Draft for review — not yet in effect These terms are a working draft that Tachwise's founder and a lawyer are still reviewing. They are not our adopted terms yet, and paragraphs marked "For review" are open questions. Questions in the meantime: privacy@tachwise.com.

Terms of Use

Effective date: DRAFT — not yet in effect · Last updated: October 20, 2026 (draft)

1. About these terms

These terms apply to the Tachwise websites (tachwise.com and tachwise.ca), the Tachwise app (app.tachwise.com, including when added to your home screen), and, once available, Tachwise accounts. "Tachwise", "we" and "us" means [legal name to be added], based in British Columbia, Canada. By using Tachwise you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use it.

Our Privacy Policy explains what information we collect and how we use it.

2. A beta, provided as is

The Tachwise app is a free beta. It is still being built and tested: features may change, stop working or be removed, readings may be missing or wrong, and support for particular vehicles and adapters varies. The Tachwise device is in development and is not for sale. Fleet features are planned, not built. We may change or stop the beta at any time. Using the beta is free; if we ever charge for anything, we'll tell you the price and terms before you pay.

3. Not a substitute for a mechanic

Tachwise explains what your car reports in plain language. It is information, not a diagnosis, not repair advice and not an instruction to repair anything:

  • Explanations of trouble codes, photo findings and sound verdicts describe what something usually means or looks like. They can be wrong, and the same code can have many causes.
  • Maintenance intervals, due dates, "range on fuel left", battery health, figures about cars like yours and other estimates are estimates. They depend on data that may be incomplete, and they are not your manufacturer's schedule. Follow your owner's manual and your manufacturer's recommendations.
  • A car's record from an earlier owner (odometer readings and service dates, as described in the Privacy Policy) is what that owner entered or their car reported. We don't verify it, and it isn't a vehicle history report.
  • "Your car is fine" means only that the checks Tachwise can run found nothing. It doesn't mean your vehicle is safe or roadworthy.

Have a qualified mechanic inspect your vehicle before relying on anything Tachwise shows, especially for brakes, tires, steering, suspension, airbags, fuel leaks or anything else that affects safety.

4. Safety

  • Don't use the app while driving. Set it up before you drive, let a passenger use it, or pull over safely. Obey the distracted-driving laws where you are.
  • Never rely on Tachwise for a safety-critical decision. If a warning light comes on, the car behaves oddly, or you smell fuel, smoke or burning, stop safely and get help, whatever the app says.
  • Take photos and sound recordings only when the vehicle is parked and safe to work around: engine off for anything under the hood or near moving parts, parking brake on, and never under a vehicle held up only by a jack.
  • Plugging in and removing an adapter should be done with the vehicle parked.

5. OBD-II adapters and your vehicle

  • The app can work with an ELM327 Bluetooth OBD-II adapter that you buy yourself. These adapters are made and sold by other companies, not Tachwise. Their quality varies, and we don't warrant or support any particular one. Follow the adapter maker's instructions.
  • Some adapters draw power from your car's battery while plugged in. If your car will sit for a while, unplug the adapter.
  • The app never clears trouble codes or changes your car's settings. It sends only read requests, and it refuses the commands that would clear codes or control the car. Clearing codes, repairs and programming are for you and your mechanic, with the right tools.
  • Tachwise reads light-duty vehicles through the standard OBD-II port. Heavy-duty trucks (SAE J1939) are not supported.
  • Only connect Tachwise to a vehicle you own or have permission to use.

Should these terms address vehicle warranty questions (reading data through the OBD-II port with a third-party adapter), or leave that to the "as is" disclaimer?

6. Accounts are optional

You can use the app without an account. An account (in beta) adds backup, sync between your devices and, when it launches, a calendar feed. Nothing syncs until you turn on one of its three switches, each for one purpose, as described in the Privacy Policy. Shared cars, below, work apart from those switches. If you create an account:

  • Use an email address you control. Sign-in works by a one-time link or code sent to it, so anyone with access to your email can get into your account. Keep your email account secure.
  • One account is for one person. Don't share it, and don't sign in to someone else's. To share a car, use shared cars (below).
  • Only sync a vehicle you own or have permission to use, and enter only its real VIN. A synced car must have a VIN.
  • If you later sell a car you synced, its next owner may see the limited car record described in the Privacy Policy (odometer readings and service dates, never your name or account). If you buy a car with such a record, you get that record as information, not as a guarantee.
  • Keep your calendar feed address private; anyone who has it can read the reminders in it. You can revoke it at any time.
  • You can export your data and delete your account in the app. Deletion takes effect after a 30-day window in which you can restore the account, as described in the Privacy Policy; the car identity record (VIN, decoded make, model, year and engine, first and last seen, owner count) remains, as it is about the car.
  • Tell us at security@tachwise.com if you think someone else has used your account.

Shared cars. A car can have several members who share its history, each with their own account. The Privacy Policy (3.19) says exactly what is shared and with whom.

