Systems and methods for determining cost of vehicle ownership

• US 9,727,905 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2013
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TrueCar, Inc.
• Original Assignee: TrueCar, Inc.
• Inventors: Lander, Joel Martin, Semeniuk, Mikhail, Swinson, Michael D.
• Primary Examiner(s): PALAVECINO, KATHLEEN GAGE
• Application Number:
  US14/137,194
• Publication Number:
  US 20140279258A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,327 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy

Abstract

Systems and methods for estimating the cost of vehicle ownership wherein, in one embodiment, a system includes a computer processor that is coupled to a network interface, a data storage device and an output device, the processor being configured to receive information identifying a user-specified vehicle of interest and interval of interest. The processor uses this information to identify and retrieve pre-calculated data items that are stored in the data storage device, and to request external data items from an external data source and receive the requested external data items via the network interface. The processor computes cost-of-vehicle-ownership (COVO) components for the vehicle of interest, sums the components to determine an overall COVO, and outputs the components and overall COVO to a user via the output device. The user may provide further input to modify the COVO calculation.

Claims

1. A system for determining costs of vehicle ownership, the system comprising:

a computer processor;

a network interface coupled to the processor;

a data storage device coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is configured to

receive a request over the network interface including information identifying a user-specified vehicle of interest and a user-specified ownership interval of interest over the network interface,

respond to the request over the network interface in real-time using the processor configured to;

identify one or more pre-calculated data items that are stored in the data storage device and retrieve the identified pre-calculated data items from the data storage device,

request one or more external data items from an external data source and receive the requested external data items from the external data source via the network interface asynchronously to the retrieval of the identified pre-calculated data items from the data storage device of the system,

compute a cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the one or more pre-calculated data items, wherein the cost of vehicle ownership is the cost incurred while owning the user-specified vehicle during the user-specified ownership interval, the cost is expressed as a net present value, and at least one of the one or more pre-calculated data items is associated with a repair cost for the user-specified vehicle during the user-specified ownership interval and the repair cost is determined based on one or more bins of repair data, each bin of historical repair data associated with a year, make and model of the user-specified vehicle of interest, and

output the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest to a user in real-time via the network interface.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to sum a plurality of subcomponents of the cost of vehicle ownership, wherein the subcomponents include at least one of the pre-calculated data items, at least one of the requested external data items, and at least one user-supplied data item.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to:

provide a plurality of default data items; and

enable replacement of one or more of the default data items with corresponding ones of the user-supplied data items in response to receiving the user-supplied data items from the user.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

after outputting the cost of vehicle ownership, receive user input;

revise one or more of the pre-calculated data items, requested external data items or user-supplied data items according to the received user input;

recompute the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest; and

output the recomputed cost of vehicle ownership to the user via the output device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

identify location information associated with the user;

select one or more of the pre-calculated data items, requested external data items or user-supplied data items based at least in part on the identified location information; and

compute the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the selected, user-location-based data items.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive vehicle-specific information associated with the vehicle of interest;

select one or more of the pre-calculated data items, requested external data items or user-supplied data items based at least in part on the received vehicle-specific information; and

compute the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the data items selected based on the received vehicle-specific information.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

identify one or more expected repair items associated with the vehicle of interest;

look up itemized repair costs associated with the vehicle of interest for the identified expected repair items in a database of stored repair costs;

compute total repair costs specific to the vehicle of interest for the identified expected repair items; and

sum the total repair costs with one or more other subcomponents of the cost of vehicle ownership.

8. A method for determining costs of vehicle ownership, the method comprising:

receiving a request at a computer system over a computer network, wherein the request identifies a user-specified vehicle of interest and a user-specified ownership interval of interest over a network interface;

responding to the request over the computer network in real-time by;

identifying one or more pre-calculated data items that are stored in a data storage device coupled to the computer system and retrieving the identified pre-calculated data items from the data storage device;

requesting one or more external data items from a data source external to the computer system and receiving the requested external data items from the external data source via the network interface asynchronously to the retrieval of the identified pre-calculated data items from the data storage device of the system;

computing a cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the one or more pre-calculated data items, wherein the cost of vehicle ownership is the cost incurred while owning the user-specified vehicle during the user-specified ownership interval, the cost is expressed as a net present value, and at least one of the one or more pre-calculated data items is associated with a repair cost for the user-specified vehicle during the user-specified ownership interval and the repair cost is determined based on one or more bins of repair data, each bin of historical repair data associated with a year, make and model of the user-specified vehicle of interest, make and model of the user-specified vehicle of interest; and

outputting the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest to a user via the network interface.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein computing the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest comprises summing a plurality of subcomponents of the cost of vehicle ownership, wherein the subcomponents include at least one of the pre-calculated data items, at least one of the requested external data items, and at least one user-supplied data item.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

providing a plurality of default data items; and

replacing one or more of the default data items with corresponding ones of the user-supplied data items in response to receiving the user-supplied data items from the user.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

