Poyo-ta: the Toyota Matchmaker

AI chatbot

Inspiration

For most young adults, buying a car is more intimidating than exciting, especially if they're going through the process for the first time. Terms like horsepower, APR, and drivetrain can feel overwhelming, and the average buyer spends around 14 hours online researching cars before landing on the one that's right for them. Even then, the question may remain- is this car actually right for me?

What it does

Our app helps users find the perfect Toyota vehicle through a personalized, AI-powered experience. It begins with a short lifestyle quiz that learns about each user’s habits, preferences, and priorities. Using generative AI, the system analyzes their responses and matches them to the top five Toyota vehicles tailored to their needs. It provides a summary of each vehicle, and the relevant features that users may want to consider when buying the car (ex. they live in a cold climate so the AI recommends heated seats). Users may also easily compare cars and calculate their estimated monthly payment when leasing or buying using our built-in payment calculator. Beyond car recommendations, the app promotes financial literacy and transparency through an integrated AI chatbot that’s always available to answer questions and connect users with Toyota Financial Services resources, helping them make confident, informed decisions.

How we built it

We built our website using Python for the back end and Reflex for the front end, creating a full-stack web application entirely in Python. The front end, built with Reflex, delivers an interactive and user-friendly interface where users can explore Toyota’s 2025 lineup, take a personalized car preference quiz, compare trims, and access a dynamic finance calculator. On the back end, Python handles data management, pulling from our custom JSON database of Toyota vehicles and performing real-time financial computations. We integrated banking APIs to calculate financing and leasing options accurately, reflecting real-world interest rates. Additionally, we incorporated OpenAI’s API to power the quiz results and chatbot. This combination of data, intelligent automation, and user-focused design creates an accessible and educational car shopping experience.

Challenges we ran into

Since we didn’t have access to Toyota’s API, building the financial calculator required extensive trial and error. We developed our own mock car database and custom formulas to calculate estimated monthly payments.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Successfully integrating the front end and back end after many challenges, especially connecting the backend data to the AI-generated car recommendations.

What we learned

We learned a lot about working with OpenAI’s APIs and are excited that we were able to integrate an LLM into our website to make the user experience more engaging and personalized.

What's next for Poyo-ta: The Toyota Matchmaker

We’re excited to explore adding an augmented reality (AR) feature that lets users visualize their car in real-world settings, like in their driveway or next to everyday items such as a stroller or skis, to see how it truly fits into their lifestyle. We also want to emphasize accessibility by providing tailored recommendations for wheelchair users and others with specific mobility needs, ensuring that everyone can find a car that fits them perfectly.

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