Compare options for towing a car cross-country with your truck with ChatGPT
- Posted
- by jp57 (Hacker News)
- Last checked
- Method:
- How we verify
Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.
Context: The commenter quotes the prompt with placeholders ('make A', 'truck model B', 'point C to point D'), so this is a recreated version.
Outcome
A Hacker News commenter needed to tow their daughter's car across the country behind their truck: trailer or dolly, what each costs, and whether the truck could handle the combined weight. After a couple of piecemeal questions they gave ChatGPT the whole picture in one prompt (car make, truck model, start and end points), and it came back with a report with comparison tables and calculated towing weights for the different options.
Agent
Prompt Recreated prompt
The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Compare the ways I could tow this car behind my truck for this trip, including whether my truck can safely handle each one. Fill in before running: - The car being towed (make, model, year, drive type): [CAR] - My truck (make, model, year, engine, towing package): [TRUCK] - Start and end points: [ROUTE] Safety first: anything touching brakes, steering, airbags, fuel lines or lifting the car is a job for a qualified mechanic unless I confirm I have the tools and experience. Say so clearly. Rules: - Compare a car trailer, a tow dolly and any other realistic option (for example shipping the car). - Calculate the combined weight for each and compare it with the truck's towing capacity, saying which figures are estimates. - Note any drive-type issues (for example all-wheel drive on a dolly). - Show rough rental costs and where to rent each option on my route. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: A comparison table (option, combined weight versus capacity, cost, pros and cons) and a recommendation. You'll know it worked when: I pick an option that's within my truck's limits and budget.
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Your prompt
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Compare the ways I could tow this car behind my truck for this trip, including whether my truck can safely handle each one. Fill in before running: - The car being towed (make, model, year, drive type): [CAR] - My truck (make, model, year, engine, towing package): [TRUCK] - Start and end points: [ROUTE] Safety first: anything touching brakes, steering, airbags, fuel lines or lifting the car is a job for a qualified mechanic unless I confirm I have the tools and experience. Say so clearly. Rules: - Compare a car trailer, a tow dolly and any other realistic option (for example shipping the car). - Calculate the combined weight for each and compare it with the truck's towing capacity, saying which figures are estimates. - Note any drive-type issues (for example all-wheel drive on a dolly). - Show rough rental costs and where to rent each option on my route. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: A comparison table (option, combined weight versus capacity, cost, pros and cons) and a recommendation. You'll know it worked when: I pick an option that's within my truck's limits and budget.
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3 blanks are still empty: The car being towed (make, model, year, drive type); My truck (make, model, year, engine, towing package); Start and end points. They'll stay in brackets in your prompt, so the chat tool may ask you about them.
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Optional stronger version
Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Compare the ways I could tow this car behind my truck for this trip, including whether my truck can safely handle each one. Fill in before running: - The car being towed (make, model, year, drive type): [CAR] - My truck (make, model, year, engine, towing package): [TRUCK] - Start and end points: [ROUTE] Safety first: anything touching brakes, steering, airbags, fuel lines or lifting the car is a job for a qualified mechanic unless I confirm I have the tools and experience. Say so clearly. Rules: - Compare a car trailer, a tow dolly and any other realistic option (for example shipping the car). - Calculate the combined weight for each and compare it with the truck's towing capacity, saying which figures are estimates. - Note any drive-type issues (for example all-wheel drive on a dolly). - Show rough rental costs and where to rent each option on my route. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Tell me to confirm the towing capacity in my owner's manual or on the door-jamb sticker before I rent anything. Output: A comparison table (option, combined weight versus capacity, cost, pros and cons) and a recommendation. You'll know it worked when: I pick an option that's within my truck's limits and budget. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
Source
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48418620
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