Tool for selling and purchasing vehicle history reports

• US 9,741,066 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2014
• Issued: 08/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CARFAX Incorporated (S&P Global Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CARFAX Incorporated (S&P Global Inc.)
• Inventors: Eager, William, Fredericks, Scott Robert, Miralao, Pia S., Andringa, Mark D., Korman, Steve, Mountz, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Civan, Ethan D
• Application Number:
  US14/262,510
• Publication Number:
  US 20140289075A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,215 Days
• Field of Search: 705 261- 272
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations

Abstract

Systems and methods for selling and purchasing vehicle history reports are described. In one embodiment, a method includes determining a set of vehicles in a dealer inventory, determining a subset of the vehicles in the dealer inventory for which the dealer has not purchased a vehicle history report, presenting a summary report to a dealer, the summary report including information about at least one of the vehicles in the subset of the vehicles, receiving a selection to purchase a vehicle history report for at least one of the vehicles in the summary report, and providing the vehicle history report corresponding to the selection to the dealer.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a server from a consumer device, one or more indications of consumer interest in a vehicle;

in response to receiving the one or more indications of consumer interest in the vehicle, identifying, by the server, a vehicle identification number (VIN) and a vehicle report associated with the vehicle;

determining, by the server and using a usage database, that the vehicle report has not been purchased by a dealer;

determining, by the server, that a particular dealer is offering the vehicle for sale based on the VIN being listed in an inventory of the particular dealer, the inventory being stored in one or more dealer databases;

in response to determining that the particular dealer is offering the vehicle for sale, generating an alert that the vehicle report has not been purchased by the particular dealer; and

transmitting, by the server over one or more networks, the alert to the particular dealer for display on a computing device associated with the particular dealer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle report comprises a vehicle history report that comprises information retrieved from a plurality of vehicle history records.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device associated with the particular dealer is a mobile computing device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the consumer interest comprises one or more of a consumer purchase of the vehicle report or a consumer inquiry associated with the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more indications of consumer interest comprise a notification of consumer activity that occurs at a third party website or application.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying the particular dealer that is selling the vehicle before determining the vehicle report has been purchased by the particular dealer.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert comprises an email, a pop-up window, a text message, a page viewable via a link to a site, a notification or a mobile notification.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating an alert that the vehicle report has not been purchased by the particular dealer comprises:

generating a report that includes one or more of data indicative of vehicle make and models that have the highest number of record searches in a geographical area in which the particular dealer is located, data indicative of vehicle market trends, or data indicative of a source of the one or more indications of consumer interest.

9. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by one or more computers of a server, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at the server from a consumer device, one or more indications of consumer interest in a vehicle;

in response to receiving the one or more indications of consumer interest in the vehicle, identifying, by the server, a vehicle identification number (VIN) and vehicle report associated with the vehicle;

determining, by the server and using a usage database, that the vehicle report has not been purchased by a dealer;

determining, by the server, that a particular dealer is offering the vehicle for sale based on the VIN being listed in an inventory of the particular dealer, the inventory being stored in one or more dealer databases;

in response to determining that the particular dealer is offering the vehicle for sale, generating an alert that the vehicle report has not been purchased by the particular dealer; and

transmitting, by the server over one or more networks, the alert to the particular dealer for display on a computing device associated with the particular dealer.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the vehicle report comprises a vehicle history report that comprises information retrieved from a plurality of vehicle history records.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the consumer interest comprises one or more of a consumer purchase of the vehicle report or a consumer inquiry associated with the vehicle.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the one or more indications of consumer interest comprise a notification of consumer activity that occurs at a third party website or application.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise identifying the particular dealer that is selling the vehicle before determining the vehicle report has been purchased by the particular dealer.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein the alert comprises an email, a pop-up window, a text message, a page viewable via a link to a site, a notification or a mobile notification.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 9, wherein generating an alert that the vehicle report has not been purchased by the particular dealer comprises:

generating a report that includes one or more of data indicative of vehicle make and models that have the highest number of record searches in a geographical area in which the particular dealer is located, data indicative of vehicle market trends, or data indicative of a source of the one or more indications of consumer interest.

16. A computer system comprising:

a consumer activity data store;

a dealer usage data store; and

a server comprising one or more computers and one or more computer-readable storage media storing instructions that when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from the consumer activity data store, one or more indications of consumer interest in a vehicle;

in response to receiving the one or more indications of consumer interest in the vehicle at the consumer device, identifying a vehicle identification number (VIN) and a vehicle report associated with the vehicle;

determining that the vehicle report has not been purchased by a dealer using the dealer usage data store;

determining that a particular dealer is offering the vehicle for sale based on the VIN being listed in an inventory of the particular dealer;

in response to determining that the particular dealer is offering the vehicle for sale, generating an alert that the vehicle report has not been purchased by the particular dealer; and

transmitting, over one or more networks, the alert to the particular dealer for display on a computing device associated with the particular dealer.

17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the consumer activity data store comprises a consumer inquiry data store and a consumer purchase data store.

18. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the vehicle report comprises information retrieved from a plurality of vehicle history records.

19. The computer system of claim 18, further comprising a vehicle report generator configured to generate the vehicle report and transmit the vehicle report to the particular dealer using the server.

20. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the consumer interest comprises a consumer purchase of the vehicle report and wherein the consumer interest is identified using the consumer purchase data store.

21. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the consumer interest comprises a consumer inquiry originating from a third party website or application, and wherein the consumer interest is identified using the consumer inquiry data store.

22. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the alert comprises an email, a pop-up window, a text message, a page viewable via a link to a site, a notification or a mobile notification.

23. The computer system of claim 16, wherein

the vehicle report comprises a vehicle report that comprises information retrieved from a plurality of vehicle history records;

and

generating an alert that the vehicle report has not been purchased by the particular dealer comprises;

generating a report that includes one or more of data indicative of vehicle make and models that have the highest number of record searches in a geographical area in which the particular dealer is located, data indicative of vehicle market trends, or data indicative of a source of the one or more indications of consumer interest.