Building in PublicMarch 25, 20262 min read

I Couldn't Find the App I Needed. So I Built It.

Every car enthusiast has the same problem — mods scattered across notes, detailing products forgotten in a garage, no single place to track it all. VaultBay started as my own fix.


I Couldn't Find the App I Needed. So I Built It.

If you're a car person, you know the frustration.

You've got a list of mods somewhere in your Notes app. A spreadsheet you stopped updating six months ago. A DM thread with your friend where you shared that ceramic coating you swore you'd order. Three half-empty bottles of detail spray under your workbench that you can't remember buying.

It's a mess. And I got tired of it.

The Problem

I wanted one place to:

That app didn't exist. Not in any form I'd actually use.

What I Tried First

I went through the usual suspects. Notion — too much setup for something I want to use in my garage. Google Sheets — fine, but not built for this. Random car tracking apps — outdated, ugly, or missing half the features I needed.

None of them were built by someone who actually cared about their car.

So I Built VaultBay

VaultBay is the dashboard I wished existed.

Two core modules:

The Vault — your car's complete record. Every modification, every upgrade, every part linked back to where you bought it. A living build log that grows with your car.

The Bay — your detailing arsenal. Scan a product, AI reads the label, logs it automatically. Track what you've used, what you liked, and where to get more — with affiliate links to the best deals.

Why I'm Documenting This

Building in public keeps me honest. It forces clarity. And honestly — if you're solving a real problem, the people who have that same problem want to watch you solve it.

Every week I'll post what I built, what broke, what I learned, and what's next. No vanity metrics, no hype. Just the actual work.

If you've ever stared at a pile of detailing products and thought "there has to be a better way" — follow along. We're building it.

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The Car Enthusiast's Complete Tracking System

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