Abstract:
An inventive vehicle leasing or purchase evaluation system which includes a computer; a database of vehicle information; a computer program configured to run in the computer and having access to the database of vehicle information, and the computer program configured to provide a list of vehicles having a monthly payment falling within a user defined range, given a term and interest rate. The list may be sorted and filtered based on user provided criteria.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 60/413,465 filed Nov. 23, 2002, and the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The applicant has provided an inventive vehicle leasing or purchase evaluation system which includes a computer; a database of vehicle information; a computer program configured to run in the computer and having access to the database of vehicle information, and the computer program configured to provide a list of vehicles having a monthly lease or purchase payment falling within a user defined range, given a term and interest rate and tax status. The list may be sorted and filtered based on user provided criteria. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)  
       [0003]    [0003]FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the main screens of the program labeled Sheet  1 ;  
         [0004]    [0004]FIG. 2 shows the “State, Term and Tax Status” screen no. 26;  
         [0005]    [0005]FIG. 3 shows the “Choice Window” screen no. 29;  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 4 shows a block diagram labeled Sheet  2  of the screens available if Lease and Monthly Payment are selected in screen no. 29 of FIG. 3;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 5 shows the “Leasing Window” screen no. 12;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 5A shows the help menu in FIG. 5;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 5B shows the “Sort data” menu in FIG. 5;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 6 shows the “Standard Features” screen no. 11 and the left half of screen no. 12;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 7 shows individual data for a selected vehicle (screen no. 20);  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 7A shows a help screen which explains holdback;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 8 shows an amortization schedule for a selected vehicle (screen no. 2);  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 9 shows the “Compare Two Vehicles” screen no. 12;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 10 shows the “Extra cost options for Cars” screen;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 11 shows the filtered form  20  with the options selected from FIG. 10 (screen no. 16);  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 12 shows a list of features used for filtering (screen no. 19);  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 13 shows the filtered form  20  with the features selected from FIG. 12 (screen no. 23);  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 14 shows a block diagram labeled Sheet  3  of the screens available if Buy and Monthly Payment are selected in screen no. 29 of FIG. 3;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 15 shows the “Buying Window” screen no. 13;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 16 shows the slide bar used to change the monthly payment range and refilter screen no. 13;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 17 shows the “Compare Two Vehicles” screen no. 13; FIG. 18 shows a block diagram labeled Sheet  4  of the screens available if Maker and Buy or Lease are selected in screen no. 29 of FIG. 3;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 19 shows the “Find a Sedan (or Truck)” screen no. 14;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 20 shows an “Evaluate a Discount” screen no. 25.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 21 shows an Options selection screen no. 9; FIG. 22 shows a list of vehicles filtered with the options selected in FIG. 21;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 23 shows an Features selection screen no. 7;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 24 shows a list of vehicles filtered with the features selected in FIG. 23, and  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 25 shows the “Lease Detective” screen no. 22. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0029]    While this invention may be embodied in many different forms, there are described in detail herein specific preferred embodiments of the invention. This description is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments illustrated.  
         [0030]    For the purposes of this disclosure, like reference numerals in the figures shall refer to like features unless otherwise indicated.  
         [0031]    The detailed description utilizes terms which have the following definitions:  
         [0032]    Residual value: The value of the vehicle at the end of the lease term. It is usually the wholesale value, but not necessarily, as it may differ on a given vehicle depending on which entity puts up the money to buy the vehicle from the manufacturer.  
         [0033]    The inventive program is designed to be run on a computer having access to a vehicle information database, such as the database which is available for license from ALG, (Automotive Lease Guide) LLC, a California Limited Liability corporation. This database includes every four wheel passenger vehicle for sale in the US from all manufacturers (approximately 11,000). Other commercially available databases are available and could be utilized if desired.  
         [0034]    The inventive program could also be run on a computer having an internet connection, with the program available from a server having an internet connection, and having access to the database.  
         [0035]    The inventive program was written using Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 and Microsoft Access, although it should be understood that it could be written in any commercially available programming language. The font size and font colors of all of the forms shown and described can be user selected by using the Microsoft common dialogs, as is well known in the art.  
         [0036]    Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of the inventive program is shown generally at  10 . Block  14  refers to screen  26 , FIG. 2, at which the user specifies the state, at reference numeral  16 , the vehicle class, at reference numeral  18 , the taxpayer type, at reference numeral  20 , and the term of the lease or purchase, at reference numeral  22 . When the user clicks the “Next” button on form  26 , the user is taken to form or screen  29 , which is reference numeral  24  in FIG. 1 and also shown in detail at FIG. 3.  
