Living in Sweden has its own burdens -- mostly the bitter cold and apparently high taxes -- but consumer awareness and transparency seem to have taken hold -- at least with used cars.
In the States, between Craigslist scams and used car salesmen with stereotypically 'broad-spectrum' fashion, purchasing a previously owned vehicle can be, or at least feel like, a scam waiting to happen.
Has that sweet Yugo seen better days? Or is that really a Maserati for under 10 grand?
There's an app -- available only in Sweden thus far, but still -- that allows users to snap a picture of a car's license plate and (wait for it...) returns the vital statistics for said car.
Everything from estimated value to insurance to the car's recent transaction history -- that hopefully does not include a trip across the border or visit to a flood zone.
At present, the app has 9,000 models and 80,000 different versions/views.
Tech
At future, we hope it migrates to the United States soon. Or at least California...