Been contacted by a lot of people asking for VIN database so I became interested in providing such type of data, BUT… VIN is unique per car and not per model so what I should do? A table with over 1 billion rows? (that is the number of cars currently driving around in the world).
Among my car databases, Australia have a column VIN containing first 9-11 of the 17 characters of VIN, and Japan have a column “Model Code” which as far I understand from other customers, it have letters found in middle of VIN. While this may be sufficient for certain applications, it may be not sufficient for a VIN decoding service.
Anyone looking for VIN database, please give me a SAMPLE database with few rows for few cars so I can understand how would you like the data to be formatted, and we will see if I can create such database for ALL cars!
One of the first people asking for VIN database
I installed a chat on website and soon realized that I have NO TRAINING in how to have a nice attitude over chat with visitors. In early months about 10% of chats dropped. Fortunately, I learned from my mistakes and today cases of chats dropping are rare.
Thursday, 7 Mar, 2013
Country: United States
Page URL: teoalida.com/store/?CatId=4
[21:26] Teoalida (trigger): Hello from website admin! What type of database are you looking for? I am glad to help you…
[21:26] Visitor: Car Make / Model / Year… don’t really need anything else. SQL format preferable.
[21:26] Visitor: And colors
[21:26] Teoalida has joined the conversation
[21:26] Visitor: The best thing would be a VIN number
[21:27] Teoalida: Does my Car Models List suit you?
[21:27] Teoalida: XLS can be converted in MySQL
[21:27] Teoalida: Colors? what do you mean?
[21:27] Visitor: Eh, a standard list of vehicle colors. That’d be easy though.
[21:27] Visitor: How much is this list?
[21:28] Teoalida: In case you didn’t noticed… http://www.teoalida.com/store/?catid=4
[21:28] Teoalida: VIN is per model or per version/trim ?
[21:31] Teoalida: ?
[21:37] Visitor: VIN is being able to scan a VIN and decodes it into make model, etc.
[21:38] Teoalida: How I can have the VIN? past month someone else asked me for same thing, I would like to compile such database
[21:39] Visitor: Well, a VIN consists of a large number: 1HGCM82633A004352
[21:39] Teoalida: I know
[21:39] Visitor: Each letter/number corresponds to a specific vehicle.. every vin is unique. There are sites out there that decode a VIN
[21:39] Visitor: You can extract everything from color, trim, make, model, year, even the location it was manufactured from.
[21:40] Teoalida: different VIN due of car color?
[21:40] Teoalida: and what if the owner repaint the car? change the VIN?
[21:41] Visitor: The color that it came from the factory. If you are going to be a dick then I won’t be interested in your software.
[21:41] Teoalida: Someone asked me for car colors and I asked him what colors, how would be possible to include colors in a database… he immediately closed the chat
[21:41] Teoalida: I am a dick? why?
[21:42] Teoalida: You can tell me if my database suit your needs
[21:42] Teoalida: because I have no VIN… I offer technical data
[21:43] Visitor: I was interested in purchasing your list.. I’m no longer interested due to your attitude. I’ll go somewhere else.
[21:43] Teoalida: Can you say exactly what part of my chat is wrong attitude?
[21:43] Visitor has left the conversation
Car Database page is often visited by high-skilled people, company managers, etc, this require extra care in attitude. Also americans are sensible at any spelling mistakes, but as you can see, I typed all words correctly in the above chat.
Probably he expected to talk with an employee of car company not with a private person who don’t know what is VIN…
Actually my problem is not knowing what is VIN, but how to include VIN in my database.
He is not the first one who want a VIN database, I want to offer such thing so that’s why I asked him several questions that may give image of lacking knowledge.
But he do not blame lack of knowledge, he blame the attitude.
What was wrong at my attitude?
Strange case with 3 people from same company contacting me at same time asking for VIN database and all them turning away without explaining me how VIN database should look like
Chat started on Saturday, November 21, 2015 12:26:41 PM
Country: Greece
(12:26:41 PM) *** Visitor 82544200 has joined the chat ***
(12:26:43 PM) Teoalida: Hello from website admin… would you like to know more about certain car database? you are welcome for a chat!
(12:27:33 PM) Visitor 82544200: hello
(12:27:39 PM) *** Teoalida has joined the chat ***
(12:27:42 PM) Teoalida: what’s up
(12:27:49 PM) Visitor 82544200: very well thank you
(12:28:30 PM) Visitor 82544200: well i am a CEO an a new start up company and i am looking forward for a provide service
(12:28:44 PM) Visitor 82544200: I am at Europe
(12:29:28 PM) Visitor 82544200: Can your company provide me all the vin numbers in files or access in databases with details of the cars
(12:29:47 PM) Teoalida: VIN… how such database need to look like?
(12:29:53 PM) Visitor 82544200: i dont need all the 17 numbers with owners information
(12:30:46 PM) Visitor 82544200: this has a vin number and this numbers is a car which there are information about this like model year tires engine etc
(12:31:07 PM) Visitor 82544200: one column with vin and nect the other details
(12:31:16 PM) Teoalida: I never figured out how VIN decoders does look on back side… do you?
