Car Inventory Management System - MVP

A complete Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for managing a car dealership inventory with sales tracking, user management, and dashboard analytics.

Features

✅ Vehicle Inventory Management

• Add, view, edit, and delete vehicles
• Track stock ID, brand, model, year, variant, color, transmission, fuel type, mileage
• Manage purchase and selling prices
• Add notes and remarks

✅ Inventory Search & Filter

• Search by brand, model, year
• Filter by status (Available, Reserved, Sold)
• Sort by price and date added
• Real-time table view

✅ Sales Tracking

• Record sales with buyer information
• Track payment method (Cash, Financing, Cheque)
• Auto-mark vehicle as Sold
• View sales history

✅ Dashboard

• Total vehicles count
• Available vehicles
• Sold vehicles count
• Total inventory value
• Total sales sum
• Recent sales list

✅ User Access Control

• Admin: Full access (CRUD, user management, delete)
• Staff: Add and update vehicles only

Tech Stack

• Frontend: HTML5 + CSS3 + Bootstrap 5 + Vanilla JavaScript
• Backend: Node.js + Express.js
• Database: MySQL
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens)

Project Structure

sample_webpage/
├── backend/
│   ├── middleware/
│   │   └── auth.js              # JWT authentication
│   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── auth.js              # Login/Register endpoints
│   │   ├── vehicles.js          # Vehicle CRUD endpoints
│   │   ├── sales.js             # Sales tracking endpoints
│   │   └── dashboard.js         # Dashboard stats endpoints
│   ├── server.js                # Express server setup
│   ├── package.json             # Dependencies
│   └── .env                     # Environment variables
├── frontend/
│   ├── index.html               # Main HTML file
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── styles.css           # Custom styles
│   └── js/
│       └── app.js               # Frontend logic
├── database.sql                 # Database schema
└── README.md                    # This file

Prerequisites

Before running the system, ensure you have:

1. Node.js (v14 or higher) - Download
2. MySQL (v5.7 or higher) or XAMPP with MySQL
3. Git (optional, for version control)

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Set Up the Database

1. Open MySQL command line or PHPMyAdmin (if using XAMPP)
2. Copy and paste the contents of database.sql
3. Execute the SQL to create tables and insert sample users

# If using command line:
mysql -u root -p < database.sql

Sample Login Credentials:

• Admin: admin@cardealer.com / admin123
• Staff: staff@cardealer.com / staff123

Step 2: Set Up the Backend

1. Navigate to the backend directory:

cd backend

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Configure .env file:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USER=root
DB_PASSWORD=          # Leave empty if no password (XAMPP default)
DB_NAME=car_inventory_db
DB_PORT=3306
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key_change_in_production
PORT=5000

4. Start the backend server:

npm start
# Or with nodemon for auto-reload:
npm run dev

The server should now be running on http://localhost:5000

Step 3: Access the Frontend

1. In your web browser, navigate to:

http://localhost/sample_webpage/frontend/index.html

Or if using XAMPP, place the files in C:\xampp\htdocs\sample_webpage and access:

http://localhost/sample_webpage/frontend/index.html

2. Log in with one of the sample credentials above

API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/login - User login
• POST /api/auth/register - Create new user (admin only)

Vehicles

• GET /api/vehicles - Get all vehicles (with filters)
• GET /api/vehicles/:id - Get single vehicle
• POST /api/vehicles - Add new vehicle (admin/staff)
• PUT /api/vehicles/:id - Update vehicle (admin/staff)
• DELETE /api/vehicles/:id - Delete vehicle (admin only)

Query Parameters for GET /api/vehicles:

• brand - Filter by brand
• model - Filter by model
• year - Filter by year
• status - Filter by status (Available/Reserved/Sold)
• sortBy - Sort by 'price' or 'date'
• order - Sort order 'asc' or 'desc'

Sales

• GET /api/sales - Get all sales
• POST /api/sales - Record new sale (admin/staff)
• PUT /api/sales/:id - Update sale (admin only)
• DELETE /api/sales/:id - Delete sale (admin only)

Dashboard

• GET /api/dashboard/stats - Get dashboard statistics

Database Schema

Users Table

- id (INT, Primary Key)
- name (VARCHAR)
- email (VARCHAR, Unique)
- password (VARCHAR, hashed)
- role (ENUM: 'admin', 'staff')
- created_at (TIMESTAMP)

Vehicles Table

- id (INT, Primary Key)
- stock_number (VARCHAR, Unique)
- brand (VARCHAR)
- model (VARCHAR)
- year (INT)
- variant (VARCHAR)
- color (VARCHAR)
- transmission (ENUM: 'Manual', 'Automatic')
- fuel_type (ENUM: 'Petrol', 'Diesel', 'Hybrid', 'Electric')
- mileage (INT)
- purchase_price (DECIMAL)
- selling_price (DECIMAL)
- status (ENUM: 'Available', 'Reserved', 'Sold')
- notes (TEXT)
- created_at (TIMESTAMP)
- updated_at (TIMESTAMP)

Sales Table

- id (INT, Primary Key)
- vehicle_id (INT, Foreign Key → vehicles.id)
- buyer_name (VARCHAR)
- sale_price (DECIMAL)
- payment_method (ENUM: 'Cash', 'Financing', 'Cheque')
- sale_date (DATE)
- created_at (TIMESTAMP)

User Roles & Permissions

Admin

• View dashboard and all stats
• Add, edit, delete vehicles
• View, record, edit, delete sales
• Create and manage users
• Full system access

Staff

• View dashboard (limited stats)
• Add and edit vehicles only
• View vehicles list
• Record sales
• Cannot delete vehicles or access user management

Troubleshooting

Issue: "Cannot connect to backend"

• Ensure Node.js server is running on port 5000
• Check that MySQL is running
• Verify .env configuration

Issue: "Database connection failed"

• Verify MySQL credentials in .env
• Check if car_inventory_db database exists
• Ensure MySQL service is running

Issue: "Login fails"

• Clear browser cache and cookies
• Check database schema is properly initialized
• Verify user exists in users table

Issue: CORS errors

• Backend CORS is configured for all origins (update in production)
• Verify requests are to correct API URL

Future Enhancements

• Advanced reporting and analytics
• Export inventory to Excel/PDF
• Vehicle photo gallery
• Customer management system
• Finance integration
• Mobile app
• Email notifications
• Barcode scanning
• Maintenance history tracking

Production Deployment

Before deploying to production:

1. Change JWT_SECRET in .env to a strong random value
2. Set NODE_ENV=production
3. Update CORS to specific domain
4. Enable HTTPS
5. Use environment-specific database credentials
6. Set up proper error logging
7. Implement rate limiting
8. Add input validation and sanitization
9. Use process manager like PM2

Support & Issues

For issues or feature requests, contact your development team.

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Version: 1.0.0
Last Updated: February 2026