Patent ID: 8116759

Claim:
A method for facilitating diagnosis, test or maintenance of a vehicle, comprising: providing a portable wireless handheld device adapted to be manually carried in or about a vehicle by an operator, said portable wireless handheld device comprising a screen display; wirelessly receiving, at the portable wireless handheld device, locally generated indicia of position of the portable wireless handheld device relative to specific locations in or about the vehicle as the operator moves in or about the vehicle; displaying, on the screen display of the portable wireless handheld device, vehicle-related information according to the relative position of the portable wireless handheld device in or about the vehicle to facilitate test or diagnosis at that position in or about the vehicle; generating vehicle-related test or diagnostic data using the portable wireless handheld device based at least in part on selections entered into the portable wireless handheld device by the operator thereof; and wirelessly transmitting the vehicle-related test or diagnostic data from the portable wireless handheld device to a remote vehicle database.