Maurice is a super nice guy I met at the SEMA Show last month. Shortly after our conversation began, I asked if he was from Ireland, based on his accent. He said he gets that a lot, but no, he’s from the Canadian province of Newfoundland. He told me how to pronounce it properly: not new-FOUND-land, but nyoo-fn-land. I got it right on the second try.
Maurice founded BlueDriver, a scan tool that allows you to easily scan and understand your vehicle from your driveway. Repairify (asTech) acquired BlueDriver in January 2021, declaring at the time that it was the only company in the world that has both aftermarket/quick-scan and full OEM diagnostic scanning and calibration capabilities.
I thought, man, the BlueDriver scan tool could really come in handy, considering the dash on my 2009 Honda Civic routinely lights up like a Christmas tree. The latest light that popped up was one I had never seen before. It was yellow and looked like one of those aliens I used to blast while playing Space Invaders in the ‘80s. The Honda owner’s manual told me it was the “malfunction indicator lamp” and was tied to emissions.
Lesley Sparkes, vice president of global marketing for Repairify, was kind enough to send me a BlueDriver, so I downloaded the app, plugged the tool into my OBDII port and paired up the tool to the app via Bluetooth. I hit the “read codes” button in the app, and it detected the little yellow space invader and told me that the coolant thermostat needed to be replaced. Wow!
As I’ve often said, I’m not a car guy, and technology is not my strong suit. But BlueDriver was super easy to use; I mean, if I could figure it out, anybody could.
Standing in the Repairify booth at SEMA, Maurice told me that Repairify aims to be a one-stop shop for vehicle diagnostic, calibration and remote programming services — one of the reasons it acquired BlueDriver. And one of the reasons it has been acquiring many other companies of late. With the nifty little BlueDriver, it’s well on its way.
