Engie, the car diagnostics app, has made its way into the UK market. So what exactly is it? Available on iOS and Android devices, the app pairs up with a physical Bluetooth device that you can plug directly into your car’s onboard computer. Fearing being ripped off by mechanics, the founder of Engie decided that he wanted to be telling a mechanic what was wrong with his car rather than being told what needed to be fixed. To be honest, we certainly prefer to have some level of control back in our hands as the customer.

Prices start at £14.99 on Android and £19.99 for iOS devices with each device being installed with incredible ease. Locate the connection point for your onboard computer (the power of Google will reveal where this is on your car), plug it in, switch on your Bluetooth and then open the app. Now you’re all set.

The app will require you to head out for a drive so that it can begin to collect data from the cars computer. Once you have covered a few miles or a reasonable amount of drive time, the app will start to display the results from the data it has gathered. The app will give you feedback on:

• Battery
• Alternator
• Engine Temperature
• ABS Alerts
• Airbags

It will also track your fuel consumption, distance and duration of your drive (as long as your Bluetooth is switched on at the start of your journey) and it will also show you where you parked your car. A handy feature that has also made its way onto the Google maps app.

At this stage, you may be thinking that knowing this data might be useful, but what am I actually going to gain from knowing a list of faults? The app hasn’t just been designed to tell you what is wrong with your car, it will actually do something about it. Once a fault has been found (the app can detect over 10,000 – there are no extra points for having 10,000 faults on your car) the app will provide you with a list of real-time quotes form mechanics in your local area. Reviews, customer visits and extras will help you to determine if you want to proceed with a particular mechanic. The Engie app takes around a 6% commission for helping to connect customers with mechanics. Think of it as a Trip Advisor hybrid system.

I’ve been using the Engie app system for a couple of weeks and so far it hasn’t flagged up any issues, which for a 12-year-old car I’m very happy with. The low power consumption of the device is a nice benefit as it is always plugged in and switched on. Having an idea of what is wrong with your car before you reach a mechanic is incredibly reassuring. From this viewpoint alone it is worth the incredibly small investment.

The main issue with the app it to collect all of that useful data on miles, location, fuel etc. is that it must be connected to your phone via bluetooth for the whole time. Which doesn’t work if someone else is driving the car or if your phone is usually connected to handsfree or similar. It really needs a small memory system to hold that data till you download it.

Find out more over on the Engie App website.

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