[Stig]

How about companies putting up record of all the services, spare part changes, ownership records on the internet. Yeah, i agree they have to buy or create a software for it but aint this nice. They do have all the records on their computers. All they have to do is to create a centralized database and post them on the net.
They can even create
We can get emails when our service is due. (if it is the preffered way of communication)
We can maintain track record and history of our cars which will include every minute detail.

The companies will have the luxury of maintaining a paperless office leading to less costs and they can pull up our records irrespective of place of service. (well restrictions will apply)

They can even sell our records to Third party.

[sreedotk]

Would create too many problems with Privacy issues. I for one would not want my private ownership data to be available to every one on the internet. If your suggested idea is for checking used car details then better idea would be for a centralised data bank on insurance claims like the US has

In the above case you can pay a company like carfax.com to get you details on the car's mileage and insurance claims. They have a money back garantee on the report being proved false. They will return the cost of the car to the buyer

[tsk1979]

Tata already has online maintainence records since past year.
So when service center changes something I can look up in the record and catch them if the part has been replaced recently too.
this system is dealer independent. No matter where you go for repair/service, the record will be in Tata database.
When I sell my car I am going to get a printout and give it to the buyer for him to see what all problems I have faced.
But this wont cover repairs at non authorized garages, and I doubt any automation will defeat a seller who is hellbent upon deceiving the buyer.

[chanapli]

I would welcome if anything like that in India.

It requires tremendous effort from the govt. I remember in USA, they have a site called carfax, where in you can key in VIN ( Vehicle identification number - which is uniq) and check the history and ownership details.

[GTO]

Stig,

Thats a fabulous idea, and hopefully a proactive manufacturer will see the sense in this. For them, it amounts to dealership loyalty and regular service income. It may also help in keeping a check on warranty repairs.

Would create too many problems with Privacy issues. I for one would not want my private ownership data to be available to every one on the internet.

No question of piracy. It can be driven off individual user names and passwords.

Tata already has online maintainence records since past year.

Tata does, but only as a dealership management software. Stig is talking about us - the car owners - have online management for our cars.

[esteem_lover]

Maruti sends me email reminders whenever the service time is approaching. this is based on the initial survey online where we mention the approximate number of kms travelled per day.

[Desert fox]

But,anyone having an idea of documenting the maintanance his/her car does it company provided service book's and bills.

And the companies keep a track of the car's if an when it is bought to them.

Like GTO said,Tata has a centralized system through a software(ciebel),now the working of this software enables you to know the full history of the vehicle(irrespective of the state,place and location of running and purchase)by entering the chassis number of the vehicle.

This is the closest and most feasible info-sharing package(in relation to the thread) towards having a nation-wide access to the history of a vehicle by a potential purchaser of the seller's deed's i have seen.

But again, Having a General Online sharing of documentation of vehicle's is dependent on people with clear consience and integrity,who in my opinion already would have done it thru my above mention method's,

The one's not bothered about vehicle documentation/have thing's to hide,will not bother/avoid the above subject like Bubonic-plague!

So,its sucess and failure's depend on people bothering toward's maintenance records.

[satish_appasani]

This gives me a great business idea. Build a site and provide hosted service to the manufacturers and dealers.

[Stig]

Originally Posted by sreedotk

Would create too many problems with Privacy issues. I for one would not want my private ownership data to be available to every one on the internet. If your suggested idea is for checking used car details then better idea would be for a centralised data bank on insurance claims like the US has

It will be an userid password driven site...just like our team-bhp....it is not at all difficult, the difficult part is bringing all the companies on the common platform....I believe that if one company is able to successfully pilot it then all other companies will follow suit...

In the above case you can pay a company like carfax.com to get you details on the car's mileage and insurance claims. They have a money back garantee on the report being proved false. They will return the cost of the car to the buyer

My thinking was based on Carfax..well i re-engineering it a bit..but the basis was carfax..

[Sahil]

I doubt it will ever work securely in India, there will be a lot of shady deals to get records off.
It happens in the US, people manage to get accidents taken off their cars history all the time.

[wildon]

Its time to put a VIN system in place by Govt.of India for Tracking those vehicles, also this helps the buyer to know the A-Z of the Vehicle

[neoonwheels]

Guys,

I am learning C# and then I have already created a system for this. Means this small software allows me to save all my fuel fillups, insurances and running repair. The system also shows you all insurances due in next 45 days and allows to set a reminder which once set keeps sending you emails everyday. The the system draws a graph showing fuel efficiency across the period.

This is a very small system and I wrote it just as part of learning C# and then to get rid of excel files I have to maintain. It works on Access as of now which I will make a shift to MySQL. Also I will try and port it on Windows CE (Smart phones bases on Windows). Lets see. As of now it is addressing my problems of maintainance.

Edit: Web based solution will help like anything though

Attached is a snapshot of Mileage report

[wildon]

Here it is .. To drive us forward and keeping a tab on everything this will be useful for the forum i hope

Decode This! Universal VIN Decoder - Your Own VIN Decoder

more info available here:

Free VIN Decoder - Vehicle Identification Number Report

P.S

Mobile VIN Decoder

How cool is this: I was wondering how long it would take me to code up a mobile version of my VIN decoding engine. Turns out to be not very long at all! You can now decode VINs from anywhere: at a car show? pull out your Internet enabled phone and find out whether that 428 is stock. At an auction? Decode the VINs of cars in the catalog to know what's really for sale...

Just access http://wap.decodethis.com from your mobile device. Enter the VIN you want to decode and you'll have the exploded VIN back in a flash! You can also access the mobile page at http://www.decodethis.com/mobile.aspx. To my knowledge this is the only mobile VIN decoder in the world! Boo Ya.

It's a free service, so use it as you will. Also, it doesn't display the descriptions as there is a space and data limitation. Have fun, just remember to stop back here often to see what new things are being cooked up!

[mxx]

The company that I work for conceptualized such a service and began work on a prototype. Meanwhile we had a market study done for the viability of such a system. From what I know, the result of the market study was not very good. The response was very negative from all the groups in the study, which were dealers, manufacturers, and customers.

The main issue is the customer does not like something of this sort because an accident record on the car will not be good when it comes to resale. As for the question of the good service record is concerned, the customers can still keep manual records to show a potential buyer.

With the prototype ready, the company is directly approaching the manufacturers and dealers once more before the project is shelved.

As for a service which a buyer voluntarily enters the service records does not make any sense, because no one would mention the bad things like accidents.

[loving_alaap]

It will be a blessing for used car customers.