Question 1

What is Kaiju Mechanic?

Accepted Answer

Kaiju Mechanic is an AI-powered car mechanic app available on Android and iOS. It lets you ask any car question, track your vehicle's maintenance history, scan documents with OCR, and optionally connect an OBD-II adapter for live sensor monitoring and diagnostic code reading. Most features work with any vehicle, while OBD-II features require a compatible adapter and a 1996 or newer vehicle.

Question 2

Can Kaiju Mechanic tell if my ECU has been tuned or reflashed?

Accepted Answer

Yes — that's exactly what **Tune & Flash History** does. Every tune, dealer reflash, and TSB update leaves a fingerprint in your ECU's firmware. Kaiju Mechanic reads that fingerprint (called the ECU Firmware Signature) over your OBD-II adapter and compares it against a factory baseline recorded for your vehicle.

If the signature has changed since your baseline scan, you'll see a **Non-Factory Tune Detected** result — consistent with an aftermarket tune, a dealer reflash, or a manufacturer TSB update. If nothing has changed, you'll see **Factory Tune Detected**.

This is useful for:

- **Verifying "completely stock" claims** before buying a used car
- **Tracking your own tune version history** across Stage 1, Stage 2, or dealer updates
- **Catching unauthorized flashes** between service visits

Tune & Flash History is a Premium feature and requires an ELM327 Bluetooth OBD-II adapter plus a 1996-or-newer vehicle. Open any vehicle in your garage, tap **Scan Vehicle Identity**, and the result appears alongside your VIN and ECU Software ID.

Question 3

Can I save photos or documents without an account?

Accepted Answer

No. Uploading photos, scanned documents, and other media requires a free account. Creating an account is free and takes less than a minute — it also gives you 500 MB of cloud storage so your data is backed up automatically.

Anonymous (signed-out) users cannot upload or save media.

Question 4

What vehicles are compatible with Kaiju Mechanic?

Accepted Answer

Most features in Kaiju Mechanic — including AI chat, maintenance tracking, and document scanning — work with **any vehicle**. OBD-II features (live sensor data, diagnostic code reading, and anomaly detection) require a compatible OBD-II adapter and a **1996 or newer vehicle**, as OBD-II became a standard requirement for vehicles sold in the US starting that year.

Question 5

Do I need an OBD-II adapter to use Kaiju Mechanic?

Accepted Answer

No, an OBD-II adapter is optional. The majority of Kaiju Mechanic's features — including AI chat, maintenance tracking, document scanning, and the vehicle health dashboard — work without any adapter. An OBD-II adapter is only required if you want to use live sensor monitoring, read diagnostic trouble codes directly from your vehicle, or use Kaiju Watchdog anomaly detection.

Question 6

How do I scan documents with Kaiju Mechanic?

Accepted Answer

Document scanning is available to Premium Starter and Plus subscribers. To scan a document, navigate to the document scanning section of the app and use your phone's camera to capture the document. The app uses OCR to read the text and AI to extract relevant data automatically. Supported documents include service receipts, invoices, insurance documents, and vehicle registration. Each scan costs **3 AI credits**.

Question 7

How do AI credits work?

Accepted Answer

AI credits are a unified currency used across all AI features — chat, DTC analysis, document scanning, and anomaly explanations. **Free users** receive **15 credits/month** and **Premium subscribers** receive **300 credits/month**. Credits reset at the start of each billing cycle and unused monthly credits do not roll over. Premium subscribers can also purchase additional credit packs (50, 150, or 500 credits) that never expire and are used only after your monthly pool runs out.

Question 8

Can I buy more AI credits if I run out?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Premium subscribers can purchase additional credit packs at any time:

- **Small:** 50 credits for $1.99
- **Medium:** 150 credits for $3.99 *(Popular)*
- **Large:** 500 credits for $11.99 *(Best Value)*

Purchased credits never expire and carry over month to month. Note that credit pack purchases are not available on the free plan.

Question 9

How much do AI features cost in credits?

Accepted Answer

Credit costs vary by feature and complexity:

- **AI Chat (basic):** 1 credit
- **AI Chat (advanced):** 2 credits
- **DTC Analysis:** 2 credits
- **Document Scan & AI Extraction:** 3 credits
- **Anomaly Explanation:** 2 credits

Free users get 15 AI chat conversations per month without using credits.

Question 10

Do unused AI credits roll over to the next month?

Accepted Answer

Monthly plan credits do **not** roll over — they reset at the start of each billing cycle. However, **purchased credit packs never expire** and do carry over month to month. The app always uses your monthly plan credits first, and only draws from purchased credits after your monthly pool is exhausted.

Question 11

Is Kaiju Mechanic free to use?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Kaiju Mechanic has a free tier that includes 1 vehicle, 15 AI credits per month (usable on chat, DTC analysis, document scanning, and anomaly explanations), maintenance tracking, OBD-II live sensor data and code reading (with a compatible adapter), a basic vehicle health dashboard, and 500 MB of cloud storage. Premium ($7.99/month or $69.99/year) adds 300 AI credits/month, unlimited vehicles, 5 GB of cloud storage, and purchasable credit packs.

Question 12

Does the free plan include cloud backup?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Free users get **500 MB of cloud storage** with automatic backup and sync. If you switch devices or reinstall the app, sign back in with the same account to restore your data.

For more storage, **Premium** includes 5 GB of cloud storage, with optional add-ons available if you need even more.

Question 13

How do I upgrade my subscription?

Accepted Answer

To upgrade to Premium:

1. Go to **Settings > Subscription** in the app, or tap any Premium feature prompt
2. Select your billing period — monthly ($7.99/month) or annual ($69.99/year, 2 months free)
3. Confirm the purchase through your app store (Google Play or Apple App Store)

Your Premium features are available immediately after purchase.

