About Mechronic
Mechronic is a free AI mechanic for US car owners. You describe what your car is doing, or type the code from your scanner, and you get a straight answer: how serious it is, whether you can drive it, and what a fair repair costs at an independent shop.
Why we built it
Most people find out what's wrong with their car one of two ways: a forum thread with twenty contradicting answers, or a shop visit where the diagnosis and the sales pitch come from the same person. We wanted a third option that gives an honest answer in the time it takes to read it, and tells you exactly what to ask when you do go to a shop.
Where the answers come from
The chat is an AI model instructed to answer the way an honest mechanic would: rank the likely causes, say whether it's safe to drive, give a price range, and name one next step. The guides and trouble-code pages go further. Each one is built on data you can check:
- NHTSA owner complaints. We read every consumer complaint filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and count which trouble codes owners mention and on which models. That's 19,896 code mentions across 1,120 codes.
- Manufacturer service bulletins. Carmakers file their technical service bulletins with NHTSA. 818 of the codes on this site are named in at least one bulletin, and the code pages list them.
- Federal standards. Where a rule sets the answer, such as how fast brakes must stop a car or what the check engine light must do, we cite the regulation.
Who checks it
Drafts are written with AI tools from the data above. Before a guide or code page is published, a working, ASE-certified mechanic checks every repair cost and every mechanical claim against a written checklist, and their name, credential and the review date appear on the page. Pages that haven't been reviewed stay unpublished. Read the full editorial policy.
Our first reviewer is being onboarded. Their profile will appear here before any page is published.
What we don't do
- We don't sell parts or repairs, and no shop pays to change what the answer says.
- We don't replace a mechanic who can see and test your car. When a problem needs hands on the car, we say so.
- We don't need an account or an email for an answer.
Contact
Corrections, questions, or a shop that wants to work with us: hello@mechronic.com.