Public gets Auto Data

Car history service at six Total stations this week

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

The Auto Data service offered by attorney-at-law and software consultant Randolph Cheeks Jr will be available from Wednesday at the Manor Park, Mona, New Kingston, Portmore Pines, Stanton Terrace and Liguanea Total service stations. The service took between 12 and 18 months of constant development and an estimated $40 million to be established, with persons from India working on the project.

With data from MSC McKay and Mendez Livingston among other loss adjusters/valuators and major insurers British Caribbean Insurance Company, NEM, Jamaica International Insurance Company and Advantage General available, persons will be able to benefit from an E-History of a vehicle and, if making enquiries on a left-hand drive motor vehicle coming from the United States, an instaVIN report.

Accessing the service requires the vehicle's chassis number. Its local history, including valuations and accidents and comments, will be generated as an E-History at a cost of $1,000, inclusive of tax. For an instaVIN report, the vehicle's VIN number is needed and the car's history, which includes vehicle specifications and incident reports, will be displayed. This costs $700 (tax included).

The process, according to Cheeks, should take no more than five minutes.

"During the transaction process, a motorist presents an attendant with the chassis number. The motorist should have the car's papers at the ready with the chassis number or have it written out in order to give the attendant. The process shouldn't take more than 30 seconds - five minutes the most. It is an instant report," said Cheeks.

Strictly confidential

The highly trained staff, which Cheeks says is quite capable, efficient and competent in the provision and navigation of the Auto Data service, will keep all data and enquiries confidential. "The staff is not allowed to disclose information to another customer. The report that will be stored in the Auto Data database is kept there for 90 days. If a person comes back to request another report after that period, another one will need to be generated. This is also done for data security purposes," stated Cheeks.

He also said that any information provided by Auto Data service will be up-to-date. "We are currently working closely with insurance companies and loss adjusters/valuators and are updating the information generated on a monthly basis," assured Cheeks. This means that persons using Auto Data will be able to see information related to any form of damage a vehicle has accumulated as soon as that becomes available to the adjusters/valuators or insurers.

Progress is being made to include Japanese vehicles in the Auto Data system. According to Cheeks, "we are trying to work with Japanese authorities to locate a data base with that system. We have made some progress and are initiating the process".

Auto Data, which has exclusive distribution rights for instaVIN, is currently being distributed in the Caribbean and South America.