Shortlist used Volvos and prep dealer questions with ChatGPT

Find a clogged catalytic converter on a road trip in Mexico with ChatGPT

Kevin and Ruth's vehicle, Igor, was losing power in a tiny town in Veracruz, Mexico, and the pollution air pump had started making odd whirring noises. Kevin input the vehicle statistics and symptoms into ChatGPT, which gave three possibilities: a clogged catalytic converter, the fuel pump or the MAP sensor. The fuel pressure read 40 psi and a swapped MAP sensor changed nothing, which left the converter. ChatGPT suggested removing the oxygen sensor in front of the converter so the exhaust could escape; the engine fired right up and ran normally. The mechanics hollowed out the converter instead of replacing it, the check engine light stayed on, and the bill was 1,700 pesos (about $98 US).

Find an $80 purge valve fix instead of a new catalytic converter with ChatGPT

A Ford Ranger owner with the 3.0L engine had small evap leak codes that turned into catalytic converter codes. After a full diagnosis, a shop said the truck needed a new cat and gas cap for 'an astronomical sum.' The owner asked ChatGPT, which said this era of the 3.0L is notorious for the problem and suggested a new purge canister valve. The part cost about $80, it turned out to be the issue all along, and the truck has run smoothly since. The forum thread is titled 'ChatGPT saved me 3K.'

Negotiate a car lease down nearly $70 a month with ChatGPT

After choosing a car, Bryan Placinski got a lease offer from the dealership and plugged all the details into ChatGPT to analyze it. ChatGPT flagged two problems: the discount off MSRP was too low, at 2% versus the 6–7% it called typical, and the money factor appeared inflated above the base rate. It drafted a detailed counteroffer and a spreadsheet comparing the dealership's offer with the counteroffer. The counteroffer lowered the monthly payment by nearly $70. Placinski sent it to the dealership, and they accepted it as is.

Negotiate a hybrid SUV price by email with three dealers using Claude

Derek Croote wanted to replace a 2011 Subaru Forester with a hybrid SUV and asked Claude 3.5 Sonnet for a negotiation strategy. Claude pointed out that '10 vehicles available across 3 dealerships' was leverage, and suggested emailing each dealer for an out-the-door price, aiming for 3–5% below MSRP, settling the price before the trade-in, and buying near the end of the month. Croote emailed three dealers on a Wednesday night near month's end and negotiated for two days by email, text and phone. Croote says it saved over $4K on the out-the-door price, including $1,500 for the trade-in, more than expected.

Trace a check-engine code and a tank that won't fill to a stuck valve with Grok, and fix it for $120

Christopher Wipper's mechanic wanted $169 just to troubleshoot a check engine light. AutoZone's free OBD2 scanner gave code P0458 (purge control valve circuit low), and the car wouldn't take fuel: it backed up in the fill tube. With no YouTube videos for the problem, Wipper used Grok to troubleshoot step by step: the air drain case on top of the fill port was clear, but the canister close valve's solenoid was stuck closed. Wipper had the replacement part in hand in 20 minutes and fixed it for $120 in less than an hour.

Get out-the-door quotes from 25 dealerships at once with a ChatGPT list and message, and pay $7,000 less

Isaiah Crossman, a salesperson, started shopping a few days before the end of the month, when dealers chasing monthly targets are most motivated. After a test drive and a benchmark price from the nearest dealer, Crossman had ChatGPT list the 25 closest dealerships with links to their contact forms and draft one message: driven it, ready to buy, this spec and these colours, send your best out-the-door price. Sending it to all 25 took about 7 minutes. Over about 2 hours of calls across a few days, a general manager 40 minutes away made a same-day deal: $7,000 less than one dealer's earlier offer and $2,100 less than the next lowest.

Check suspicious texts and emails for scams with Norton in ChatGPT

Tom's Guide writer Amanda Caswell added the Norton scam-detection app inside ChatGPT and tested it on real messages by uploading screenshots. The first test, a text about a part-time job, came back 'Unknown,' with only general advice to be careful with unsolicited job offers. A real email claiming a payment had been declined, which looked believable because Caswell had just updated a credit card, was flagged within seconds with 'high confidence' as phishing aimed at payment details. A vague money-making email from someone named Mark was flagged with high confidence as a 'gambling scam,' and a real Lollapalooza lineup email that had landed in spam was judged legitimate, with a note to stay cautious.

Plan a week of meals for a family of four under $300 with ChatGPT

To test whether AI can trim a grocery bill, a WDIV Local 4 newsroom team in Detroit asked ChatGPT to create a weekly meal plan and grocery list for a Detroit-area family of four with two children, targeting around $300. When the team priced the list at Kroger online, including store savings and coupons, the total came to approximately $250. The station noted that it did not check whether the groceries would actually provide enough food for a family of four for a full week.

Build a custom ChatGPT reading tutor for a dyslexic child

Arlyn Gajilan's 11-year-old son, Tobey, who is dyslexic, came home saying, 'Everyone keeps telling me I'm smart, but I'm just so slow.' Gajilan built a custom GPT in ChatGPT to help Tobey with reading fluency, spelling and organizing written work. Gajilan fed it Tobey's report cards, neuropsych evaluation, hobbies and competitive streak so lessons were gamified, set it up to encourage progress even when Tobey struggled, and after each session asked it, 'Why this choice?' or 'What is he learning?' Within weeks, Tobey was gaining confidence. Gajilan later turned the idea into a paid tutoring platform, while saying human tutoring is 'absolutely 100% the gold standard.'