Terms of Service
Welcome to Car Culture HQ ("CCHQ," "we," "us," or "our"). These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Car Culture HQ website, Progressive Web App / mobile application experiences, APIs, calculators, magazines, directories, advertising products, and related services (collectively, the "Services").
Last updated: September 2026
1. Agreement to Terms
By accessing, browsing, registering for, or using the Services in any way—including through our website or mobile application—you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and (if you advertise) our Advertising Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.
If you use the Services on behalf of a business or other entity, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity, and "you" includes that entity.
2. Eligibility
You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum age of digital consent in your jurisdiction) to create an account. If you are under 18, you may use the Services only with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms.
You may not use the Services if you are barred from doing so under applicable law, or if we have previously suspended or terminated your account for violations of these Terms.
3. Account Registration
Certain features require a registered account. You agree to provide accurate, current registration information (including a unique username and a valid email address) and to keep that information updated. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.
Notify us promptly at Contact Us if you suspect unauthorized access. We may refuse registration, reclaim usernames, or require identity verification when reasonably necessary to protect the community or comply with law.
4. Account Deletion
You may delete your account yourself at any time from your profile settings (Account / Delete Account), which permanently removes your account and associated data subject to our Privacy Policy retention and legal obligations.
You may also request account deletion by submitting a Delete/Remove Account inquiry through our Contact form. We may ask you to verify ownership of the account before completing a staff-assisted deletion.
5. Your Content and Responsibility
"Your Content" means photos, text, vehicle profiles, modifications, service logs, documents you choose to store, messages, reviews, marketplace listings, Reader Rides submissions, and any other materials you submit or upload to the Services.
You retain ownership of Your Content. By posting or uploading Your Content, you grant Car Culture HQ a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, modify (for formatting/display), publicly display, distribute, and otherwise use Your Content as needed to operate, promote, and improve the Services.
You are solely responsible for Your Content and for ensuring you have all rights, licenses, and permissions necessary to post it. You represent that Your Content does not infringe any third-party rights and does not violate these Terms or applicable law.
6. Content Standards
You agree not to post, upload, or share content that:
- Is illegal, fraudulent, defamatory, harassing, hateful, or threatens violence
- Is sexually explicit, excessively graphic, or exploits minors in any way
- Infringes copyrights, trademarks, publicity, or privacy rights
- Contains malware, phishing links, spam, or deceptive redirects
- Impersonates another person, business, or Car Culture HQ
- Misrepresents vehicle facts, ownership, credentials, or shop affiliations in a materially misleading way
- Interferes with other members' use of the Services or our systems
We may apply additional community guidelines for specific areas (for example Magazine, Reader Rides, Speed Shops, or Racer Hub).
7. Right to Remove Content
We reserve the right—but do not assume the obligation—to review, refuse, remove, unpublish, or restrict access to any content (including Your Content) at any time, with or without notice, if we believe it violates these Terms, harms the community, creates legal risk, or is otherwise inappropriate.
We may suspend or terminate accounts that repeatedly or seriously violate these Terms. Removal of content or account access does not entitle you to compensation except where required by law.
8. Publicly Sourced and AI-Assisted Content
Car Culture HQ may use large language models and related AI tools—including, without limitation, systems such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google, Grok, and Gemini—to help discover, summarize, draft, or suggest content for the Services. Those tools may surface images, vehicle profiles, business details, and other information that already appears on the public internet. Where we publish such materials on Car Culture HQ, we do so to build community directories, editorial features, shop listings, or similar publicly useful pages—not to claim ownership of third-party rights.
If you recognize your likeness, photographs, vehicle images, profile information, or other personal or business content on the Services and you did not intentionally submit it through a Car Culture HQ account, you may request removal. Submit a request through our Contact form (select Remove My Content / Images) and include: (1) a link to the page(s) involved, (2) a description of the content to remove, and (3) enough information for us to verify your connection to that content.
After we receive a complete, verifiable request, we will remove the identified content from the Services within five (5) business days, unless we are legally required to retain it or need additional information from you to locate or verify the material. This removal process is in addition to any copyright, privacy, or other rights you may have under applicable law.
9. Intellectual Property
The Services—including our name, logos, brand kit, software, design, documentation, magazine editorial packaging (excluding third-party or member-owned materials), and trademarks—are owned by Car Culture HQ or our licensors and are protected by intellectual property laws.
Except for the limited license to use the Services as provided in these Terms, no rights are granted to you. You may not copy, scrape at scale, reverse engineer, or commercially exploit our platform or branding without prior written permission.
If you believe content on the Services infringes your copyright, contact us via Contact Us with sufficient detail for us to investigate.
10. Sponsored Ads
Self-serve and sponsored advertising on Car Culture HQ is governed by these Terms and our Advertising Policy. Advertisers are responsible for the legality and accuracy of their creatives, claims, and destination pages. We may reject, pause, or remove ads that violate policy. Ad metrics are provided for transparency and are not guaranteed.
11. Automotive Tools Disclaimer
Our Automotive Tools suite (including calculators, estimators, VIN decoding helpers, legality maps, checklists, and related utilities) is provided for educational and planning purposes only. Outputs may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect for your specific vehicle, jurisdiction, or use case.
Car Culture HQ is not liable for decisions, purchases, modifications, track participation, legal compliance, or any injury, loss, or damage arising from use of or reliance on Tools results. Always verify critical measurements, torque specs, fluid types, safety equipment, and legal requirements with OEM documentation, a qualified professional, and applicable laws before acting.
12. Mobile Application
These Terms apply equally to our website and to any Car Culture HQ mobile application, Progressive Web App, or installable app experience we provide, including features accessed offline or via push notifications where offered. App store rules may also apply when you download or install through a third-party store.
13. Limitation of Liability
THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CAR CULTURE HQ AND ITS OWNERS, OPERATORS, AFFILIATES, AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES; LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY; OR COSTS OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES—ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, MEMBER CONTENT, TOOLS OUTPUTS, ADS, SHOP LISTINGS, EVENTS, OR THIRD-PARTY LINKS—EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATED TO THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO US FOR THE SERVICE GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100), EXCEPT WHERE LIABILITY CANNOT BE LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; in those places, our liability is limited to the fullest extent permitted.
14. Dispute Resolution
Before filing a formal claim, you agree to contact us at Contact Us and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least thirty (30) days.
Except where prohibited by law, disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in the United States jurisdiction where Car Culture HQ principally operates, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there. You and Car Culture HQ waive any right to a jury trial to the extent permitted by law. Nothing in this section limits either party's right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief for intellectual property misuse or unauthorized access to the Services.
If a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of these Terms unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force.
15. Changes to Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Continued use of the Services after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, stop using the Services and delete your account.
16. Contact
Questions about these Terms, account deletion, content removal requests, or policy enforcement? Contact the Car Culture HQ team.