot in the distance.
Queues, closures, crashes and journey times. On your phone and on the car's own screen. It goes once you pass the sign.
The nagging ones stay on the gantry. No "Belt up", no "Tiredness kills". If your car shares it, the Car dial already shows whose belt is on.
Live in England and Scotland. Wales is next. Sign in to get them.
See the map and the HUD ›Two real signs, word for word, from the live feeds on 26 October.
Signs in England: Powered by National Highways' Transport Data Feeds.
Signs in Scotland: Traffic Scotland, from Transport Scotland.
Low on fuel? It finds you a cheaper pump.
The app reads your tank. When it gets low, one quiet card asks if you want petrol stations.
Tap Find. You get the stations near you with the latest pump price for your fuel. Sort by nearest or by cheapest.
Petrol and diesel prices from Fuel Finder, the UK government's register. Sign in to see them. Electric? It finds charge points instead.
See the low-fuel card ›
The card asks once. Tap Find and the cheapest E10 near Kirkcaldy comes first.
Your phone does the work. The car's screen shows it.
The phone keeps the adapter and does the thinking. A cheap Android head unit or a spare tablet shows your dials, the map and the sign cards, over WiFi.
Set it up once and it reconnects by itself. Directions can speak through the car's speakers. Music and the dashcam work from the big screen too.
See second screens ›
A real dash wearing three of them.
A dash worth showing off.
Full-screen skins, or build your own from a gallery of dial styles. Every dial shows your car's real numbers as you drive.
A deep scan finds the extra readings your car keeps to itself. The Car dial puts tyres, doors and belts in one picture.
See the skins and dials ›
Day Rider: the 80s called, they're proud of you. Prestige, for the tastefully restrained.
Turn it sideways.
Map, speed limit and music on one screen. Camera warnings come earlier the faster you go.
Or lay the phone flat and read the speed off the windscreen.
See the map and the HUD ›
Drive mode, music on the right. The HUD: 73 in a 60. The arc doesn't approve.
Your lap, on video.
The dashcam films the road and logs your readings beside it. It spots laps by itself.
Export a lap with your dials, a track map and a lap timer on it, ready for the group chat.
See the dashcam ›
A real lap export. The camera mount was a bit high.
Start from your number plate.
Type the reg. Make, model, MOT and tax dates fill in.
The full MOT history comes too, every advisory colour-coded. Free.
See the garage ›
The developer's Mazda. It has seen things.
Also in the app
The small things that matter on the day.
Every drive recorded
Graphs of every drive. Tap Mark it the moment the fault comes back.
Warning lights it adds
Overheating, charging trouble, oil too hot. A chime only when it is real.
Breakdown numbers
The AA, Green Flag and RAC, there with no signal.
Buyer mode
Check a car's MOT history and read its codes before you buy it.
0 to 60 timer
Quarter-mile, braking and a g-force ball too. No extra kit.
Colour-blind mode
One switch swaps every warning colour for a red-green safe set.
Free to use. Spanners pay for the mechanic.
No subscription. Spanners never expire.
Live dials and two dashboard pages per car, reading and clearing codes, drive logs, maps and speed limits, two cars in the garage, MOT history, demo mode.
A quick look costs 1 spanner. A deep look costs 3. Filling the glovebox costs 2. Your first quick look and first glovebox fill are free.
Every skin, two more dashboard pages, the second HUD pane, your own colours, as many cars as you like and every dashcam export style. No renewals. It stays yours.
One good look and one fix. Not a subscription drip.
Need an adapter?
Petrol cars since 2001 and diesels since about 2004 have the port. Any ELM327 plug works, so the one in your drawer will do. If you need one, these are the ones we've used ourselves.
The basic one
Does the job. Slower to answer and may miss some readings. A cheap spare for the glovebox.
The one we'd pick
A known brand. Answers faster, holds a steadier link and reads more of what your car offers. It was the developer's daily plug for months.
The specialist
Switches to the second network Fords and Mazdas hide some readings on. It's the one on the developer's Mazda most days. Most people do not need it.
You do not need ours. Install first. Demo mode shows you everything before you spend a penny on a plug.
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