Patent ID: 8370215
Filing Date: 2013-02-05
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for automated vehicle selection for a price quote, the method comprising: maintaining, via executable instructions stored in a memory and executed by a processor, a database in memory, the database storing information concerning a plurality of available vehicles, the stored information including a plurality of features associated with each vehicle; receiving, via executable instructions stored in the memory and executed by the processor, a price quote request concerning a requested vehicle, the price quote request indicating a specification regarding a feature of the requested vehicle; retrieving, via executable instructions stored in a memory and executed by a processor, a first set of search results from the database, the first set of search results including available vehicles matching the specification provided by the price quote request; determining, via executable instructions stored in a memory and executed by a processor, that the first set of search results do not meet a predefined target, the predefined target referring to a number of price quotes that can be generated for the available vehicles; identifying, via executable instructions stored in a memory and executed by a processor, an alternative specification regarding the vehicle; retrieving, via executable instructions stored in a memory and executed by a processor, a second set of search results from the database, the second set of search results including available vehicles matching the identified alternative specification, and the second set of search results including: selecting, via executable instructions stored in a memory and executed by a processor, a plurality of vehicles in accordance with the target, each vehicle being selected from the first set or the second set of search results; and generating, via executable instructions stored in a memory and executed by a processor, a response including a price quote for each of the selected vehicles.