Questions, answered.
Privacy, your registration, blurring photos, what happens when you sell — the things owners and clubs ask us most. Can't find it? Get in touch.
Getting started.
What is Oncat?
Oncat is where a Jaguar's story gets told — and kept. Photos, the restoration, the service and MOT history, the honours won, every weekend entry along the way: all in one place you can keep private or show off. It's free, and it's built for Jaguar enthusiasts, by Jaguar enthusiasts.
Is it free?
Yes — Oncat is free to use, with no adverts and no endless feed. It's an independent project, not a corporation chasing your attention. (If we ever add premium extras down the line, the core — your garage and your car's story — stays free.)
Do I need to own a Jaguar right now?
No. You can build a garage for a Jaguar you've previously owned, or even if you've had to stop driving and sell up — the story is still worth keeping. Trust comes first: we can see from the photos that it's a Jaguar.
Do I have to show my registration?
No — whether your registration is displayed is entirely your choice. It's hidden by default; you flip a switch to show it on your public page. Adding one is optional too — it's what lets us pull in your MOT history and set up MOT reminders, and (if you choose) makes the car findable by its reg. Automatic tax reminders will follow later.
How do I add my Jaguar?
Create your garage, add the car — model, year, a few details, your registration (shown only if you choose) — then drop in your photos. When you're happy with it, flip it to public and share it.
Privacy & keeping your car safe.
Who can see my car and garage?
Private by default. Nothing is public until you switch it on — and even then, you choose what shows. A brand-new car is yours alone until you decide otherwise.
Classic Jaguars are theft targets — how do you protect me?
Privacy isn't an upsell here, it's the default. The private tier is first-class: keep a car entirely to yourself, hide your location, mask or hide your registration, and keep the mechanical history owner-only even on a public page. Every photo has its location data stripped automatically, too (below).
Is my registration shown publicly?
No. Your registration is private by default and never appears on your public page unless you deliberately choose to show it. We treat the plate as sensitive.
Do my photos give away where my car is kept?
No. Phones quietly tag photos with GPS coordinates; Oncat strips that from every upload automatically, so your Jaguar's whereabouts never go public — even if the original photo was geotagged.
How do I blur a number plate, a VIN, a face, or a house number?
When you manage a car's photos, each one has an “Add blur” tool. Drag a box over anything you'd like to hide — a plate, a VIN or chassis number, a face, a house number — and drag its corners to match something at an angle. You can zoom right in to place it precisely. The blur is baked into the public image; your untouched original stays private.
Do you check my photos for anything sensitive automatically?
Yes. While a car is public, we automatically look over its photos for a visible number plate, a VIN or chassis number, and personal details like a name, address or signature. If we spot something, that photo is held back from your public page and we email you — with the spot already boxed, so one nudge and a save covers it (or tell us there's nothing to hide and it goes straight back on). Plates are only held back while your registration is private; a VIN or personal details are always covered until you do. It helps, but it can't catch everything, so it's worth a look yourself too.
Can people find my car by its registration?
Only if you turn it on. Each car has a “findable by registration” switch, off by default. With it on, typing the full plate takes someone straight to the car — handy when they spot one at a show. With it off, the plate finds nothing. It's simply a search of the plates owners have chosen to make findable — no DVLA lookup involved, and it works even if you keep the plate itself hidden.
What privacy controls do I have, all together?
Public or private per car; hide your location; mask or hide your registration; keep the service & MOT history owner-only; and blur anything sensitive in a photo — we check your public photos for plates, VINs and personal details for you, too. Your car, your rules.
Your car's record.
Can I record my service and MOT history?
Yes. Your service log is for the work — services and repairs, each dated and stamped to your ownership. MOT history sits in its own section and is pulled in automatically from the DVSA once you add your registration — you can add older or missing tests yourself too.
Can I log restoration work and weekend entries?
Absolutely — that's what the logbook is for. Dated “what I did this weekend” posts, a note and a few photos, building your Jaguar's story over time. It's the best part.
Will Oncat remind me before my MOT or insurance is due?
Yes. Once your registration is in, MOT reminders are automatic — we watch the DVSA record and give you plenty of notice before it's due. You can also add your insurance renewal date and who it's with, and we'll remind you before it lapses. (Automatic tax reminders will follow.)
What are honours, and the concours badge?
Honours are the wins your Jaguar has earned — first in class, people's choice, best restoration. You record them yourself; a concours win earns a public badge once you attach a photo as proof. (Organiser-verified honours arrive in a later phase.)
What happens to the record when I sell the car?
The documented history stays with the car. When it's sold, the new keeper receives it, and you keep your own copy as a “previously owned” page — a record of the years you looked after it. Nobody loses the story.
Is my data mine? Can I remove it?
Yes — it's yours to keep. You can edit or delete anything you've added at any time. And you can close your account yourself whenever you like: in Settings, choose "Delete your account". It permanently removes your account and everything in it — no email to us required, and we don't keep a copy.