after outputting the cost of vehicle ownership, receiving user input;

revising one or more of the pre-calculated data items, requested external data items or user-supplied data items according to the received user input;

recomputing the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest; and

outputting the recomputed cost of vehicle ownership to the user via the output device.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

identifying location information associated with the user;

selecting one or more of the pre-calculated data items, requested external data items or user-supplied data items based at least in part on the identified location information; and

computing the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the selected, user-location-based data items.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving vehicle-specific information associated with the vehicle of interest;

selecting one or more of the pre-calculated data items, requested external data items or user-supplied data items based at least in part on the received vehicle-specific information; and

computing the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the data items selected based on the received vehicle-specific information.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

identifying one or more expected repair items associated with the vehicle of interest;

looking up itemized repair costs associated with the vehicle of interest for the identified expected repair items in a database of stored repair costs;

computing total repair costs specific to the vehicle of interest for the identified expected repair items; and

summing the total repair costs with one or more other subcomponents of the cost of vehicle ownership.

15. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that are translatable by a processor to perform:

receiving a request at a computer system over a computer network, wherein the request identifies a user-specified vehicle of interest and a user-specified ownership interval of interest over a network interface;

responding to the request over the computer network in real-time by;

identifying one or more pre-calculated data items that are stored in a data storage device coupled to the computer system and retrieving the identified pre-calculated data items from the data storage device;

requesting one or more external data items from a data source external to the computer system and receiving the requested external data items from the external data source via the network interface asynchronously to the retrieval of the identified pre-calculated data items from the data storage device of the system;

computing a cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the one or more pre-calculated data items, wherein the cost of vehicle ownership is the cost incurred while owning the user-specified vehicle during the user-specified ownership interval, the cost is expressed as a net present value, and at least one of the one or more pre-calculated data items is associated with a repair cost for the user-specified vehicle during the user-specified ownership interval and the repair cost is determined based on one or more bins of repair data, each bin of historical repair data associated with a year, make and model of the user-specified vehicle of interest, make and model of the user-specified vehicle of interest; and

outputting the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest to a user via the network interface.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein computing the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest comprises summing a plurality of subcomponents of the cost of vehicle ownership, wherein the subcomponents include at least one of the pre-calculated data items, at least one of the requested external data items, and at least one user-supplied data item.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, further comprising computer instructions that are translatable by the processor to perform:

providing a plurality of default data items; and

replacing one or more of the default data items with corresponding ones of the user-supplied data items in response to receiving the user-supplied data items from the user.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising computer instructions that are translatable by the processor to perform:

after outputting the cost of vehicle ownership, receiving user input;

revising one or more of the pre-calculated data items, requested external data items or user-supplied data items according to the received user input;

recomputing the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest; and

outputting the recomputed cost of vehicle ownership to the user via the output device.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising computer instructions that are translatable by the processor to perform:

identifying location information associated with the user;

selecting one or more of the pre-calculated data items, requested external data items or user-supplied data items based at least in part on the identified location information; and

computing the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the selected, user-location-based data items.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising computer instructions that are translatable by the processor to perform:

receiving vehicle-specific information associated with the vehicle of interest;

selecting one or more of the pre-calculated data items, requested external data items or user-supplied data items based at least in part on the received vehicle-specific information; and

computing the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the data items selected based on the received vehicle-specific information.

21. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising computer instructions that are translatable by the processor to perform:

identifying one or more expected repair items associated with the vehicle of interest;

looking up itemized repair costs associated with the vehicle of interest for the identified expected repair items in a database of stored repair costs;

computing total repair costs specific to the vehicle of interest for the identified expected repair items; and

summing the total repair costs with one or more other subcomponents of the cost of vehicle ownership.

22. A system for determining costs of vehicle ownership, the system comprising:

a computer processor;

a network interface coupled to the processor;

a data storage device coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is configured to;

receive a request over the network interface, the request identifying a user-specified vehicle of interest and a user-specified ownership interval of interest over the network interface,

respond to the request over the network interface in real-time using the processor configured to;

identify one or more pre-calculated data items that are stored in the data storage device and retrieve the identified pre-calculated data items from the data storage device,

request one or more external data items from an external data source and receive the requested external data items from the external data source via the network interface asynchronously to the retrieval of the identified pre-calculated data items from the data storage device of the system,

compute a cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest using the one or more pre-calculated data items, wherein the cost of vehicle ownership is the cost incurred while owning the user-specified vehicle during the user-specified ownership interval, the cost is expressed as a net present value, and at least one of the one or more pre-calculated data items is associated with a repair cost for the user-specified vehicle during the user-specified ownership interval and the repair cost is determined based on one or more bins of historical repair data, each bin of repair data associated with a year, make and model (YMM) of the user-specified vehicle of interest by estimating the expected number of repairs and the expected repair cost for each repair for each bin of YMM of the user-specified vehicle of interest, and

output the cost of vehicle ownership for the vehicle of interest to a user via the network interface.