Terms of Service

Effective October 8, 2026 · Applies to the Otto iOS app and this website

These are the terms between you and [[LEGAL_NAME]] ("Otto", "we", "us") for using the Otto app and website (the "Service"). By creating an account or using the Service you agree to them. If you don't agree, don't use Otto. Please read sections 3 and 4: they are the ones that matter for your safety.

1. What Otto is

Otto is a free AI assistant for car owners. You can add your cars (by VIN or by year, make, and model), chat with Otto and show it photos, report a problem and get an assessment, scan a repair estimate and have it explained, find repair shops near your home ZIP code, follow step-by-step guidance for jobs Otto considers owner-safe, log service, and see your car's maintenance schedule. The AI answers are generated by a large language model (currently Anthropic's Claude) using your car's details and what you show it. Our Privacy Policy explains how your data is handled and is part of these terms.

2. Your account

• You must be at least 13 years old to use Otto, and at least 18 to use the DIY repair features (section 4). If you are under 18, you may use Otto to understand your car, but not to perform repairs on it.
• You sign in with an email one-time code, Sign in with Apple, or Google. Keep your email account secure; anyone who controls it can access your Otto account.
• Before Otto will answer anything, you must accept the in-app consent screen that explains your photos, messages, and car details are sent to the AI model. Otto does not work without it.
• Give accurate information about your car. Otto's answers are only as good as the VIN, mileage, and symptoms you provide.
• One account per person. Don't share, sell, or transfer your account.

3. AI answers are information, not professional advice

Otto's assessments, chat replies, estimate reviews, part locations, maintenance schedules, and procedures are general information generated by an AI model. They are not a diagnosis, inspection, or professional opinion, and no mechanic has looked at your car.

• Otto can be wrong. AI models make confident mistakes. They can misread a photo, miss a cause, name the wrong part, or give a procedure that doesn't match your exact car, year, trim, or market. Treat every answer as a starting point to verify, not a conclusion to act on.
• Cost ranges and "fair" verdicts are estimates based on general knowledge, not quotes, and they do not account for your location, your shop, or what is actually found once the car is opened up.
• Safety-critical systems. For brakes, steering, suspension, airbags and restraints, fuel, and structural damage, Otto is built to recommend a qualified professional and to refuse to write a DIY procedure unless you accept the risk acknowledgement in section 4. That rule is applied on our server regardless of what the model says, but it is a safeguard, not a guarantee that something else isn't also dangerous.
• If something seems dangerous, stop driving and get help. A warning light, smoke, a burning smell, a brake or steering problem, or a fuel leak is a reason to call a professional or roadside assistance, not to keep chatting.
• Recalls come from NHTSA's public database and may be incomplete or delayed. Confirm with your dealer.
• Otto does not give legal, insurance, or financial advice. How you handle a claim, a warranty, or a dispute with a shop is up to you and your advisers.

You are responsible for any decision you make based on Otto's output, including whether to drive the car, what to repair, and whom to hire.

4. Working on your own car: risk acknowledgement

Otto's step-by-step guidance is for jobs it considers reasonable for an owner with basic tools. Even those jobs can hurt you or damage your car if done wrong. By starting any DIY job in Otto you acknowledge and agree that:

• Otto's steps are general information, not professional advice, and may not fit your car or your situation.
• You are responsible for your own safety, your car, and anyone around it, including children, helpers, and bystanders.
• You will read the whole procedure, the tools and parts list, and the safety notes before you start, and you will use proper safety equipment, including jack stands (never only a jack), eye protection, and gloves where the job calls for them.
• You will stop if anything feels wrong, doesn't match what Otto described, or is beyond your skill, and you will hand the job to a professional.
• Work you do yourself may affect your car's warranty, insurance, inspection status, or resale value. That is your responsibility to check.

Proceeding against Otto's recommendation

When Otto recommends a professional and you choose to continue anyway, the app shows a risk waiver ("Do this at your own risk") that you must accept with two explicit confirmations. By accepting it you confirm, in the app's words, that:

• Otto recommended a professional for this job and you are choosing to do it yourself anyway.
• Otto's steps are general information, not professional advice, and may not fit your car or your situation.
• You are responsible for your safety, your car, and anyone around it. Otto and its providers accept no liability for injury, damage, or loss.
• If anything feels wrong, stop. A mistake on this kind of job can cause a crash, fire, or serious injury.
• You have the tools, the space, and the experience for this job.
• You accept full responsibility and release Otto from liability.

We record the version of the waiver you accepted and when, on the job and in our audit log. The waiver is part of these terms. If you are not an experienced owner with the right tools and a safe place to work, do not accept it.