  • The car's owners decide who can see its history: they approve or deny requests, invite people, cancel an invite nobody has used, and remove members. They can also delete drives other drivers recorded in it, and block a driver who isn't a member of the car (a member is removed instead), or unblock one. The first account to add the car with its VIN read from the car becomes its first owner, so add a car that way only if it's yours or you have permission.
  • Record a car for its owners only when you're allowed to drive it and to use the adapter in it, and only through the app's own steps: your yes for that car, then engine data only, never your route. Don't record a car without its owner's agreement, and don't hand over drives you know are false.
  • You can stop at any time: "Stop for this car" for one car, or the "Record other cars for their owners" setting for every car. You can leave a car's shared history in the app ("Leave this car"), unless you are its last owner.
  • Drives you hand over become part of that car's history. Its owners can delete them; deleting your account or leaving the car doesn't.

Confirm that an owner leaving an adapter in the car can stand for their agreement to other drivers recording it, and whether someone who records drives without an account needs to accept these terms first.

7. Your data

Your vehicle data, logbook, drives, photos and recordings are yours. By default they stay on your phone. If you turn on a sharing, sync or photo-and-recording switch, you give us permission to store what that switch covers, show it back to you on the devices you sign in on, keep the car's own record across its owners, and use it in aggregate to build and improve Tachwise's models (how cars like yours age and fail), all as described in the Privacy Policy, until you turn the switch off or delete the data. If you record drives for a shared car, or belong to one, you give us permission to keep those drives with the car and show them to its members, as described in the Privacy Policy (3.19). Figures we derive from many cars in aggregate are ours; nothing in them identifies you. We don't sell your data.

If you send us feedback or ideas, we can use them to improve Tachwise without owing you anything for them.

8. Acceptable use

Please don't:

  • use Tachwise to break the law, or to track or collect data from a vehicle or person without permission;
  • sync a vehicle you don't own or have permission to use, enter a VIN that isn't that vehicle's, or use a car's record to find out who its earlier owner was;
  • record a car for its owners without their agreement, send drives to a car's shared history that weren't recorded in that car, or use a shared car's history to find out who recorded a drive;
  • upload records, readings or files you know to be false, or tamper with a record's seal;
  • try to get into accounts, data or systems that aren't yours, or probe or test our systems except under our security policy (report problems to security@tachwise.com);
  • overload, disrupt or attack our sites, app or servers, including by automated sign-ups;
  • submit false information to our waitlists or other people's email addresses;
  • copy, resell or pass off Tachwise, its content or its brand as your own, except as the law allows.

9. Our intellectual property

The Tachwise name, the owl logo (Otto), the app, the websites and their content belong to Tachwise or our licensors. We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the app and websites for your own vehicles (or, for a business, its own vehicles) under these terms. You may share links to our Learn articles and quote them briefly with credit.

Some parts of the app may include open-source software under its own terms; confirm whether a notices page is needed in the app.

10. Other services

Tachwise can connect you with services we don't control, such as your OBD-II adapter, NHTSA's VIN decoder (if you choose it in Settings), Google Calendar or your calendar app. Their own terms and privacy policies apply, and we aren't responsible for them.

11. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent the law allows, Tachwise is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy and non-infringement. We don't promise that Tachwise will be uninterrupted, error-free, compatible with your vehicle or adapter, or that its readings, explanations or estimates are correct.

Some places don't allow some of these exclusions. Where that's the case, they apply only as far as the law allows, and nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under consumer protection law that can't be waived.

Confirm the wording and enforceability of these disclaimers against consumers under the BC Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, Quebec's Consumer Protection Act, other provinces' consumer law and US state law; consider whether the key safety disclaimers need to be shown in the app (not only here).

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows:

  • Tachwise is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for loss of data, profits or use, arising from your use of Tachwise, including any decision you make about your vehicle based on it;
  • Tachwise is not liable for damage to your vehicle, adapter, phone or battery arising from using a third-party adapter or from repairs or maintenance you or others do or don't do;
  • our total liability for all claims relating to Tachwise is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim (for the free beta, nothing) and CAD $100.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't be limited by law, such as for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud.

Enforceability of this limitation against consumers, the cap amount and currency, and whether an indemnity clause is appropriate for a free consumer beta, all need a lawyer's view.

13. Ending your use

You can stop using Tachwise at any time, and delete your data and account as described in the Privacy Policy. We may suspend or end your access if you break these terms or if we stop offering Tachwise. If we stop the service, we'll give reasonable notice where we can, so you can export your data. Sections 3, 7 and 9 to 14 continue to apply after your use ends.

14. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. Any dispute will be heard in the courts of British Columbia, unless the consumer protection law where you live gives you the right to bring it where you live.

Confirm the choice of law and forum for consumers outside BC (Quebec in particular, and US users of tachwise.com), and whether to add an informal dispute-resolution step before court.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as Tachwise changes. We'll post the new version here with a new "last updated" date and, for significant changes, tell you in the app or by email before they take effect. If you keep using Tachwise after that, the new terms apply. If you don't agree, stop using Tachwise and you can delete your data.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms or your privacy: privacy@tachwise.com
Security: security@tachwise.com
Mail: [legal name and mailing address to be added], British Columbia, Canada