Get your car to tell you what’s wrong with a $50 dongle

We imagine that the blind terror that we experience when visiting an auto shop is the same when a car mechanic visits Best Buy. After all, to us, that check engine light represents a multitude of problems that send most of us into a panic. That’s the issue that Fixd is hoping to eliminate, thanks to the fact that almost all cars nowadays have an On Board Diagnostics port - which is how those mechanics diagnose what’s wrong. Fixd itself is a small Bluetooth transmitter that plugs into the OBD II port, pushing data to your smartphone. As soon as it recognizes a problem, it can tell you what needs to be done, and how much it’ll cost. It’ll even work with multiple vehicles, and will also let you know when it’s time to take the car in for its annual service. Naturally, it’s a Kickstarter project, requiring $50 to get hold of the device and its corresponding iOS or Android app when it ships early next year. On the upside, just imagine the first time you use it, stride straight into Joe’s Auto Repair and tell them exactly what’s busted.