Tours.
What is a tour?
A tour is a road trip told properly: its own page with the route on a map, every stop numbered, the miles for each day, where you stayed and ate, your photos and a few lines about each day. Think of it as a road book you can share, and print. Start one from the Tours section of your garage or car page, or from the Paddock’s Tours tab.
I’ve already done the trip. Do I have to remember every stop?
No. Choose “Map a tour”, then “Record a tour”, and drop in all your photos from the trip, straight from your phone or computer. Oncat reads when and where each one was taken and maps it for you: the days, the places and the route, with every photo in its day. Then you fill in the blanks: mark the hotels as “Stayed here”, add anywhere you didn’t photograph, and give it a name. The photos’ locations are used to map the tour, then removed from the photos we keep.
How do I make one?
Give it a name and pick the car, then add your stops: search for a town, a pass, a hotel or a restaurant, or tap the map where you stopped. Mark the hotels as “Stayed here” and the days sort themselves, each night ending a day. For a night that wasn’t a hotel (an overnight ferry, a friend’s, back to base or home), open the stop and choose “End the day here”, or press “Start Day 2” at the end. Everything saves as you go.
We stayed several nights in one place and drove out each day. How do I show that?
Open the hotel in your tour and set “Nights here” to the number of nights you stayed. Each day in between then starts and ends at the hotel: press “Add a stop to Day 2” and add the places you drove to, and the drive back is worked out and counted for you. The hotel stays one stop on the map, shown as “Nights 2, 3 and 4”, and a day you didn’t drive anywhere simply reads as a day at the hotel.
How do I say which hotel we stayed at?
Choose “Where you stayed” at the top of the tour builder (a tour recorded from photos opens there first). Every night is listed by where it was spent, like “Nice, 3 nights”. Tap “Which hotel?” to pick from the hotels nearby, or type its name. “Change the nights” moves a night to the hotel before or after, to one of that day’s places, or somewhere else.
Why are there no lines between my stops?
The map shows your stops, numbered in the order you drove them, and we work out the miles for every drive between them, so the day’s miles and the tour’s total are right.
How are the miles worked out?
From the route on the roads, day by day and for the whole tour. If your trip meter says something different, you can put in its figure for any day instead.
Can I plan a tour before I go?
Yes. Give it dates in the future and it shows as planned: the route, the hotels and the days are all there for the trip, and you can print the road book to take with you. Add your photos and a few lines about each day when you’re back.
Can I print it?
Yes. Every tour has a “Print or save as PDF” button: a road book with the route on the cover, the days at a glance, a page for each day with its stops and photos, and where you stayed and ate.
Who can see my tour, and is my home safe?
Only you, until you switch on “Public” (at the top of the tour builder, or on the tour page). Then it’s on your garage, your car’s page and the Paddock; switch it off and it’s yours alone again. Start from a town, a hotel or a landmark, never your home, so your address stays off the map.
Do my photos go in the right place?
Mostly on their own. Drop in every photo from the trip at once: each one goes into the day it was taken, and beside the nearest stop if the photo knows where it was. The location is used for that and then removed, as with every photo at Oncat. Tap any photo to move it or add a caption.
People & events.
How do kudos, following and friends work?
Kudos is a nod of appreciation — never a ranking or a leaderboard. Follow a car (one-way) to keep up with its entries, and you'll be told if it ever goes up for sale. Follow a person, and when they follow you back you're friends — you each see the other's entries and can plan the season together.
Can I message other members?
Yes. Once you and another member are friends (you've each followed the other), you can message each other privately at Oncat, with no email addresses shared. You can also enquire about a car that's for sale: its page has an Enquire button that opens a private thread with the owner. You can block or report anyone at any time.
Where do the events come from?
We gather them from the clubs' own public calendars, always credited and linked back to the club they came from. Mark “I'm going” to see which of your friends are too, add any event to your own calendar with a tap, and we'll remind you before it comes round.
For clubs.
Is Oncat competing with my club?
No — and it never will. Oncat is not a club; it's infrastructure under the scene, not a flag in it. Every event we list credits and links back to the club it came from — sending people towards your events and membership, not away. The clubs have carried the Jaguar world for generations; we're here to complement them, not compete.
I help run a club — can we work together?
We'd love that. Fuller organiser tools — club-managed listings, verified honours — are on the way; in the meantime, get in touch and let's talk.
About & getting help.
Is Oncat affiliated with Jaguar or JLR?
No. Oncat is an independent project and is not affiliated with Jaguar Land Rover. The word “Jaguar” is used only to describe the cars we love.
How do I change which emails I get, or stop them?
Every email we send has a “manage your emails” link that needs no login, and you can set your preferences in your account at any time. One-click unsubscribe is honoured too.
I've found a problem, or I've got an idea.
There's a Feedback link on every page — tell us anything, we read it all. If something's wrong with a listing or a car, the Report control flags it to us. Or just say hello.