Build guide
Bill of Materials
Everything the car needs, in one list, with what each part is for.
Get the whole list before you start anything. The commonest way a build like this stalls is finding out halfway through that one part is missing, and then waiting a week for it.
Nothing on this list needs soldering
The gear motors come with their wires already attached, and every other connection is either a screw terminal or a pin that pushes on. There is no soldering iron and no solder wire here, because the car I built did not use either. If you buy motors with bare metal tabs instead of leads, you will need an iron — so check the photos on the listing before you order.
About the links
Each link opens a search on Amazon or AliExpress rather than one exact listing. Single listings sell out and get pulled — the ones that used to be on this page all rotted — so a search is what stays useful. Buy wherever is cheapest or closest; none of this is specific to one shop, and the prices move around.
A laptop/computer to program the board
#TR0016
A smart mobile phone to control the car
#TR0017
Note: these are searches for the parts above, not endorsements of any one seller. Read the listing and check its photos against the description before you buy.
Two ways this goes wrong before you start
A missing part. The build stops dead at whichever step needs it, and you wait for the post. Tick every line above against your basket before you pay — that is the whole reason this page exists.
The wrong part. Four of these have a near-identical twin that will not do the job. The motor driver must be the version with screw terminals, and the gear motors must come with wires already attached — the alternatives to either one put a soldering iron in a build that promises none. The buzzer must be the passive kind: the sketch plays a tune, and an active buzzer can only hold one flat note. The battery holder must be wired in series, or the two cells give you 3.7V instead of 7.4V and the Arduino never starts. The searches above already ask for the right version of each, but check the listing photos rather than the title.
Build it. Understand it.
Get the complete illustrated guide and start your first car — free.