Patent ID: 8543283

Claim:
A method for maintaining a record of service maintenance of a motor vehicle, comprising: providing a radio frequency reader within a proximity to a first radio frequency tag that is associated with a first serviceable component installed upon a motor vehicle, wherein the proximity is within a field of range of said radio frequency reader to capture a signal from said first radio frequency tag; in response to the radio frequency reader detecting movement of the first radio frequency tag a distance beyond a preset threshold distance from the radio frequency reader, updating a repair maintenance schedule data table for the motor vehicle that is stored in a storage device by creating a first table entry reporting a state of the first serviceable component as removed from the motor vehicle and comprising a component description and a first unique identification of the first serviceable component, the first table entry indicating at least one of a date in service and a due date for completion of a scheduled maintenance of the vehicle that is associated with the component description; in response to the radio frequency reader detecting introduction of a second radio frequency tag to a proximity to the radio frequency reader within the preset threshold distance, observing a time of the detected movement of the second radio frequency tag and updating the repair maintenance schedule data table for the motor vehicle by creating a second table entry reporting a state of the second serviceable component as in service on the motor vehicle at the observed time and comprising the component description, a second unique identification of the second serviceable component and a due date for replacement of the second serviceable component that is associated with the second unique identification of the second serviceable component, wherein the second table entry is separate from and in addition to the first table entry in the table; and wherein the creating the second table entry comprises using an original due date for replacement of the second serviceable component from a previous table entry for a previous installation of the second serviceable component on the motor vehicle in response to an indication that the installation is a reuse or a relocation of the second serviceable component on the motor vehicle from the previous installation on the vehicle.