The AI second opinion
before you pay the shop.
Carbide turns confusing automotive information into clear, actionable vehicle intelligence. Describe what your car is doing, paste your codes, or upload a scan — get a ranked diagnosis, a driveability verdict, and the questions worth asking the shop.
- 4 levels
- Green / Yellow / Orange / Red risk indicator
- Full P/B/C/U
- OBD-II coverage, not just the popular codes
- Printable
- AI Second Opinion Report for the technician
Catalyst efficiency below threshold (Bank 1)
Emissions
System too lean (Bank 1)
Fuel trim
Random/multiple cylinder misfire detected
Ignition
Carbide reads together
Lean fuel trim + random misfire + catalyst efficiency — the misfire is likely the upstream cause, not three independent failures.
Features
Built around how a driver actually talks about their car.
Most tools assume you already speak tech. Carbide assumes you don’t — and answers with respect for your time, your wallet, and your mechanic.
Digital Garage & Vehicle Health Record
Track every car you own — year, make, model, trim, engine, mileage, optional VIN — and keep a permanent Vehicle Health Record that follows the car, not the calendar.
AI Symptom Advisor
Describe what the car is doing in plain language. Get a ranked list of probable causes, the systems involved, a driveability verdict, and the questions worth asking a mechanic.
OBD-II Code Analyzer
Paste one code or a stack of them — P0300, P0171, P0420, P0016, U0100, and the rest. Carbide surfaces related codes and, when several appear together, models their relationship instead of treating them in isolation.
Scan, Photo, or Paste-Text Upload
Handheld-scanner photos, screenshots, PDFs, or pasted text. Carbide extracts the usable detail and produces a structured Vehicle Diagnostic Report — no more squinting at a tiny display.
Repair Estimate Analyzer
Carbide reads parts, labor, shop fees, and totals — then flags duplicate labor, dependencies, work that could be combined, and clarifying questions to bring back to the shop. Phrased as “consider asking,” never as accusations.
Risk Indicator & Printable Report
Every analysis carries a four-level Vehicle Risk Indicator (Green, Yellow, Orange, Red) and exports as a printable AI Second Opinion Report you can take to the shop.
How it works
From “the car feels weird” to a report you can hand to the shop.
Four steps, no jargon. Each step is designed to produce something your mechanic can act on — not something you have to translate.
- 01
Add your vehicle
Drop in year, make, model, trim, engine, mileage, and an optional VIN. Your Digital Garage can hold several cars — yours, your partner’s, your teenager’s.
- 02
Describe, scan, or paste
Type what the car is doing, paste your OBD-II codes, or upload a photo/PDF of a scanner screen. Carbide pulls the structure out automatically.
- 03
Read the report
Get a ranked list of probable causes, a diagnostic sequence that respects cost order, a driveability verdict, and the questions to bring back to the shop — phrased as “consider asking,” never as accusations.
- 04
Take it with you
Export a printable AI Second Opinion Report. Hand it to the technician and ask Carbide’s questions verbatim — or paste their estimate back in for a second look.
Live preview
Pick a symptom. Watch Carbide turn it into a structured report.
This is a static snapshot of what a full Carbide analysis looks like — same shape, same risk indicator, same questions. Real reports are exportable and tied to your Digital Garage.
Try it — describe what the car is doing
Pulled from your symptom description and the codes you logged.
Driveability verdict
Drivable in the short term, but a confirmed active misfire can send unburned fuel with excess oxygen into the exhaust, which over time can overheat and damage the catalytic converter. Get it looked at this week before the catalyst is harmed.
Probable causes — ranked
- 1
Vacuum leak at intake manifold, PCV line, or brake booster hose
Air intake · Likelihood: HIGHER LIKELIHOOD
- 2
Contaminated or skewed MAF sensor reading at idle
Air intake · Likelihood: MODERATE LIKELIHOOD
- 3
Stuck or carbon-fouled idle air control / throttle plate
Idle control · Likelihood: MODERATE LIKELIHOOD
- 4
Intermittent wiring or connector fault at a coil or fuel injector (only after verification)
Wiring · Likelihood: LOWER LIKELIHOOD
Recommended diagnostic sequence
- 1Pull stored DTCs and freeze-frame — write down engine RPM, engine load, short- and long-term fuel trim, and the specific cylinder flagged at the fault.
- 2Read live STFT / LTFT and MAF grams per second at idle, then watch the upstream O2 sensor voltage swing for proper rich-to-lean pattern.
- 3Use the scan tool to inspect per-cylinder misfire counters and recent counts since the fault — not just the code, but which cylinder.
- 4Smoke-test the intake manifold, PCV system, and brake booster line for vacuum leaks before any parts recommendation.
- 5Run a fuel-pressure test against factory spec; if the misfire persists, do compression and leak-down on the flagged cylinder.
- 6Only after those tests: wiggle-test the coil and injector harness on the flagged cylinder, then consider replacement if a confirmed fault is found.
Questions worth asking the shop
- Consider asking: “Which cylinder is the freeze-frame flagging as the misfire, and what were STFT / LTFT at the moment of the fault?”
- Consider asking: “What did the shop measure for MAF g/s, fuel trim, and O2 voltage swing before recommending any new parts?”
- Consider asking: “Did they perform a wiring and connector wiggle-test at the coils and injectors on the flagged cylinder?”
Risk levels across the four-indicator scale:
Why a second opinion
The shop reads your symptoms.
Carbide reads the situation.
Carbide writes questions meant to be asked — never accusations. The phrasing matters as much as the data: it keeps the conversation with your shop a conversation, not a confrontation.
“Consider asking” phrasing · Carbide
Phrased as preparation, not accusation — your shop hears a prepared customer, not a complaint.
Stack-aware code reading · Carbide
P0171 + P0420 + P0300 together tells a different story than P0420 alone. Carbide models the whole stack.
Cost-ordered diagnostic sequence · Carbide
Cheap tests first (visual, smoke test, swap-test coils), expensive parts last (converter, module, harness).
Questions, answered
FAQ
The short version: Carbide turns automotive information into something a driver can act on. It does not replace a mechanic.
Carbide
Bring a clearer question to your next shop visit.
The product is in private beta. Drop us a line and we’ll tell you when it opens up — and we read every email.
Email: carbide-2@polsia.app