(12:31:23 PM) Teoalida: I want to see a sample of such database
(12:31:39 PM) Teoalida: meantime if you need any database with techncal specs, this I am selling
(12:32:32 PM) Visitor 82544200: i want the technical specs but also i want the vin number’
(12:39:09 PM) Teoalida: you opened multiple windows or a friend of you contacted me?
(12:40:57 PM) Visitor 82544200: my partner is just navigating in your site
(12:41:18 PM) Teoalida: oh
(12:41:26 PM) Teoalida: he messaged me then closed the chat
(12:41:56 PM) Visitor 82544200: so you cant provide vin numbers (id of the cars)?
(12:43:39 PM) Teoalida: I need first to see a sample of what VIN database do you want
(12:47:27 PM) Visitor 82544200: man do you even know what is vin?
(12:47:45 PM) Teoalida: yes, a number unique per car and not per model
(12:48:26 PM) Teoalida: VIN shows also car color and location of manufacturer which is not related with my current databases of car models, this put me in doubt how to do
(12:48:28 PM) Visitor 82544200: i need a file which it will show me a vin number with details about the car like the tires the model the year of production
(12:53:20 PM) Teoalida: show me a file with few rows for few cars and I will see if I can do for ALL cars
(12:59:55 PM) *** Visitor 82544200 has left ***
Chat started on Saturday, November 21, 2015 12:34:51 PM
Country: Greece
(12:34:51 PM) *** Visitor 6813509 has joined the chat ***
(12:34:53 PM) teoalida: Hello from website admin… would you like to know more about certain car database? you are welcome for a chat!
(12:35:23 PM) Visitor 6813509: thank you
(12:35:25 PM) Visitor 6813509: i will
(12:35:41 PM) *** Teoalida has joined the chat ***
(12:35:41 PM) Teoalida: ?
(12:38:50 PM) *** Visitor 6813509 has left ***
Chat started on Saturday, November 21, 2015 12:46:10 PM
Country: Greece
(12:46:10 PM) *** Visitor 43825409 has joined the chat ***
(12:46:12 PM) Teoalida: Hello from website admin… would you like to know more about certain car database? you are welcome for a chat!
(12:46:35 PM) Visitor 43825409: how i get a database with vin numbers?
(12:46:49 PM) *** Teoalida has joined the chat ***
(12:47:00 PM) Teoalida: I never figured out how VIN decoders look on back side, do you?
(12:47:22 PM) Teoalida: I need first to see a sample of what VIN database… then I can say if can provide such database for all cars
(12:50:53 PM) *** Visitor 43825409 has left ***
Chat started on Saturday, November 21, 2015 1:01:00 PM
Country: Greece
(1:01:00 PM) *** Visitor 43825409 has joined the chat ***
(1:01:00 PM) Visitor 43825409: what information are in your databases?
(1:01:06 PM) Visitor 43825409: are there vin numbers?
(1:01:12 PM) *** Teoalida has joined the chat ***
(1:01:25 PM) Teoalida: I sell databases with technical data, I DON’T KNOW how to make VIN database
(1:01:30 PM) Visitor 43825409: what is “id”?
(1:01:52 PM) Teoalida: which ID?
(1:02:15 PM) Teoalida: – Someone was looking for VIN database (Vehicle identification number), I answered that if he have the VIN data can give me and I will see if I can add it in my table, but he did not had (February 2013). A second customer asked me for VIN database, but our chat gone wrong. He told me that VINs are unique per each car and NOT per model/trim… so in this case how a VIN database should look like????
If do you want a VIN database, please provide me a feasible format, otherwise I consider it an impossible project.
(1:02:16 PM) Teoalida: http://www.teoalida.com/chat/2013-03-07/
(1:02:56 PM) Visitor 43825409: thank you 🙂
(1:03:00 PM) Visitor 43825409: have a nice day
(1:03:10 PM) Teoalida: quite confusing
(1:03:36 PM) Teoalida: there’s countless people asking me for VIN and I want to help but don’t know what to do!
(1:05:01 PM) Teoalida: any advice?
(1:05:13 PM) Visitor 43825409: i dont know :/
(1:05:18 PM) Teoalida: 🙁
(1:05:58 PM) *** Visitor 43825409 has left ***
Poor sales communication. The problem is not your attitude, its just the way it is…”chatting”, chatting is the worst type of sale communication, the good communication is meet the customers, looking at the eyes and talk, if not, through phone.
You told me on chat that you are real estate salesperson, I understand that you are contacted via phone by customers, but in my case… how I could phonecall every visitor of website?
In my website, some visitors contact me, but for those who do not contact me, the chat widget automatically greet and engage visitors in chatting, I have done several extra sales in this way, but the above visitor is the FIRST one blaming my attitude.
HE is a dick, not you!!!
2 things to comment 1st. A VIN can be decoded to show all these things. Only the last few numbers are unique. The rest show original color, make model, style, year, where made, etc…
2nd. Unfortunately, another example of an idiot american