Onyx includes the ability to lookup vehicles (via the internet) by registration mark or VIN number and to automatically create a new vehicle record within Onyx, all with next to no data entry from the user.

To use the service you must be a registered user of Onyx Garage (that is, you must have purchased it and obtained an unlock code), you will need to register with the service (see below) and you will need to pre-purchase credits to use the system.

To register for the VRM Lookup Service go to the maintenance tab and then select VRM Admin:

Which will display the VRM Admin Screen.  The fist time you use the VRM system you need to register.  Press the 'Send Registration Email' button and we will send you an email containing a unique code.  Once you've received the code, please enter it into the 'Code' field and press 'Submit Code'

Once you have entered your unique code, you will need to purchase some credits to use the system, you do this on the second tab of the VRM Admin Screen (note one credit is used per successful vehicle lookup):

To obtain a price (and to optionally purchase credits) simply select the number of credits that you are interested in and press 'Buy,' after a few seconds a browser will open with details of how to purchase and the exact price.

Please note, the first time that you purchase credits you will be required to purchase an Annual VRM Membersip, this currently costs £30, this allows you to use the system and we also give you 40 free credits to use the system.  Purchases bought via PayPal are automatically processed and should be added to your account within 5 minutes.   Alternatively you can purchase via bank transfer, please email sales@onyxsoftware.co.uk for details. Please note, unused credits have no cash value.

You can control who uses the system by enabling User Permissions

Once you have registered and purchased some credits you can use the system from the vehicle records and car sales modules:

From the vehicle record simply enter the registration number (with or without a space) or chassis number and press the appropriate button, you will then see:

Which allows you to check the details before saving (note a credit will have been used even if you don't save)

Note, the VRM service also obtains various other information that is shown on the 'RAW' tab, for example:

If you are happy with the result and want to save the vehicle press 'Ok'

If Onyx doesn't recognise a particular make, model or fuel type it will display it in a small dialog at which time you can simply confirm that you want to add the new data or you can edit it to suit.  Over time (as your database fills) you will need to do this less and less.

Once you have saved the data into Onyx, you can look at the additional data whenever needed by pressing the small green book symbol located near the bottom of the vehicle record screen

The additional data is used directly when you either add an existing vehicle (that's details were obtained from the VRM system) to the car sales module or when using the VRM system directly from within the car sales.