Autonomous vehicle maintenance and repair system

A method for transferring repair messages between and among vehicles and a service center in a vehicle communications network, said method comprising:

• measuring the speed of each vehicle;
• identifying a peer vehicle group in the network based on the measured vehicle speeds for transmitting messages between the vehicles so as to prevent a vehicle involved in a software patch download from moving out of a communications range;
• identifying a problem on one of the vehicles and identifying a problem code for that problem;
• wirelessly transmitting a message from the vehicle with the problem including a request for a software upgrade patch that will correct the problem associated with the problem code;
• passing the message between and among the vehicles and the service center;
• and
• receiving a message with the software upgrade patch at the vehicle with the problem through the vehicle network.

A system for transferring repair messages between vehicles and a service center in a vehicle communications network, said method comprising:

• a plurality of vehicles associated with the vehicle network wherein the speed of each vehicle is measured and the network identifies a peer vehicle group based on the measured vehicle speeds for transmitting messages between the vehicles so as to prevent a vehicle involved in a software patch download from moving out of a communications range;
• a service center in wireless communication with at least a plurality of the plurality of vehicles in the network;
• an on-board module on at least one of the vehicles in the network, said on-board module monitoring vehicle system buses to identify problems;
• and
• a telematics unit that transmits a message requesting a software upgrade patch for an identified problem where the message includes a problem code identifying the problem, said unit receiving the software upgrade patch code.