SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OBTAINING COMPETITIVE PRICING FOR VEHICLE SERVICES
First Claim
1. A method for providing a service recommendation for a specific vehicle, comprising the steps of:
- (a) collecting vehicle performance data from the vehicle;
(b) conveying the vehicle performance data to a pricing service provider;
(c) automatically analyzing the vehicle performance data received by the pricing service provider using a computing device remote from the vehicle, to determine if a service recommendation should be issued;
(d) upon determining that the service recommendation should be issued, automatically transmitting information about the service recommendation to a plurality of vendors able to provide the recommended service, enabling any vendor interested in providing the recommended service to respond with pricing data for providing the recommended service; and
(e) in response to the pricing service provider receiving pricing data from a vendor, automatically conveying the pricing data 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 data to the operator of the vehicle.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
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.
287 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for providing a service recommendation for a specific vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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(a) collecting vehicle performance data from the vehicle; (b) conveying the vehicle performance data to a pricing service provider; (c) automatically analyzing the vehicle performance data received by the pricing service provider using a computing device remote from the vehicle, to determine if a service recommendation should be issued; (d) upon determining that the service recommendation should be issued, automatically transmitting information about the service recommendation to a plurality of vendors able to provide the recommended service, enabling any vendor interested in providing the recommended service to respond with pricing data for providing the recommended service; and (e) in response to the pricing service provider receiving pricing data from a vendor, automatically conveying the pricing data 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 data to the operator of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for remotely monitoring vehicle performance data, and providing a service recommendation when the vehicle performance data indicates a need for servicing the vehicle, the system comprising:
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(a) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored; (b) a data link for receiving the vehicle performance data; 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) analyzing the vehicle performance data to determine if a service recommendation should be issued; (ii) automatically transmitting information about the service recommendation to a plurality of vendors able to provide the recommended service, enabling any vendor interested in providing the recommended service to respond with pricing data for providing the recommended service; and (iii) in response to receiving pricing data from a vendor, conveying the pricing data 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 pricing data to the operator of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A non-transitory memory medium having machine instructions stored thereon for remotely monitoring vehicle performance data, and providing a service recommendation when the vehicle performance data indicates a need for servicing the vehicle, the machine instructions, when implemented by a processor, carrying out the functions of:
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(a) analyzing the vehicle performance data to determine if a service recommendation should be issued; (b) automatically transmitting information about the service recommendation to a plurality of vendors able to provide the recommended service, enabling any vendor interested in providing the recommended service to respond with pricing data for providing the recommended service; and (c) in response to receiving pricing data from a vendor, conveying the pricing data 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 pricing data to the operator of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for obtaining servicing for a specific vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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(a) importing vehicle performance data from the vehicle into a smart phone; and (b) using the smart phone to convey a service request including the vehicle performance data to a pricing service provider, who obtains pricing data from a plurality of vendors. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A kit for enabling a consumer to obtain pricing data for servicing a specific vehicle, the kit comprising:
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(a) a hardware interface for extracting vehicle performance data from the vehicle into a smart phone; and (b) instructions for implementing at least one of the functions selected from a group of functions consisting of; (i) the function of using the hardware interface for extracting vehicle performance data from the vehicle into a smart phone; (ii) the function of conveying the extracted vehicle performance data and a pricing request to a pricing service provider; and (iii) the function of acquiring a software application for the smart phone to facilitate interactions between the consumer and the pricing service provider. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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Specification