What changes on October 1
My Car Buddy has been free for every account since launch, with no card and no trial clock. That ends on September 30, 2026. Here is exactly what happens next — no surprises, and nothing hidden in a footnote.
The price
The monthly rate for a car or truck goes from $1.99 to $2.99 on October 1. That rate is stamped on each vehicle when you add it and never recalculated, so a vehicle you put on a plan today stays at $1.99 for as long as it's on your plan — even years from now.
| Vehicle added | Rate |
|---|---|
| On or before Sept 30, 2026 | $1.99 / month, locked for the life of the subscription |
| On or after Oct 1, 2026 | $2.99 / month |
Electric vehicles and boats have their own lower rates, and motorcycles, ATVs and equipment are sold in low-cost 10-packs. Volume discounts apply automatically as your fleet grows. The full breakdown is on the pricing page.
The mobile apps
The full mobile app release is October 1, on iPhone and Android. Until then both are a closed test you can join, and everything else runs in the browser on a phone as well as a desktop.
Nothing about your account changes with it. The apps read the same fleet, the same parts and the same history as the website — sign in and it is there. You do not need the app to keep using My Car Buddy, before or after October 1.
What the apps do that the browser does not
Push notifications when a part comes due, so a reminder reaches you without you opening anything. The camera paths — reading an odometer, a VIN plate or a receipt from a photo — are quicker from a phone's own camera than from a file picker. And the daily inspection (DVIR) is built for a driver standing at the vehicle rather than sitting at a desk.
Everything else is the same product. Anything you can do on the website you can do in the app, and the other way round.
In the apps the rate is $3.99 from October 1 rather than $2.99, because the app stores take a cut of every subscription sold through them. It steps on the same day as the website, so a vehicle costs what it costs from one date — there is no month in which the same truck is priced differently depending on where you added it. Adding vehicles on the website avoids the difference entirely.
If you don't pick a plan
Your account becomes read-only on October 1. That is not a lock-out and it is not a deletion. You can still sign in, open every vehicle, read every part and every service record, and download any saved report. What you can't do is make new changes — logging service, updating mileage, adding a vehicle — until you're on a plan.
There's also a permanent free plan: one vehicle, all fluids plus every safety-critical part, supported by ads. It costs nothing and it never expires. See what's on the free plan.
What happens to your data
Nothing. On every plan, and on no plan at all:
- Every vehicle, machine and trailer you've added stays exactly as it is.
- Every part, its wear history, and every confirmed condition is kept.
- Your full mileage log, service history, receipts and documents are kept.
- Saved reports stay downloadable — including after an account goes read-only.
- You can export or delete everything at any time, on any plan.
We don't delete a paying customer's records when they stop paying, and we don't hold your history hostage to get you back. If you subscribe later, everything is where you left it.
Already subscribed?
Then nothing on this page applies to you. Your rate doesn't move, your account doesn't change, and October 1 is an ordinary Thursday.
Questions about your specific account? Email support@capitalfleettracker.com and a person will answer. If the timing is genuinely bad for you, tell us — we'd rather work something out than lose you over three dollars.