5. Otto is not a repair shop

• Otto does not inspect, repair, or service vehicles, does not employ or license mechanics, and does not sell parts.
• Shops shown in Otto come from Google Places or OpenStreetMap, based on your home ZIP code. A listing, rating, or distance is not a recommendation, endorsement, or verification by us. We have no relationship with those shops, we do not vet them, and anything you arrange with a shop is between you and the shop, under the shop's terms. Otto does not contact shops or book appointments on your behalf.
• Estimate scanning explains a document you were given. It does not negotiate for you, and it may misread handwriting, abbreviations, or layouts.
• "Buy" links open a search on Amazon, AutoZone, or O'Reilly for the part or tool Otto named. We don't sell those items, don't confirm fitment, and aren't responsible for those sites. If we join a retail affiliate programme we may earn a commission on some purchases; it doesn't change the price you pay.

6. Your content

You own the photos, documents, messages, and records you put into Otto. You give us a licence to store, process, display back to you, and send to our service providers (named in the Privacy Policy) what is needed to run the Service for you. If you turn on "Help improve Otto with my photos" in Settings, you also allow us to use your photos and related text to evaluate and improve Otto, as the Privacy Policy describes; you can turn that off at any time. You confirm you have the right to upload what you upload, for example that an estimate photo is yours to share.

7. Acceptable use

Don't:

• use Otto for anything illegal, or to plan harm to a person or property;
• upload content that isn't about your car or that you have no right to share, including other people's personal information;
• try to get Otto to produce instructions for defeating emissions controls, safety systems, odometers, or anti-theft systems, or to help steal or strip a vehicle;
• probe, scrape, overload, or reverse-engineer the Service, or access it with automated tools, other than through the app;
• work around rate limits, the consent gate, or the safety gate;
• impersonate anyone or misrepresent your relationship with Otto.

We may limit, suspend, or close accounts that break these rules.

8. Our content and software

The Otto app, website, name, logo, and the text and procedures Otto generates for you are ours or our licensors'. You may use them for your own, non-commercial purposes in connection with your car. You may not copy the app, resell the Service, or present Otto's output as professional advice to others. Third-party content (NHTSA recall data, shop listings, reference photos found by image search and credited to their source) belongs to its owners.

9. Free service, changes, and ending it

• Otto is currently free. There are no in-app purchases. If we ever introduce paid features we will say so clearly before you are charged.
• Because the AI calls cost money, we apply fair-use rate limits. If you hit one, wait and try again.
• We may change, add, or remove features, and may change these terms. For material changes we will tell you in the app before they take effect; continuing to use Otto afterwards means you accept them.
• You can stop using Otto at any time and delete your account as described in the Privacy Policy. We may suspend or end the Service, or your access to it, with reasonable notice where possible, or immediately if you break these terms or we must for legal or safety reasons.
• Sections 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, and 14 survive the end of your account.

10. No warranty

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that Otto's answers are correct, complete, or safe to act on, that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, that any shop, part, or price it shows is suitable, or that any procedure will fix your car.

11. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Otto and its officers, employees, contractors, and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for personal injury, property damage, vehicle damage, loss of use, lost profits, or data loss, arising from or related to the Service or anything you do in reliance on it, even if we were told such damages were possible. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to US $100. Some jurisdictions do not allow some of these limits; in that case they apply to the maximum extent allowed, and nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded by law, such as for death or personal injury caused by our own negligence where the law says it cannot be excluded.

12. Your responsibility for your use

If a third party brings a claim against us because of your use of Otto in breach of these terms, because of content you uploaded, or because of work you performed on a vehicle, you agree to cover our reasonable costs and damages from that claim.

13. App Store terms

The app is distributed through Apple's App Store. These terms are between you and us, not Apple. Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app and is not responsible for addressing any claims relating to it, including product liability, consumer-protection, or intellectual-property claims. If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple and Apple will refund any purchase price (the app is free, so there is nothing to refund); to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation. You confirm you are not located in a country subject to a US government embargo or designated a "terrorist supporting" country and are not on any US government restricted-party list. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you. You must also comply with any applicable third-party terms, such as your wireless carrier's.

14. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the US state in which [[LEGAL_NAME]] is organised, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located there, except that you may bring a claim in small-claims court where you live, and either of us may seek an injunction to protect intellectual property in any court. Before suing, write to us at the contact below and give us 30 days to try to resolve it. Nothing here takes away rights you have as a consumer under the law where you live that cannot be waived.

15. Everything else

These terms, the in-app consent screen and risk waiver, and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about Otto. If a court finds part of them unenforceable, the rest stays in force. If we don't enforce a term right away, we can still enforce it later. You may not assign these terms; we may assign them to a successor of the Service. Notices to you may be given in the app or by email to your account address.

16. Contact

[[LEGAL_NAME]]
[[ADDRESS]]
Email: [[SUPPORT_EMAIL]]