Builds in the open, with AI on the team
I'm Destin Jones, the creator of CarFinder, Open Overwatch and Ironbound. I love open source and vibe coding, and I'm always chasing the next new approach that lets technology get more done.
CarFinder was vibe coded using Claude. I set the direction and make the calls, Claude researches and builds it, and all of it ships in the open so anyone can read it, fork it and take it further.
“I wanted one page where someone who knows nothing about cars can see every new car on sale, what it lists for, what dealers really charge, and what it costs to drive off in their state. So I described that to Claude and we built it. Then I asked for India. Then nine more countries. Then motorcycles, boats and a photo of each.”Destin Jones
The whole project is a conversation turned into software: each request became a feature, each feature was tested on real quotes and on phone-sized screens, and the result is one self-contained page anyone can run, read or fork. The research behind every country's taxes and fees is in the repository, next to the code that applies it.
Every new car and truck on sale in the USA, India, China, the UK, Australia, Mexico, Spain, Thailand, Russia, Brazil and Canada: list price, what dealers actually charge, and the drive-off price for your state with taxes and fees in. Filters, a four-question helper, cost breakdowns, compare, MPG and miles for everyone. One page, no account.
A live view of the whole planet on open data: aircraft, satellites, weather, quakes, and one continuous zoom from a street out through the Solar System and the cosmic web to the Local Group. A 2D map, a 3D Earth and a Solar System view, on a phone or a PC, with no account and no tracking.
A free real-time strategy game where the city builds itself. You run the mines and oil derricks, the supply lines and power, trade with rival factions, and the army that holds the frontier. A fork of Open RTS, now a game with a self-building city, trade, diplomacy, weather and a scripted test harness.
Code, data, tax research notes, tests and design notes live in the repository. Anyone can read how a number was computed, and why.
Claude does the research and the heavy lifting on code and content. A person sets the goals, reviews the work and owns the decisions, including what ships and when.
Every dataset row is validated, the pricing core is run for every car in every region, known real-world quotes are asserted, and the page is driven headlessly at phone and desktop widths before it ships.
Dealer prices are bands, taxes follow the published rules on the compile date, exchange rates are dated, and each tab ends with a plain-language note on what was assumed. Wrong price? Open an issue.
CarFinder is free to use, read, fork and build on under the MIT licence. All that is asked is that the copyright line stays with the code. If you write about it, teach with it or build on it, please credit it like this:
Jones, D. (2026). CarFinder 2026 [Computer software]. https://github.com/destinjones/carfinder
The repository has a CITATION.cff, so GitHub's “Cite this repository” button gives the same reference in BibTeX and APA. Vehicle prices and specifications belong to their manufacturers and are compiled here for reference; the fonts are under the SIL Open Font License.