Booking
Cancelling, rescheduling, messaging the shop, and how tire quotes work.
- Can I cancel or reschedule a booking?
- Yes, from the booking in the app. Cancelling is free until the shop accepts, for 15 minutes after you book, and up to 24 hours before the appointment; after that the $20 hold is kept. You can reschedule free up to 12 hours before, up to 2 times. The exact windows for your booking are shown on the booking itself before you confirm. The full answer
- How do I message my shop?
- From the booking. Every conversation with a shop is attached to a specific booking, so the shop sees which car and job you mean. Quick actions change with the booking's stage: running late, reschedule or cancel before the visit; status and adding a service while the car is there; approvals and pickup, invoice or post-service questions after. The full answer
- How do tire replacement quotes work?
- Tire replacement is booked as a quote request rather than a fixed menu item. You post the request for your car; shops respond with the tire brand and model, a per-tire price, quantity, labor, the total and an appointment slot they can offer. You compare the responses and accept one, and that shop gets the booking. The full answer
Paying
The $20 hold, what the locked price covers, approving extra work, and disputes.
- How does the $20 hold work?
- When you confirm a booking, Otopair places a $20 hold on your card. Nothing is charged at that point, and it is the most ever blocked before the shop has inspected the car. After inspection the hold is raised to the confirmed price, and it is only captured when the shop marks the job complete. The full answer
- What does “locked price” mean?
- The total you approve before you confirm the booking is the ceiling. It is built for your exact car and includes parts, labor, tax and Otopair's service fee. After inspecting the car, the shop confirms the final price; anything above what you approved needs your approval in the app, and you have 24 hours to answer. The full answer
- How do I approve or decline extra work?
- From the booking in the app. A shop can ask for approval before the job starts (the inspection estimate) or mid-job (added work). Decline mid-job work and it is removed and never charged. Each request stays open for 24 hours; a pre-job estimate left unanswered is treated as declined, and the $20 deposit is kept. The full answer
- How do disputes and refunds work?
- You can open a dispute from the booking within 14 days of the final charge. Otopair reviews the job record, the approvals and the messages, and resolves it as no refund, a partial refund or a full refund. A refund is issued by the shop through Otopair to the card you paid with, not automatically. The full answer
Your car
The health score, the quarterly check-in, warning lights, and adding a car by VIN.
- What is the Vehicle Health Score?
- A single score for your car's upkeep, built from the maintenance items the app tracks: oil, brakes, tires and the 12-volt battery, plus state inspection when it is on file. It is not a whole-car check. Warning lights and open mechanic findings lower it; completed services and shop inspections update the items they touch. The full answer
- What is the quarterly check-in?
- A short set of questions the app asks about every 90 days: your current mileage, any service done elsewhere, any warning lights, and anything unusual. It is optional. Answering keeps your health score current instead of estimated. The full answer
- Which dashboard warning lights does the app recognize?
- Nine: oil pressure, battery or charging, engine temperature, ABS or brake, tire pressure (TPMS), airbag (SRS), transmission, check engine, and a “not sure which” option for a light you can't identify. You can log them during onboarding, at the quarterly check-in, or by telling Oto; a shop's inspection can add or clear them. The full answer
- How do I add a car by VIN?
- Enter the VIN and the app decodes it against the public NHTSA vehicle database to fill in the year, make, model, trim and engine. That decoded profile is what Oto, the health score and every quote are built on, so an exact identification matters. The full answer
Account & support
How to reach a person, and which address is for what.
- How do I contact Otopair support?
- Email support@otopair.com for anything about a booking, a job, your account, or something Oto got wrong; a person reads every message. Use data@otopair.com for the car-data API, privacy@otopair.com for privacy requests, and legal@otopair.com for the terms. Problems with a specific booking go to the shop first, through the booking's message thread. The full answer
Still stuck?
Charged for something that doesn't look right? Dispute a charge or request a refund and our team will review it. Otherwise, email support@otopair.com with the booking and what happened, and a person will reply. For anything about a specific job, the fastest route is the message thread on the booking in the app, where the shop answers with your car in front of them. The contact page lists the right address for shops, the car-data API and press.
The four most-asked questions.
- How does the $20 hold work?
- When you confirm a booking, Otopair places a $20 hold on your card. Nothing is charged at that point, and it is the most ever blocked before the shop has inspected the car. After inspection the hold is raised to the confirmed price, and it is only captured when the shop marks the job complete.
- What does “locked price” mean?
- The total you approve before you confirm the booking is the ceiling. It is built for your exact car and includes parts, labor, tax and Otopair's service fee. After inspecting the car, the shop confirms the final price; anything above what you approved needs your approval in the app, and you have 24 hours to answer.
- Can I cancel or reschedule a booking?
- Yes, from the booking in the app. Cancelling is free until the shop accepts, for 15 minutes after you book, and up to 24 hours before the appointment; after that the $20 hold is kept. You can reschedule free up to 12 hours before, up to 2 times. The exact windows for your booking are shown on the booking itself before you confirm.
- How do disputes and refunds work?
- You can open a dispute from the booking within 14 days of the final charge. Otopair reviews the job record, the approvals and the messages, and resolves it as no refund, a partial refund or a full refund. A refund is issued by the shop through Otopair to the card you paid with, not automatically.