SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OBTAINING COMPETITIVE PRICING FOR VEHICLE SERVICES

• US 20120136527A1
• Filed: 06/09/2011
• Published: 05/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zonar Systems, Inc. (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Zonar Systems, Inc. (Continental AG)
• Inventors: McQuade, Charles Michael, Brinton, Brett
• Granted Patent: US 10,600,096 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29.4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0611 Request for offers or quotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

In order to obtain competitive pricing for vehicle servicing, a pricing service provider is used to obtain pricing data from a plurality of service vendors. In at least some embodiments, one or more of the following types of additional information for each vendor will be provided along with the pricing data, to enable the consumer (the owner or operator of the vehicle) to make an informed selection: a rating of the vendor, a relative distance between the consumer (or known vehicle location) and the vendor, and a time period defining when the vendor will be able to accommodate the service. In at least some embodiments, a pricing service provider hosts a reverse auction for the benefit of the consumer. In at least some embodiment, the pricing service provider hosts a webpage upon which results of the service requests from the plurality of vendors are displayed.

Claims

1. A system for receiving a vehicle service request for a specific vehicle and providing pricing data from one or more vendors able to provide service for the vehicle, comprising:

(a) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored;

(b) a data link for receiving the vehicle service request; and

(c) a processor coupled to the memory and to the data link, said processor executing the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including;

(i) in response to receiving the vehicle service request, conveying vehicle information to a plurality of vendors, to enable each vendor interested in responding to the vehicle service request to provide a price quote for their services; and

(ii) in response to receiving a price quote from a vendor, conveying the price quote to at least one entity selected from a group of entities consisting of;

(A) an operator of the vehicle; and

(B) a third party able to convey the price quote to the operator of the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the machine instructions cause the processor to carry out a reverse auction for servicing the vehicle based on the vehicle service request, wherein any vendor interested in servicing the vehicle enters a bid.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the machine instructions cause the processor to convey the price quote in a manner that withholds vendor identification information, such that the vehicle operator and vendor cannot complete a transaction without interacting with an operator of the system.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the machine instructions cause the processor to convey the price quote using at least one communication technique selected from a group of communication techniques consisting of:

(a) communicating the price quote via email;

(b) communicating the price quote via a text message on a cellular phone;

(c) communicating the price quote via a voicemail message;

(d) generating a webpage upon which vendor information can be viewed, the vendor information including information about the vendor and the vendor'"'"'s price quote; and

(e) updating a previously generated webpage to add vendor information for an additional vendor.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the webpage displays a reverse auction and each vendor can access the webpage and adjust their price quote based on price quotes offered by other vendors, in order to stimulate competitive price quotes.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the webpage provides at least one type of additional information selected from a group of additional information consisting of:

(a) an indication of how quickly each vendor can provide service for the vehicle, based on data provided by each vendor; and

(b) a distance between the vehicle and each vendor, based on vehicle location data included in the vehicle service request.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the webpage provides a rating of each vendor, wherein the rating is displayed on the webpage as at least one graphic icon adjacent to an identification of the vendor, where a relatively greater number of graphic icons indicates a relatively better rating for the vendor, wherein at least one such graphic icon comprises a wrench.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle service request comprises electronic vehicle performance data collected from the vehicle, and the machine instructions cause the processor to implement at least one of the following functions:

(a) the function of conveying the electronic vehicle performance data to each vendor, so each vendor can independently diagnose what service is required based on the electronic vehicle performance data; and

(b) the function of using the processor to analyze the electronic vehicle performance data to diagnose what service is required, where the analysis is implemented before the vehicle information is conveyed to the plurality of vendors, such that the service diagnosis is included in the vehicle information conveyed to each vendor.

9. A non-transitory memory medium having machine instructions stored thereon for receiving a vehicle service request for a specific vehicle and providing pricing data from one or more vendors able to provide service for the vehicle, the machine instructions, when implemented by a processor, carrying out the functions of:

(a) in response to receiving the vehicle service request, conveying vehicle information to a plurality of vendors, to enable each vendor interested in responding to the vehicle service request to provide a price quote for their services; and

(b) in response to receiving a price quote from a vendor, conveying the price quote to at least one entity selected from a group of entities consisting of;

(i) an operator of the vehicle; and

(ii) a third party able to convey the price quote to the operator of the vehicle.

10. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 9, wherein the machine instructions cause the processor to convey the price quote in a manner that withholds vendor identification information, such that the vehicle operator and vendor cannot complete a transaction without interacting with a host requesting the price quotes from the vendors.

11. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 9, wherein the machine instructions, when implemented by the processor, implement the function of conveying the price quote using at least one communication technique selected from a group of communication techniques consisting of:

(a) communicating the price quote via email;

(b) communicating the price quote via a text message on a cellular phone;

(c) communicating the price quote via a voicemail message;

(d) generating a webpage accessible by at least one of the vehicle operator and the third party upon which vendor information can be viewed, the vendor information including information about the vendor and the vendor'"'"'s price quote; and

(e) updating a previously generated webpage to add vendor information for an additional vendor.

12. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 9, wherein the machine instructions, when implemented by the processor, further carry out the function of communicating at least one type of additional information selected from a group of additional information consisting of:

(a) an indication of how quickly each vendor can provide service for the vehicle, based on data provided by each vendor; and

(b) a distance between the vehicle and each vendor, based on vehicle location data included in the vehicle service request.

13. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 9, wherein the machine instructions, when implemented by the processor, further carry out the function of carrying out a reverse auction for vendors responding to the vehicle service request, wherein any vendor interested in servicing the vehicle enters a bid comprising its pricing data for the vehicle service request.

14. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 9, wherein the machine instructions cause the processor to implement at least one of the following functions:

(a) the function of conveying the electronic vehicle performance data to each vendor, so each vendor can independently diagnose what service is required based on the electronic vehicle performance data; and

(b) the function of using the processor to analyze the electronic vehicle performance data to diagnose what service is required, where the analysis is implemented before the vehicle information is conveyed to the plurality of vendors, such that the service diagnosis is included in the vehicle information conveyed to each vendor.

15. A method for providing pricing data to a consumer of vehicle services, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a vehicle service request for servicing a specific vehicle at a computing device remote from the vehicle;

(b) using the remote computing device to convey vehicle information to a plurality of vendors, to enable each vendor interested in responding to the vehicle service request to provide a price quote for their services; and

(c) in response to receiving a price quote from a vendor, using the remote computing device to convey the price quote to at least one entity selected from a group of entities consisting of;

(i) an operator of the vehicle; and

(ii) a third party able to convey the price quote to the operator of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of using the remote computing device to convey vehicle information to a plurality of vendors comprises the step of hosting a reverse auction for servicing the vehicle based on the vehicle service request, wherein any vendor interested in servicing the vehicle enters a bid in the reverse auction.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of using the remote computing device to convey the price quote is implemented in a manner that withholds vendor identification information, such that the vehicle operator and vendor cannot complete a transaction without interacting with a party implementing the method.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of using the remote computing device to convey the vehicle information to the plurality of vendors comprises the step of conveying electronic vehicle performance data from the vehicle, so each vendor can independently diagnose what service is required based on the electronic vehicle performance data.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of using the remote computing device to convey the price quote is implemented using at least one communication technique selected from a group of communication techniques consisting of:

(a) communicating the price quote via email;

(b) communicating the price quote via a text message on a cellular phone;

(c) communicating the price quote via a voicemail message;

(d) generating a webpage upon which vendor information can be viewed, the vendor information including information about the vendor and the vendor'"'"'s price quote; and

(e) updating a previously generated webpage to add vendor information for an additional vendor.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of generating the webpage comprises generating a webpage that displays a reverse auction and each vendor can access the webpage and adjust their price quote based on price quotes offered by other vendors, in order to stimulate competitive price quotes.

21. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of using the remote computing device to convey at least one type of additional information along with the price quote, the at least one type of additional information being selected from a group of additional information consisting of:

(a) an indication of how quickly each vendor can provide service for the vehicle, based on data provided by each vendor; and

(b) a distance between the vehicle and each vendor, based on vehicle location data included in the vehicle service request.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein before the step of using the remote computing device to convey the vehicle information to the plurality of vendors, performing the step of using the remote computing device to analyze electronic vehicle performance data from the vehicle to diagnose what service is required based on the electronic vehicle performance data, and including that diagnosis in the vehicle information conveyed to each vendor.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of using electronic vehicle performance data from the vehicle to diagnose what service is required based on the electronic vehicle performance data comprises the step of comparing the electronic vehicle performance data to a plurality of data records, each data record corresponding to a different mechanical fault.

24. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving a vehicle service request for servicing a specific vehicle comprises the step of receiving the vehicle service request at a pricing service provider, and further comprising the step of conveying the vehicle service request to the pricing service provider, where the party conveying the vehicle service request to the pricing service provider comprises at least one party selected from a group of parties consisting of:

(a) an owner of the vehicle;

(b) an operator of the vehicle;

(c) a fleet operator;

(d) a private individual consumer; and

(e) a third party monitoring service that monitors data acquired form the vehicle to determine service needs of the vehicle.