Data Science Related Problems in the Automotive Industry

Currently, there is no single reliable database in the car industry.

Lack of a trusted source results in an ecosystem for unfair practices. Consumers can easily become targets of car frauds such as odometer tampering, low car value or replacements of parts. According to a report from the United States Department of Transparent, there are approximately 452,000 odometer frauds per year (2002, United States Department of Transportation). Our aim to develop a reliable car tracking system is the address the following problems in the car industry.

Lack of Single Source of Information

There is no public source which consumers can access in order to get reliable information for a car. Car data is spread across multiple sources and there is no easy way to connect all information. While the user can get basic information about the car, more important information such car part details, usage history, repairs and maintenance history cannot be easily accessed and requires effort to gather all the details.

Unwilling to Reveal Data

Most parties withhold information about the cars or they will give limited access to the users.

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The user is the owner of the information and should have access to all the information about the vehicle. Organizations do not provide or have limited tools to provide all the information. This can lead to false practice where users can be overcharged for the service.

Lack of a Universal Standard

Every vendor, entity and country have different standards, formats and structure to store and represent data. This leads to inconsistency when data from sources are combined.

Basic units for distance or weight can be an issue if the car is manufactured in another country and sold in a country with different measurements. This makes unifying the data very hard.

Lack of Public Data Leads to Unfair Trade Practices

Since there is no reliable public source available, it can lead to unfair trade practices. One of the most common practice is tampering with the odometer. Odometer fraud in the United States has cost consumers an estimated $ 1.056 billion per year (2002, United States Department of Transportation). False documents can be produced for a stolen car and sold to customers. Lower quality car parts can be added to brand new cars or during maintenance services and with no information about the car parts, it is not possible for a person to know what has changed.

Lack of a Reliable Source for Car Value

There is no trusted source available to calculate the value of the car. Estimates are given by parties based on their personal experience. There is also no guarantee that the data the parties have at their disposal is authentic. This results in getting a lower car value for the customer.