System and Method for Pre-Evaluation Vehicle Diagnostic and Repair Cost Estimation

• US 20150012169A1
• Filed: 07/07/2014
• Published: 01/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OCT Triple Industries LLC
• Original Assignee: Precision Auto Repair Center of Stamford, LLC
• Inventors: Coard, Christopher C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,111,264 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for estimating a diagnosis of a vehicle in need of repair in advance of performing any diagnostic tests on the vehicle. The invention further estimates the costs for a repair to a vehicle in need of repair in advance of performing any diagnostic tests to the vehicle. The system is particularly useful at a point-of-sale system in a vehicle repair center or in a off-site customer access tool.

Claims

1. A system for use with a plurality of networked point-of-sale (POS) terminals located at respective vehicle service centers (VSC) for providing a pre-diagnostic estimation of repair that is be required to be performed on a particular vehicle which has been reported to have certain reported issues, the system comprising:

a) a database of vehicle data including (i) vehicle types, (ii) issue data of issues associated with the vehicle types, and (iii) repair data of repairs performed to correct the issues for each of the respective vehicle types;

b) a logic service configured to,

(i) query the vehicle data in the database to identify a vehicle type that is the same as the particular vehicle,

(ii) query the vehicle data to identify vehicles of the vehicle type that have previously been reported to have the same reported issue as the particular vehicle,

(iii) query the vehicle data to identify the one or more repairs that have been performed to repair the reported issue for the identified vehicle type, and

(iv) determine a confidence level for each of the identified one or more repairs as to whether the identified one or more repairs is the correct repair for the reported issue with the particular vehicle; and

c) a bridge operably coupled to the database and logic service to place the database and logic service in network communication with the plurality of POS terminals.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the repair data in the database is dynamic.

3. A system according to claim 2, wherein the repair data is updated after the particular vehicle is repaired to store the actual repair performed on the particular vehicle in the repair data so that when the database is subsequently queried by the logic service, the repair data includes such additional repair data.

4. A system according to claim 3, wherein the database is adapted to update the repair data automatically.

5. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

the plurality of point-of-sale (POS) terminals, each POS terminal having a user interface at which to implement the queries of the logic service on the database, and an invoicing system to invoice customers for completed vehicle repairs.

6. A system for providing a pre-diagnostic estimation of a repair that is required for a particular vehicle which has been reported to have certain issues, the system comprising:

a) a first database of vehicle data including (i) vehicle types, (ii) issue data of issues associated with the vehicle types, and (iii) repair data of repairs performed to correct the issues for each of the respective vehicle types;

b) a logic service configured to,

(i) query the vehicle data to identify a vehicle type that is the same as the particular vehicle,

(ii) query the vehicle data to identify vehicles of the vehicle type that have previously been reported to have the same reported issue as the particular vehicle,

(iii) query the vehicle data to identify the one or more repairs that have been performed to repair the reported issue for the identified vehicle type, and

(iv) determine a confidence level for each of the identified one or more repairs as to whether the identified one or more repairs is the correct repair for the reported issue with the particular vehicle;

c) at least one terminal having a user interface with an input and a display, the display adapted to display the identified one or more repairs; and

d) a bridge that operably couples the first database and the logic service to the terminal over a telecommunications network so that the terminal can input and/or select vehicle data, and the display can display results of queries and determinations by the logic service.

7. A system according to claim 6, wherein the repair data in the first database is dynamic.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein the repair data in the first database is automatically updatable after the particular vehicle is repaired to store in the repair data, data corresponding to the actual repair performed on the particular vehicle so that when the database is subsequently queried by the logic service, the subsequent query is performed on the updated repair data.

9. A system according to claim 6, wherein the at least one terminal is a point-of-sale terminal adapted for use in a vehicle service center.

10. A system according to claim 6, wherein the at least one terminal is a located outside of a vehicle service center.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein the at least one terminal includes an invoicing system to invoice a customer for a repair to the particular vehicle.

12. A system according to claim 6, wherein the terminal is a consumer device and the telecommunications network is the Internet.

13. A system according to claim 6, wherein the first database includes cost data to estimate a cost to perform a repair on the particular vehicle.

14. A system according to claim 6, further comprising:

a second database is provided local to the at least one terminal,

wherein the first database includes first cost data required to estimate a cost to perform a repair on the particular vehicle, and the second database includes second cost data required to estimate the cost to perform the repair on the particular vehicle.

15. A system according to claim 14, wherein the first cost data includes at least one of parts required for the repair and estimated labor time for the repair, and the second cost data includes at least one of cost of parts and a labor rate per hour.

16. A system according to claim 6, further comprising:

a second database including data associated with reliability of parts from different brands or vendors for a part required to be repaired or a part required to perform the repair.

