Rust & Wreck AI

AI-powered damage estimates and shop discovery—Rust & Wreck AI lets anyone snap a photo, get a cost breakdown, and find trusted local repair pros in seconds, its not only for Autobodyshops but anyone.

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Inspiration

Worked as a panel beater/autobody repairs for 15 plus years, and that's where the inspiration came from for Rust & Wreck AI. Getting vehicle damage estimates is frustrating — it’s time-consuming, inconsistent, and often overpriced. We wanted to build a tool that empowers both everyday drivers and busy repair shops by using AI to generate fast, accurate repair cost estimates from just a photo.

What It Does:

Rust & Wreck AI is a mobile-first web app that:

  • Lets users upload or take a photo of vehicle damage
  • Provides an instant, location-based repair cost estimate
  • Breaks down labor, parts, and materials
  • Allows users to download professional PDF reports
  • Helps customers find and rate local body shops
  • Enables workshops to list services and earn reviews

Free users get 1 estimate/month. Paid tiers unlock more features and business tools. (Will be added as soon as LLC is setup)

🛠 How We Built It

Rust & Wreck AI was developed using Bolt.new, with a mobile-first layout designed to be fast, clear, and professional — aimed at both casual users and body shop professionals. Our design follows a calming orange-to-blue gradient theme, with rounded fonts and bottom-tab navigation to create a clean, app-like experience that works seamlessly across all screen sizes.

We intentionally built this version without a backend, using **localStorage to manage all user state and estimate history directly on the device. This approach keeps the app lightweight, private, and instantly responsive — no signup or cloud services required to get started.

To generate accurate damage repair estimates, we integrated OpenAI’s GPT-4 API via a Make.com scenario. When a user uploads an image and short description, this data is sent to OpenAI, which returns a structured cost breakdown including part, labor, and total cost — localized based on user location. All estimates are shown instantly and saved locally for easy recall.

The app also includes:

  • A simple image upload/camera feature to capture vehicle damage
  • A PDF-ready quote layout for professional use and sharing
  • Early-stage Stripe integration (not yet activated) to support future monetization tiers

By focusing on local-first logic and AI-driven output, we were able to build and fine-tune a world-first repair estimation tool — all without the need for a traditional backend.

Challenges We Ran Into:

  • Making the AI estimate logic accurate across global regions and vehicle types
  • Balancing simplicity for casual users with pro features for body shops
  • Ensuring PDF downloads were secure, clean, and branded
  • Designing a scalable backend that could handle both user and business data

Accomplishments We're Proud Of:

  • Created a sleek, professional UI that works on all devices
  • Built accurate repair logic that adjusts by country and city
  • Designed an app that serves both consumers and workshops
  • Implemented working payments, PDF exports, and location-aware search in under a week!

What We Learned:

  • How to balance product design between B2C and B2B
  • How to structure feature requests and logic in Bolt.new
  • Supabase’s power for real-time auth + storage without complexity
  • How much potential there is in modernizing old-school industries

What’s Next for Rust & Wreck AI:

  • Fine-tune AI estimation using real-world datasets from partner repair shops
  • Launch beta in 2–3 regions and onboard early shops for listing and reviews
  • Add quote-sharing, multi-language support, and user-built repair logs
  • Build an internal dashboard for shops to manage clients and estimates

Built With

  • bolt.new
  • chatgpt
  • gpt4.0
  • html/css
  • javascript
  • make.com
  • openai
  • pdfmake
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