Everything you'd want to know before you book.
How booking, payments and trust work on Autara, plus how detailers are vetted. The honest version. Can't find what you're looking for? Email support@autara.au and we will reply as soon as we can.
How booking works
Booking is open. Here is how a job runs, from a detailer's profile to a clean car.
Yes. Open a detailer's profile, choose a service and a time, add your address and vehicle, and confirm with a deposit. You need an Autara account to book, so tapping Book takes you to sign-in and brings you straight back to where you were. Looking at profiles, prices and available times needs no account.
Yes. A booking is tied to a real account so you can follow the job, keep your receipt, and rate the work afterwards. Sign-in is passwordless: enter your email and we send you a one-time code. You can look at every profile, price and available time without signing in. The account is only asked for at the point you book.
Search by suburb from the home page, or browse detailers and filter by the service you want or by rating. A result card carries the pro, not their prices: open a profile for the real prices and the times that detailer actually has free. A profile link someone sends you works the same way.
Both. Many Autara pros are mobile and come to your home, office or kerbside; others work from a fixed location. Each profile shows whether they travel to you and how far from their base they will go. If a pro needs water, power or a particular parking spot, they say so in the service description or message you about it.
You can cancel from your booking, and the refund is worked out and shown to you before you confirm. To move it, open the booking in your account and ask for a new time; your pro has to accept it, and your original time stands until they do. If they propose a new time, it appears on your booking for you to approve or decline, and your original time holds until you do.
You are covered. If a pro does not arrive within a fair window, the booking is marked a no-show and your deposit is refunded in full. You are never charged for a service that was not delivered.
We are opening city by city, starting with Melbourne, so what you find depends on where you look. If your suburb comes back empty, we have not opened there yet. A profile link a detailer sends you still works, wherever they are.
Payments, deposits & refunds
How money moves on Autara: the deposit, the final balance, refunds and GST.
The deposit confirms your booking and protects the pro from no-shows. It is 30% of the total, shown to you before you pay, and it is only charged once the pro accepts the job. Your card is not charged the full amount until the service is complete.
The remaining balance is captured once the pro marks the booking complete. If anything extra is agreed on the day, the pro sends it to you to approve first, and only what you approved is added to that balance.
All major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express), plus Apple Pay and Google Pay where your device supports them. Payments are processed securely by Stripe. Autara never stores your card details.
Yes. Prices are shown inclusive of GST.
No. Customers never pay a separate booking fee. The price you see is the price you pay. Autara earns its fee from the detailer, not from you.
Refunds go back to your original payment method and usually appear within 5 to 10 business days, depending on your bank. We email you when we start the refund, and the status shows on your booking from then on.
Charges only ever appear once per booking. If you do see a duplicate, email support@autara.au with the booking ID and we will trace the Stripe transaction and refund the duplicate. A failed payment simply means the booking is not confirmed, so try again.
Not automatically yet. If you need a tax invoice for a booking, email support@autara.au with your booking reference.
Trust and safety
How pros are vetted, what happens if something goes wrong, and how your data is protected.
Every pro provides a verified Australian Business Number, government-issued photo ID, and proof of public liability insurance before they can accept a single booking. Our team reviews each application by hand.
Every Autara pro provides proof of public liability insurance before they can take a booking. Tell us within 14 days of the service by emailing support@autara.au with your booking ID.
Only the customer on a completed booking can leave a review, and you are invited to rate the job from your booking once it is done. We do not allow merchants to write or pay for reviews, and we remove any that breach our community guidelines.
Trust your instincts. Cancel from your booking, or email support@autara.au with your booking ID.
All traffic to Autara is encrypted (TLS) and your personal information is stored encrypted at rest. Card details are never stored on Autara servers. They are held by Stripe, a PCI-DSS Level 1 payment provider. You can request a copy or deletion of your data at any time by emailing privacy@autara.au.
Accounts & the app
What you need to book, the mobile apps, and managing your details.
No. Autara runs in your browser, so you can book, pay and manage everything from the web. Native iOS and Android apps are on the way and we will email you the download links the moment they are live.
There is no password. Enter your email and we send you a one-time code; that code signs you in and creates your account if you do not have one yet. Nothing to remember, nothing to steal.
Your garage is your saved vehicles, so the make, model and rego pre-fill on your next booking. Add one at checkout or straight from your account, and edit it, remove it or set a default there at any time.
Use the delete link on your profile page, or email support@autara.au from the address on your account. We close the account, then permanently erase the personal data attached to it after a 30-day grace period, in line with our privacy policy.
Still stuck? Talk to a human.
Support is the team building Autara, not a queue. Email us and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.