Find the car when the two databases call it different things, and stop waiting on a map server

[ralyodio]

Two things the live deployment showed that the local one could not.

The two databases do not call a car the same thing

vPIC decodes a VIN to Outback. The EPA lists Outback AWD and Outback AWD Turbo for the same year. The exact-match lookup therefore found nothing, and a real request came back with no mpg, no engine and no fuel type:

GET /api/v1/automotive/vehicle/2019/Subaru/Outback   (before)
  recalls 3 · complaints 1033 · rating 5 · mpg undefined   ← economy section empty

When the exact name misses, ask the EPA what it calls that make's models that year and take the closest, in this order: ours-plus-a-qualifier (Outback → Outback AWD), then ours-minus-one (Civic Hatchback → Civic), then a loose containment match, then null rather than the wrong car. The response carries matchedModel whenever it is not the name that was asked for, so the substitution is never silent.

This was not a rare edge: it affects any model whose EPA name carries a drivetrain or body qualifier, which is a large share of the catalogue.

A cold map server should not hold up an airbag recall

One cold profile took 49 seconds; the same profile warm was 0.2s, and without the places lookup it was 2.9s. The whole difference was a cold Overpass mirror.

Inside a vehicle profile the map now gets 9 seconds and two mirrors. The other five sections are already answered, and nobody should wait on repair-shop names to be told their airbag is recalled. Overpass is also told the same budget as its own server-side [timeout:], so it stops working on an answer no one is waiting for instead of grinding to completion.

/mechanics asked on its own is still patient (25s, all three mirrors) — it has nothing else to return. Either way the tile is cached for a week, so one caller waits and nobody after them does.

Verified

• 114 tests pass (1 new, covering the matcher's four cases including the null), biome clean
• Measured live before the change: cold-with-places 49.2s, cold-without 2.9s, warm 0.2s

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

https://claude.ai/code/session_012BzJdwiBGU9hmMGE5fBxjA