North Star

Northstar is a site dedicated to streamlining the process of shopping for, and subsequently purchasing or leasing, a pre-owned vehicle from Toyota.

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Inspiration

Car financing is confusing—opaque fees, fuzzy math, generic advice. We set out to make Toyota financing transparent and personal so buyers can answer: “What’s the right Toyota for me, and what will it actually cost?”

What it does

  • Personalized picks: AI recommends top Toyotas from a 7+ factor profile.
  • Clear finance vs. lease: Side-by-side breakdowns with no hidden fees.
  • Smart location search: Nearby dealerships by distance with inventory.
  • Secure dashboard: Save vehicles, manage profile, explore options.

How we built it

Frontend: Next.js 14 (App Router), TypeScript, Chakra UI, Framer Motion, React Three Fiber/Three.js.
Backend: Next.js API routes, MongoDB/Mongoose, Auth0 (OAuth), Google Gemini (with heuristic fallback).

Challenges we ran into

  • Tuning recommendation weights (budget vs. lifestyle/features).
  • Consistent profile validation across pages.
  • Seeding realistic Toyota specs.
  • Optimizing 3D starfield performance.
  • Verifying finance/lease formulas.
  • Keeping types aligned FE/BE/DB.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Working AI recommendations with instant results.
  • Transparent payments that match real quotes.
  • Polished, cosmic-themed UX.
  • End-to-end TypeScript reliability.
  • Clear gating for incomplete profiles.
  • Scalable APIs for future integrations.

What we learned

  • Clear validation beats confusion.
  • Multi-factor scoring needs iteration.
  • Finance math must be verified.
  • Type safety pays off at scale.
  • Polished UX > feature bloat.
  • Real data builds trust.

What's next for North Star

Immediate:

  • Expand to 10+ recs
  • Live dealer inventory
  • Trade-in valuation
  • More terms/credit tiers

Phase 2:

  • Pre-approval flow
  • Insurance + maintenance in TCO
  • Dealer locator & booking

Long-term:

  • Add more manufacturers
  • Resale-value ML
  • Mobile app with price alerts

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