License plate and VIN scan/code catalog and information lookup

1. A portable electronic device comprising:

a housing having a display;

a memory within the housing in which machine instructions and data are stored, including software and an access code unique to the software that grants access to a restricted access database of components of an identified component manufacturer, the software comprising instructions to export the access code through the communication circuitry along with the license plate number;

a user interface from which a user inputs or selects an option of a means for a vehicle part lookup, including the option to select between entry of the license plate number by keyboard or voice entry;

communication circuitry within the housing, the communication circuitry comprising signal transmitting and signal receiving capability;

wherein the signal transmitting capability sends the license plate number to a decoder external to the portable electronic device to decode the license plate number directly into one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine or into a VIN, which is subsequently decoded into one or more of a make, model, year, type and engine of a vehicle;

wherein the signal receiving capability receives the one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine from the decoder, the signal transmitting capability sends the one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine to the restricted access database, external to the portable electronic device, along with the access code to look up vehicle component information related to the license plate number, and the signal receiving capability receives information sent from the restricted access database to the portable electronic device in response to the lookup of component information; and

an information processor to process the information received by the signal receiving capability of the communication circuitry into a displayable form for presentation on the display.

2. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the information received from the restricted access database includes photographs, videos, documents, audio recordings, individual data points, and combinations thereof related to a vehicle component associated with the license plate number.

3. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the information processor displays said one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine along with a prompt for a user of the electronic device to verify a correctness thereof.

4. The portable electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the information processor, in response to a favorable response to the prompt to verify the correctness, instructs the communication circuitry to send and the communication circuitry sends the one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine information to the restricted access database to retrieve vehicle component information relative thereto.

5. The portable electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the vehicle component information includes one or more of part numbers and part names of the identified component manufacturer that are operable for the verified one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine information.

6. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the information processor displays the one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine along with a prompt for the user to save the one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine in the memory.

7. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the device for importing the license plate number includes at least one of a scanner, a reader, and a camera.

8. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the restricted access database authenticates the access code before the communication circuitry of the portable electronic device is allowed to send and receive information to and therefrom.

9. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle component information from the restricted access database includes at least one of a direct customer's current price for components and an availability of the components.

10. The portable electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the displayable form includes a prompt regarding placing an order when the availability of the component indicates said components are available.

11. A method for accessing the contents of a component manufacturer's restricted access database of part-related information, the method comprising:

providing software and a password unique to the software that grants access to a restricted access database of part-related information of an identified component manufacturer that are storable in a portable electronic device, wherein the software enables a user to initiate a component lookup by selecting one of a plurality of a means for a vehicle part lookup, which includes the option to select between entry of a license plate number by keyboard or voice entry, and instructs to send the license plate number to a decoder external to the portable electronic device, and receives vehicle identification information from the decoder if the user selects the option to enter the license plate number;

providing the restricted access database of part-related data specific to one component manufacturer; and

wherein the software instructs the portable electronic device to export the password unique to the software to the restricted access database for verification; and

wherein the software instructs the portable electronic device, subsequent to verification of the password, to communicate with the database to use the vehicle identification information from the decoder to look up component related data stored therein and to send said data to the portable electronic device for display.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle identification information comprises one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the vehicle component information includes one or more of part numbers and part names of the identified component manufacturer that are operable for the one or more of the make, model, year, type and engine information.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle component information includes photographs, videos, documents, audio recordings, individual data points, and combinations thereof related to the vehicle component associated with the license plate number.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the displayable form includes a prompt to save the vehicle identification information in the memory.