17. A method for estimating a diagnosis of a particular vehicle in need of repair prior to performing diagnostics on or otherwise physically evaluating the vehicle, comprising:

a) providing a first database of vehicle data including (i) vehicle types, (ii) issue data of issues associated with the vehicle types, and (iii) repair data of repairs performed to correct the issues for each of the respective vehicle types;

b) querying the first database to,

(i) identify vehicle types that are the same as the particular vehicle,

(ii) identify vehicles that have been previously reported to have the reported issue of the particular vehicle, and

(iii) identify the one or more different types of repairs that have been previously performed to repair the identified vehicles that have had the reported issue;

c) performing a logic function with respect to the identified vehicles and different types of repairs to determine a confidence level for each of the one or more distinct types of repairs; and

d) displaying on a display of a user interface at least a portion of the identified one or more distinct types of repairs and a metric associated with the confidence level for the portion of the identified one or more distinct types of repairs.

18. A method according to claim 17, further comprising:

displaying on the display the portion of the identified distinct types of repairs in a ranked order corresponding to the respective confidence level of each.

19. A method according to claim 17, wherein the confidence level for each distinct type of repair is calculated by:

20. A method according to claim 17, wherein steps b), c) and d) are performed prior to performing diagnostics on the particular vehicle.

21. A method according to claim 17, wherein steps b), c) and d) are performed prior to a physical technical evaluation of the particular vehicle.

22. A method according to claim 17, wherein steps b) and d) are performed at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal in a vehicle service center, and the user interface is coupled to the POS terminal.

23. A method according to claim 22, further comprising:

repairing the vehicle; and

invoicing a customer for repair to the particular vehicle, wherein the at least one POS terminal includes an invoicing system.

24. A method according to claim 17, wherein the user interface is integrated with a consumer device.

25. A method according to claim 17, further comprising:

repairing the vehicle; and

updating the repair data in the first database so that the repair data includes data for the particular vehicle with respect its vehicle type and the reported issue queried.

26. A method according to claim 17, further comprising:

identifying from a second database replacement parts from sources having higher reliability over time than replacement parts from other sources.

27. A method according to claim 17, further comprising:

estimating a cost to perform at least one of the displayed distinct types of repairs; and

presenting the estimated cost for each of the at least one displayed distinct repairs together on the user interface.

28. A method according to claim 27, wherein the estimating including calculating parts required, cost of parts, service time required, and labor rate at a location performing the repair.

29. A method according to claim 17, wherein the first database is queried by a potential customer.

30. A method according to claim 29, wherein the first database is queried from a location offsite of a vehicle service center.

31. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

directing the potential customer to one or more vehicle service centers in a designated geographical vicinity of the potential customer.

32. A method according to claim 29, further comprising:

generating an appointment for the potential customer at a particular vehicle service center so that the potential customer can have the vehicle repaired.

33. A method for use by a vehicle service center (VSC) for repairing a vehicle, comprising:

a) providing a first database of vehicle data including (i) vehicle types, (ii) issue data of issues associated with the vehicle types, and (iii) historical repair data of repairs previously performed;

b) querying the first database to,

(i) identify vehicle types that are the same as the particular vehicle,

(ii) identify vehicles that have been previously reported to have the reported issue of the particular vehicle, and

(iii) identify the one or more different types of repairs that have been previously performed to repair the reported issue on the same vehicle type;

c) performing a logic function with respect to the identified vehicles and one or more different types of repairs to determine one or more potential repairs for the particular vehicle;

d) providing a second database including data associated with an efficiency level of vehicle service technician for each of one or more of the different types of potential repairs;

e) performing a logic function on the second database to determine a vehicle service technician of the VSC that is more efficient than other vehicle service technicians at the VSC for repair of a selected potential repair for the particular vehicle; and

f) assigning the more efficient vehicle service technician determined by the logic function to repair the particular vehicle.

34. A method according to claim 33, wherein for each of the one or more different types of potential repairs, the efficiency level of a vehicle service technician is related to the technician'"'"'s ability to complete the type of repair in the least amount of time.

35. A method according to claim 33, further comprising:

repairing the vehicle; and

after the vehicle is repaired, updating the second database based on the time required for the technician to repair the vehicle.

36. A method for use by a vehicle service center (VSC) for repairing a vehicle, comprising:

a) providing a first database of vehicle data including (i) vehicle types, (ii) issue data of issues associated with the vehicle types, and (iii) historical repair data of repairs previously performed;

b) querying the first database to,

(i) identify vehicle types that are the same as the particular vehicle,

(ii) identify vehicles that have been previously reported to have the reported issue of the particular vehicle, and

(iii) identify the one or more different types of repairs that have been previously performed to repair the reported issue on the same vehicle type;

c) performing a logic function with respect to the identified vehicles and one or more different types of repairs to determine one or more potential repairs for the particular vehicle;

d) providing a second database including data associated with reliability of parts from different brands or vendors;

e) selecting a repair from the identified potential repairs; and

f) selecting parts for use in the repair, based, at least in part, on data in the second database indicating such parts having higher reliability over time than other available parts.

37. A method according to claim 36, wherein the second database is dynamically updated.