CarBeast launches app to detect vehicle problems, predict future maintenance costs

Artificial intelligence company CarBeast launched a new app on Thursday that diagnoses automobile problems and warns users of future repair and maintenance costs for $.99 per vehicle per year.

CarBeast data scientist Kunal Joshi told Automotive News that the app uses hundreds of millions of vehicle service records and technology from Ubiquiti Inc. to analyze current needs and forecast future repair and maintenance issues. In a statement, CarBeast, of Ann Arbor, Mich., said the app is constantly being updated with new data to help predict defects.

The app includes two features according to the statement: CarBeast Insight and CarBeast Foresight. CarBeast Insight allows users to enter in the problem their vehicle is experiencing and the app will search for records of similar cases and recommend potential repairs. CarBeast Foresight uses records of vehicles of similar year, make and model to provide users with potential future costs and repairs that may need to be done to their vehicle.

The statement said CarBeast developed the app after conducting a survey which found "unmet demand" for accessing information regarding used-vehicle maintenance. The app comes at a time where the average age of vehicles is increasing and, as a result, repairs are more common, according to the statement.

"Something like Foresight may not be as attractive to a user if they're buying a new car [because] most repairs will be covered under warranty," Joshi said. "We definitely think that as people are holding onto cars longer or looking for used cars as opposed to new cars there's a good chance that both Foresight and Insight will be useful."