Question 14

What does Premium include?

Accepted Answer

Premium gives you everything Kaiju Mechanic has to offer:

- **Unlimited vehicles** in your garage
- **300 AI credits/month** for chat, diagnostics, document scanning, and anomaly analysis
- **5 GB of cloud storage** with automatic backup and sync
- AI-powered DTC analysis (plain-English trouble code explanations)
- Document scanning with OCR and AI data extraction
- Kaiju Watchdog anomaly detection
- Custom maintenance intervals and modifications tracking
- Optional storage add-ons (+2 GB for $0.99/mo, +10 GB for $2.99/mo)
- Optional credit packs (50, 150, or 500 credits)

Premium is $7.99/month or $69.99/year (2 months free).

Question 15

How much does Premium cost?

Accepted Answer

Premium is **$7.99/month** or **$69.99/year**. The annual plan is the same as 10 months of monthly billing — you get 2 months free.

Both plans include the same features: unlimited vehicles, 5 GB of cloud storage, 300 AI credits/month, AI diagnostics, document scanning, and more. You can upgrade from **Settings > Subscription** in the app.

Question 16

What's the difference between monthly and annual Premium?

Accepted Answer

Both plans include exactly the same features. The only difference is how you pay:

- **Monthly Premium:** $7.99/month — billed each month, cancel anytime
- **Annual Premium:** $69.99/year — billed once a year, that's 2 months free compared to monthly

You can choose your billing period when subscribing through **Settings > Subscription**. Annual billing is a good choice if you know you'll be using Premium regularly.

Question 17

Does annual billing save money compared to monthly?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Annual Premium is $69.99/year compared to $7.99/month — that's **2 months free** when you pay annually.

You can choose your billing period when subscribing through **Settings > Subscription**.

Question 18

How much storage do I get, and what counts toward it?

Accepted Answer

Storage limits depend on your plan:
- **Free:** 500 MB (cloud)
- **Premium:** 5 GB (cloud), with optional add-ons available

Storage is used by vehicle photos, scanned documents, service record attachments, and modification documentation. The maximum file size per upload is **25 MB** on all plans.

Question 19

Are there storage add-ons available if I need more space?

Accepted Answer

Storage add-ons are available to **Premium** subscribers:

- **+2 GB:** $0.99/month
- **+10 GB:** $2.99/month

Storage add-ons are separate subscriptions from your Premium plan. You can add, change, or cancel them independently through your app store.

Question 20

How are payments processed?

Accepted Answer

All payments are processed through your device's app store — Google Play for Android users and the Apple App Store for iOS users. Kaiju Mechanic does not collect or store your credit card information directly. All payment processing is handled securely by your app store.

Question 21

How do I restore my purchases after reinstalling the app or switching devices?

Accepted Answer

To restore your subscription and purchased credits:

1. Sign in with the **same account** you used when you originally subscribed
2. Go to **Settings** and look for the **Restore Purchases** option on the subscription screen
3. The app will verify your purchase history with your app store and restore your plan and any purchased credit packs

Make sure you're signed in with the correct account before attempting to restore.

Question 22

What happens if my payment fails?

Accepted Answer

If a payment fails (for example, due to an expired card), the app will display an **orange banner** at the top of the screen explaining the issue. Credit-consuming AI features (chat, DTC analysis, document scanning) will be blocked until the issue is resolved. The app provides a direct link to update your payment method in your app store. Once your payment is updated and the charge succeeds, full access is restored automatically.

Question 23

What happens to my data if I cancel or downgrade?

Accepted Answer

Your data is preserved when you cancel or downgrade — we don't delete anything just because you changed plans. Here's what changes:

- **Vehicles:** All your vehicles stay in your garage and remain fully functional — you can view, edit, and run diagnostics on all of them. New vehicle creation is paused while you're over the free plan's 1-vehicle limit. Upgrade anytime to add more.
- **Credits:** Unused monthly credits expire at the end of the billing period. Purchased credits are kept and remain available if you re-subscribe.
- **Files:** All files are preserved. If your storage exceeds 500 MB (the free plan limit), new uploads are paused until you free up space or re-subscribe.
- **Service Records:** All maintenance history is fully preserved.

Note: Accounts that remain inactive for an extended period may be subject to our data retention policy. We'll always notify you by email before any action is taken.

Question 24

How do I get a refund?

Accepted Answer

Refund policies are governed by your app store, not Kaiju Mechanic directly:

- **Google Play:** Submit your refund request through Google Play's refund process
- **Apple App Store:** Submit your refund request through Apple's refund process

Kaiju Mechanic does not process refunds directly. Please contact your app store's support for refund assistance.

Question 25

How do I cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

Subscriptions are managed through your device's app store:

- **Android:** Google Play Store > Profile > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions > Kaiju Mechanic > Cancel
- **iOS:** Settings > Your Name > Subscriptions > Kaiju Mechanic > Cancel

You can also tap **Manage Subscription** in the app's Settings screen. Your premium features remain active until the end of your current billing period, after which your account reverts to the Free tier. All your data is preserved.

Question 26

What happens to my add-ons if I cancel Premium?

Accepted Answer

Storage add-ons are **separate subscriptions** from your Premium plan, so cancelling Premium does not automatically cancel your add-ons. You'll need to cancel them separately through your app store if you no longer want them.

To cancel a storage add-on:
- **Android:** Google Play Store > Profile > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions
- **iOS:** Settings > Your Name > Subscriptions

Credit packs are one-time purchases, not subscriptions — they're not affected by cancelling Premium. Any purchased credits remain in your account and are available when you re-subscribe.

Frequently asked questions

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