         [0037]    Referring now to reference numeral  24  and FIG. 3 (form  29 ), the user now selects an analysis based on either lease or purchase by clicking on either the lease button  26  or the buy button  28 . The user also must select one of the four buttons  30 ,  32 ,  34  or  36 , labeled respectively Monthly payment, Maker, Options and Features. Form  29  also has two other buttons available, the cash-back offer button  38  or the lease detective button  40 . If the user selects either button  38  or  40 , the forms identified as reference numerals  42  (see FIG. 20) and  44  (see FIG. 25) in FIG. 1 are immediately called up. Once the user selects any of the buttons  26 ,  28 ,  30 ,  32 ,  34  or  36  buttons  38  and  42  are hidden and not available as options unless the user starts over (available through the menu). Finally, a monthly payment (high limit, low limit and spread) are shown at  43 . These amounts may be changed using the slide bar shown at  45 .  
         [0038]    If the user has selected Lease (reference numeral  26 ) and Monthly payment (reference numeral  30 ) then when the user clicks the “Next” button they are taken to block  46  of FIG. 1. Block  46  represents Sheet  2 , which is a block diagram shown in more detail in FIG. 4. Form or screen  12  (see FIG. 5) is displayed, which lists all vehicles in the database of vehicle information accessed by the program which fall within the monthly payment range specified at  43  in Form  29 . As can be seen from FIG. 5, columns showing the row no., lease payment, MSRP, Make, Model, Model No. and Description are provided for each listed vehicle within the payment range.  
         [0039]    Under the menu item “Window options”, at  51  in FIG. 5 are the items shown at reference numeral  48  of FIG. 5: “Show standard features” at  50 ; “Show individual financial data” at  52 , and “Compare any two vehicles” at  54 . The user can adjust the click on any of the four highlighted areas in box  53  of FIG. 5 and adjust the high or low limits, the spread between the high or low limits and the interest rate, using the slide bar  55 .  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 5A shows form or screen  12  with the “Help” menu displayed. If the user selects any of the available help items a window with an explanation of the selected item is displayed.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 5B shows the drop down menu under menu heading “Sort Data”, which allows sorting and merging the data in either descending or ascending order; to sort “By Common options” at  56 ; and to sort “By Standard features” at  58 .  
         [0042]    If item  50  is selected from the Window options of form  12  of FIG. 5, the user is prompted to select a row, and the standard features of the selected vehicle are displayed as shown in FIG. 6 (form or screen  11 ), as shown at block  62  of FIGS. 4 and 6.  
         [0043]    If item  52  is selected from the Window options of form  12  of FIG. 5, the user is prompted to click in the Model column of any vehicle row, a “Show Financial Data” button is displayed on form  12  (see FIG. 5B), which when selected takes the user to block  64  of FIG. 4, or form  20 , which is shown in detail at FIG. 7.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 7 displays financial information about the selected vehicle for the selected vehicle given the parameters entered at form  26  and form  29 . The user can also change any of the items (except row 5 holdback) in Items  71  in FIG. 7, using the slidebar. When the user clicks on the holdback cell in row 5, a message box opens (see FIG. 7A) which explains holdback to the user. If the user clicks on the “Show payment vs. dealer profit” button  66  of form  20 , then form  4  is displayed (FIG. 8), as shown at block  68  in FIG. 4. Form  4  (reference numeral  68 ) is an amortization table for the vehicle shown on form  20 , reflecting the interest rate, term, taxpayer status and dealer profit. The “Go back” button  70  in FIG. 8 (form  4 ) takes the user back to form  20  or FIG. 7. The “Pick a different vehicle” button  72  in form  20  takes the user back to form  12  or FIG. 5.  
         [0045]    If item  54  is selected from the Window options of form  12 , the user is prompted to click on the MSRP of two different vehicles listed in form  12 , and then FIG. 9 is displayed, which shows some graphical and text information comparing the two selected vehicles.  
         [0046]    If item  56  is selected from the “Sort Data” menu of form  12 , then the form of FIG. 10 is pulled up (reference numeral  73  from FIG. 4)(the options displayed in FIG. 10 is representative only), allowing the user to click on options, which are displayed in the “Selected options” list. Once the user clicks the “Show qualifying vehicles” button  74 , form  12  is filtered as shown in form  16  (FIG. 11)(reference  75  from FIG. 4).  
         [0047]    If item  58  is selected from the “Sort Data” menu of form  12 , then the form of FIG. 12 is pulled up (form  19 )(reference numeral  76  from FIG. 4), allowing the user to click on features, which are displayed in the “Selected features” list. Once the user clicks the “Show qualifying vehicles” button  78 , form  12  is filtered as shown in form  23  (FIG. 13)(reference numeral  80  from FIG. 4).  
