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Q. One thing that surprised me is I typed in Toyota Corolla 1987 - 1989 and craigslist came up with 2009 models. What do you do when something like that happens?
A. The thing to remember about craigslist is that it isn't really a car site. It doesn't know anything about years - everything is just words. So if you search for "1989", it might match "1989 Corolla", but it might also match "Corolla - $1989" or "2009 Toyota Camry ...
retro 1989 corolla spoiler" or whatever. The other side of that problem is that some people might just write "'89 Corolla", so you wouldn't find that one at all.
I deal with this issue much like the one above. By default, AutoTempest will search for both the two-digit and four-digit versions of the years you choose. So for your example, we would check for the keywords 87, 88, 89, 1987, 1988, 1989. This will get the results you're looking for, but as you noticed, you'll likely get some you aren't interested in. That's why I give the option to instead search for only 4-digit years (ie 1987, 1988, 1989) and/or to only search in the title of the post, not the contents. So if you're not worried about finding every single match and want to eliminate the false positives, these options can save you some time.
Q. Is there anything you can do to avoid expired ads? That seems to be a knock on some of the sites. People will purposely keep outdated ads online to drive interest in other vehicles.
A. I think this is mostly a criticism of craigslist.
On the other sites, people pay to have their vehicles listed, so don't tend to keep them up unnecessarily. I could be wrong about that though. Anyway, since the results come straight from the sites themselves, I don't have much control over how diligent they are about removing expired ads. However, I do give users the ability to pick and choose exactly which sites they're interested in. So if someone only wants results from eBay and Autotrader due to expired ads at the other sites, they have the freedom to only search eBay and Autotrader.
Q. There's a paypal button at the bottom of your homepage seeking donations. So, I take it this a labor of love at this point? How do you hope someday to make money off the site?
A. Thanks for pointing that out. As much as I appreciate the donations I've received, I'm actually planning to remove the paypal button. There are other causes out there that can put the money to better use than I can. Over at SearchTempest, I've been asking people to donate, to Amnesty International or the Acumen Fund (or another charity of their choice). These are both great organizations and deserve support.
To answer your second question, for the moment, there are the partner relationships with eBay and CarsDirect. As I mentioned earlier, I would like to eventually provide an interface for smaller sites, dealerships, and even individuals to post their ads. I hope to design that in such a way that AutoTempest can turn a small profit from it, but it's a ways down the road yet.
Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself. What kind of car do you drive?
Let's see... my first car was a 1980 Honda Civic, blue, pink (where the bondo showed through), and rust. I think the clutch had about a week left in it when the timing belt finally snapped. :) Today I drive a grey 2003 BMW Z4, and take rather better care of it. Honestly, it's pretty close to my dream car. If I could have anything though, I'd get a Tesla Roadster Sport. I'm originally an electrical engineer, so I can't imagine anything cooler than an all-electric car that does 0-60 in 3.7 seconds.
As for me, I just turned 29 (ed. note: as of June 2010). I started this web stuff while doing my Master's in engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. (Ah the power of procrastination...) It was brutally hot one summer (especially since I'm used to a milder west coast climate), and my apartment didn't have AC. I was searching all the craigslists within driving distance for a cheap portable unit, and figured there must be a better way. And so SearchTempest.com was born, although you wouldn't recognize that early version today.
Anyway, I eventually graduated and started working at a power electronics company back on the west coast. I kept working on the site - and later on AutoTempest - in my spare time though, and slowly it grew. About a year ago I decided to take the plunge into doing this stuff full time, and here I am.