VEHICLE AUCTION TOOL WITH VEHICLE CONDITION ASSESSMENTS

• US 20150100448A1
• Filed: 10/07/2013
• Published: 04/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Binion, Todd, Minter, Kelly S., Brown-McCreery, Heidi, Harris, Michael, Myers, Jeremy, Fields, Brian, Harr, Joe
• Granted Patent: US 10,032,216 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A method for buying and selling vehicles includes receiving information identifying a vehicle, retrieving condition data corresponding to the vehicle from a condition database, wherein a device inside the vehicle generates at least some of the condition data while the vehicle is being operated, and analyzing the condition data to determine a condition of the vehicle, wherein the condition of the vehicle relates to at least one of a quality or a value of the vehicle. Further, the method includes communicating an indication of the vehicle condition to an end user device, and, in response to the indication of the vehicle condition, receiving an offer to purchase the vehicle. A notification is generated based on the offer to purchase the vehicle, wherein the notification indicates a status of a purchase of the vehicle according to the offer to purchase the vehicle, and the notification is communicated to the end user device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from an end user device corresponding to a potential buyer via a computer network, vehicle interest information indicative of at least one of a type or a category of vehicles of interest to the potential buyer;

matching, with the one or more processors, the at least one of the received type or the received category of vehicles of interest indicated in the vehicle interest information to a vehicle offered for sale;

retrieving, with the one or more processors, condition data corresponding to the vehicle offered for sale from a condition database,

wherein at least some portions of the condition data are generated by a mobile device inside the vehicle offered for sale while the vehicle offered for sale is being operated, the mobile device including at least one of a phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a removable geopositioning receiver, and

wherein at least some other portions of the condition data are generated by an on-board device inside the vehicle offered for sale while the vehicle offered for sale is being operated, the on-board device including at least two or more of;

a motion sensor, a camera, an audio sensor, a biometric sensor, a clock, and an on-board geopositioning receiver, and wherein the on-board device is distinct from the mobile device;

analyzing, with the one or more processors, the condition data to determine a condition of the vehicle offered for sale, wherein the condition of the vehicle offered for sale indicates a market value, a future predicted condition, and a quality level of the vehicle offered for sale;

communicating, via the computer network, an indication of the vehicle condition to the end user device corresponding to the potential buyer;

in response to the indication of the vehicle condition, receiving, from the end user device corresponding to the potential buyer via the computer network, an offer to purchase the vehicle offered for sale;

generating, with the one or more processors, a notification based on the offer to purchase the vehicle offered for sale, wherein the notification indicates a status of a purchase of the vehicle according to the offer to purchase the vehicle offered for sale; and

communicating, via the computer network, the notification to the end user device corresponding to the potential buyer.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, from the end user device corresponding to the potential buyer via the computer network, an identification of the vehicle offered for sale including at least one of a license plate number, license plate state, manufacturer name, year of manufacture, name of insurance company, model name or number, color, vehicle identification number (VIN), registered owner name, owner contact information, or insurance policy number.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the condition of the vehicle further indicates at least one of a relative quality, a trade-in value, or a state of mechanical operation of the vehicle offered for sale.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the condition data includes current or prior geographic location data, mileage data, time or date data, vehicle operator behavior data, vehicle collision data, repair or maintenance data, vehicle title data, vehicle usage data, recall data, vehicle operator preference data, or driving violation data.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the vehicle condition includes one of text, image, graph, plot, chart, or table based representations of the condition of the vehicle.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the indication of vehicle condition includes a suggested, minimum, or owner-defined purchase price of the vehicle offered for sale.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the notification includes at least one of:

(i) a notification of the purchase of the vehicle offered for sale according to the offer to purchase the vehicle,

(ii) a notification of the purchase of the vehicle offered for sale according to a different offer to purchase the vehicle,

(iii) a notification of instructions to complete the purchase of the vehicle offered for sale,

(iv) a notification of an updated minimum offer for the vehicle offered for sale, or

(v) a notification of similar vehicles available for purchase.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the notification includes at least one of a list of vehicles offered for sale for which condition information was viewed, a number of bids or offers for purchasing the vehicle, a max bid for the vehicle, description or condition updates for the vehicle offered for sale, or instructions and information regarding the purchasing vehicles offered for sale.

