For vehicle owners, the scenario is painfully familiar. You pull into an auto shop expecting a routine oil change or tire rotation, but your mechanic has other ideas—suggesting hundreds of dollars in “must-do” repairs.
Irvine-based Sparq Inc. aims to flip that power dynamic.
Founded by 20-something entrepreneurs Daniel Nieh and Codrin Cobzaru, Sparq has developed an AI-powered diagnostic device that tells car owners what vehicle repairs they actually need and what they should reasonably pay to fix them.
“We essentially wanted to create something that lets people really understand what’s going on with their car without needing to go through a five-year ASE mechanic degree,” co-founder and Chief Executive Nieh told the Business Journal.
The Sparq device, which sells for $129 and is available on Amazon, plugs into a vehicle’s OBD-II (On-Board Diagnostics II) port and connects to a mobile app via Bluetooth. Within seconds, it runs more than 50,000 diagnostic checks, eventually delivering consumers a timeline for repair suggestions—from “consider service ASAP” to “consider servicing within 300 miles,” Nieh said.
“We can perform more than 50,000 independent inspections on your car in under 45 seconds,” Nieh said.
Unlike competing tools that often charge monthly subscriptions, Sparq doesn’t charge any additional fees. “It’s a one-time fee,” Nieh said. “You own it for life.”
A single device, the size of an AirPod, can work across multiple vehicles. However, Nieh recommends having an individual device for each vehicle because the tool also “learns” how you drive.
“And it will actually predict when your vehicle is going to break down,” he said.
Founders Met at Boarding School
Nieh and Cobzaru, now ages 26 and 27, met about a decade ago while attending St. Johnsbury Academy, a boarding school in Vermont.
Their first startup was a haircut platform that used 3D Lidar technology to “try on” haircuts, in the same way Warby Parker now lets consumers try on frames from their computer. But that idea fizzled out because the technology was limited at the time.
The two partners, now college grads, came up with the idea for Sparq after Cobzaru’s girlfriend took her 2016 Mazda into her mechanic for routine maintenance about five years ago.
“She walked out of the mechanic shop paying more than $3,000” for various repairs, Nieh said.
That “sparked” the idea for the duo to create a device that would eliminate the angst and headaches of dealing with mechanics by building a tool that acts like their personal AI mechanic. The tool launched in 2024.
How it Works
After scanning the car for potential fixes, the tool scrapes service records and other available car data from the internet to estimate repair costs, accounting for labor and parts.
Nieh said this enables customers to walk into their local mechanic’s shop with confidence about which repairs are necessary and how much they should cost.
“You don’t need to know anything about cars,” he said.
Beyond diagnostics, Sparq offers features like a “digital glove box” for storing insurance and warranty documents.
Looking ahead, Sparq plans to roll out CoLab, a platform that allows drivers to share diagnostic data with vetted mechanics who can provide remote quotes, eliminating the need for a physical inspection. It also avoids wasted hours driving around to get quotes from various mechanics’ shops, Nieh said.
“That hasn’t been done before,” he said.
Beyond Amazon, the company is also working to bring the diagnostic tool into “big box” retailers, Nieh said.
“A year from now, we would like to be all across America and hitting the global stage.”