         [0048]    If the user has selected Buy (reference numeral  28 ) and Monthly payment (reference numeral  30 ) in FIG. 2 then when the user clicks the “Next” button they are taken to block  81  of FIG. 1. Block  81  represents Sheet  3 , which is a block diagram shown in more detail in FIG. 14. Form or screen  13  (reference numeral  82  in FIG. 14)(see FIG. 15) is displayed, which lists all vehicles in the database of vehicle information accessed by the program which fall within the monthly payment range specified at  43  in Form  29 . As can be seen from FIG. 15, columns showing the row no., lease payment, MSRP, Make, Model, Model No. and Description are provided for each listed vehicle within the payment range. The forms and flow of the program are the same for buying as they are for leasing (with the added column of “ratio”—which is the estimated trade divided by the MSRP), with the text headings of the various forms changed to reflect a purchase rather than a lease. Therefore, the reference numerals for the various blocks are the same in FIG. 14 as they are in FIG. 4.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 16 illustrates a feature of the inventive program available for both the lease and buy options, discussed above. If the user clicks on any of the three cells high limit; low limit or spread, the slide bar  84  appears and can be used to adjust the selected cell. Form  13  if buying or form  12  if leasing is then updated with the list of vehicles matching the newly altered monthly payment range.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 17 shows the comparison of two vehicles under the buy option, similar to FIG. 9 for leasing.  
         [0051]    Referring again to FIG. 1, if the Maker button  32  is selected, along with either Lease or Buy, then Sheet  4  at  90  shows the forms available for this option. Form  14  at  90  in FIG. 19 allows the user to select either sedans or trucks, select a manufacturer and model, as shown in FIG. 19. Under the Window Options menu items are  92 —“Standard features” and  94 —“Individual financial data”. As discussed above in connection with the leasing or buying options, when a user selects either menu item  92  or  94  the forms at blocks  62  or  64  are activated. From the form of block  64  an amortization schedule can be pulled up at block  68 , as discussed above.  
         [0052]    Referring again to FIG. 1, selecting reference numeral  38  from FIG. 1 brings up the “Cash back analyses” screen  25  (FIG. 20). This screen allows a user to evaluate the differences between accepting a “cashback” offer from the dealer, with a low interest rate, or taking the cash and shopping for a third party loan.  
         [0053]    Referring again to FIG. 1, selecting button  34  and clicking “Next” takes the user to block  100 , which is screen  9 , shown in detail at FIG. 21. The user selects one or more options at this screen and then clicks the “Show qualified vehicles” button  102 , which takes the user to block  104  in FIG. 1, which is screen  37 , shown in detail at FIG. 22. FIG. 22 is a list of vehicles filtered to have the options selected in FIG. 21. As discussed above, the user may select a particular vehicle and pull up form  20  at block  64  of FIG. 1, and from form  20  may pull up an amortization at block  68  of FIG. 1.  
         [0054]    Referring again to FIG. 1, selecting button  36  and clicking “Next” takes the user to block  106 , which is screen  7 , shown in detail at FIG. 23. The user selects one or more features at this screen and then clicks the “Show qualified vehicles” button  108 , which takes the user to block  110  in FIG. 1, which is screen  10 , shown in detail at FIG. 24. FIG. 24 is a list of vehicles filtered to have the features selected in FIG. 23. As discussed above, the user may select a particular vehicle and pull up form  20  at block  64  of FIG. 1, and from form  20  may pull up an amortization at block  68  of FIG. 1.  
         [0055]    Referring again to FIG. 1, selecting reference numeral  40  from FIG. 1 brings up the “lease detective” screen no. 22 (reference numeral  44  FIG. 1), shown at FIG. 25, which allows the user to adjust and change the various credits, interest rate, money factors etc. to arrive at an offer based on a monthly lease cost. The numbers in the “Confirm” column as calculated assume that the other four entries in the “Quoted” column are accurate. If the “Confirm” numbers do not match the numbers the dealer is quoting than one of the four variables in the “Quoted” column may include some charge not disclosed by the dealer.  
         [0056]    The above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive. This description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in this art. All these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims where the term “comprising” means “including, but not limited to”. Those familiar with the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein which equivalents are also intended to be encompassed by the claims.  
         [0057]    Further, the particular features presented in the dependent claims can be combined with each other in other manners within the scope of the invention such that the invention should be recognized as also specifically directed to other embodiments having any other possible combination of the features of the dependent claims. For instance, for purposes of claim publication, any dependent claim which follows should be taken as alternatively written in a multiple dependent form from all prior claims which possess all antecedents referenced in such dependent claim if such multiple dependent format is an accepted format within the jurisdiction (e.g. each claim depending directly from claim 1 should be alternatively taken as depending from all previous claims). In jurisdictions where multiple dependent claim formats are restricted, the following dependent claims should each be also taken as alternatively written in each singly dependent claim format which creates a dependency from a prior antecedent-possessing claim other than the specific claim listed in such dependent claim below (e.g. claim 3 may be taken as alternatively dependent from claim 2; claim 4 may be taken as alternatively dependent on claim 2, or on claim 3; claim 6 may be taken as alternatively dependent from claim 5; etc.).  
         [0058]    This completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein which equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.