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

11. A computer-implemented method for buying and selling vehicles on a computing device including a user interface and a display device, the method comprising:

receiving from a potential buyer, via the user interface, vehicle interest information indicative of at least one of a type or a category of vehicles of interest to a potential buyer;

generating, with one or more processors, an identification message including at least some of the vehicle interest information;

sending, via a network interface at the computing device, the identification message to a server;

in response to the identification message, receiving, via the network interface at the computing device, condition information corresponding to a vehicle offered for sale and reflecting a condition of the vehicle offered for sale,

wherein some portions of the condition of the vehicle offered for sale are determined based on an analysis of condition data generated by a mobile device inside the vehicle offered for sale while the vehicle offered for sale is being operated, the mobile device including at least one of a phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a removable geopositioning receiver, and

wherein at least some other portions of the condition data are generated by an on-board device inside the vehicle offered for sale while the vehicle offered for sale is being operated, the on-board device including at least two or more of;

a motion sensor, a camera, an audio sensor, a biometric sensor, a clock, and an on-board geopositioning receiver, and wherein the on-board device is distinct from the mobile device, and

wherein the condition of the vehicle offered for sale includes a market value, a future predicted condition, and a quality level of the vehicle offered for sale;

rendering, with the one or more processors, an image of at least part of the condition information;

presenting, via the display device, the image of at least part of the condition information to the potential buyer;

receiving from the potential buyer, via the user interface, an offer to purchase the vehicle offered for sale;

generating, with the one or more processors, an offer message including the offer to purchase the vehicle offered for sale;

sending, via the network interface at the computing device, the offer message to the server;

in response to the offer message, receiving, via the network interface at the computing device, a notification indicating a status of a purchase of the vehicle offered for sale according to the offer to purchase the vehicle;

rendering, with the one or more processors, an image of the notification; and

presenting, via the display device, the image of the notification to the potential buyer.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising receiving from the potential buyer, via the user interface, an identification of the vehicle offered for sale including at least one of a license plate number, license plate state, manufacturer name, year of manufacture, name of insurance company, model name or number, color, vehicle identification number (VIN), registered owner name, owner contact information, or insurance policy number.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the condition of the vehicle further indicates at least one of a relative quality, a trade-in value, or a state of mechanical operation of the vehicle offered for sale.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the condition data includes current or prior geographic location data, mileage data, time or date data, vehicle operator behavior data, vehicle collision data, repair or maintenance data, vehicle title data, vehicle usage data, recall data, vehicle operator preference data, or driving violation data.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the condition information includes one of text, image, graph, plot, chart, or table based representations of the condition of the vehicle.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the condition information includes a suggested, minimum, or owner-defined purchase price of the vehicle offered for sale.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the offer to purchase the vehicle offered for sale is a user modification of the suggested, minimum, or owner-defined purchase price of the vehicle.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the offer to purchase the vehicle offered for sale is a user selection of the suggested, minimum, or owner-defined purchase price of the vehicle.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the notification includes at least one of:

(i) a notification of the purchase of the vehicle offered for sale according to the offer to purchase the vehicle,

(ii) a notification of the purchase of the vehicle offered for sale according to a different offer to purchase the vehicle,

(iii) a notification of instructions to complete the purchase of the vehicle offered for sale,

(iv) a notification of an updated minimum offer for the vehicle offered for sale, or

(v) a notification of similar vehicles available for purchase.

13. (canceled)

21. A computer device for assessing the condition of a vehicle offered for sale, the computer device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory memories coupled to the one or more processors,

wherein the one or more memories include computer executable instructions stored therein that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive, from an end user device corresponding to a potential buyer via a computer network, vehicle interest information indicative of at least one of a type or a category of vehicles of interest to a potential buyer;

match the at least one of the received type or the received category of vehicles of interest indicated in the vehicle interest information to the vehicle offered for sale;

retrieve condition data corresponding to the vehicle offered for sale from a condition database,

wherein a mobile device inside the vehicle offered for sale generates at least some portions of the condition data while the vehicle offered for sale is being operated, the mobile device including at least one of a phone, a tablet computer, or a removable geopositioning receiver,

wherein at least some other portions of the condition data are generated by an on-board device inside the vehicle offered for sale while the vehicle offered for sale is being operated, the on-board device including at least two or more of;

a motion sensor, a camera, an audio sensor, a biometric sensor, a clock, and an on-board geopositioning receiver, and wherein the on-board device is distinct from the mobile device;

analyze, with the one or more processors, the condition data to determine a condition of the vehicle offered for sale, wherein the condition of the vehicle offered for sale relates to a market value of the vehicle offered for sale and a future predicted condition of the vehicle offered for sale;

communicate, via the computer network, an indication of the vehicle condition to the end user device corresponding to the potential buyer;

in response to the indication of the vehicle condition, receive, from the end user device corresponding to a potential buyer via the computer network, an offer to purchase the vehicle offered for sale;

generate, with the one or more processors, a notification based on the offer to purchase the vehicle offered for sale, wherein the notification includes information related to the purchase of the vehicle offered for sale; and

communicate, via the computer network, the notification to the end user device corresponding to the potential buyer.