Hello all,

After reading Wardy's recent coil pack thread and seeing how quickly it got resolved, I am thinking it's about time I purchased VAG-COM... I now have three VAG cars to look after:

• My Octy
  
• My wife's Leon
  
• My mother-in-law's Jetta (out of warranty)
  

For £200, Micro-CAN looks to be the best option for me. I checked the VINs, it covers all of the above cars.

What do you all think? I'm likely to have all these cars for years to come, do you think it's a worthwhile investment, or am I just going to blow a £200 hole in my pocket for nothing? I'm quite happy doing minor maintenance jobs, e.g. changing brake pads+discs, etc.

Regards,

Richard.

They can be a good investment, although you are limited to what the Micro-Can will work on.

Micro-Can Compatibility:

"This interface is compatible only with cars based on Mk.5 Golf technology."

All Golf-5 platform cars (A5 platform) including:

2003+ VW Touran (1T chassis)

2004+ VW Golf/Rabbit/GTI (1K chassis)

2004+ VW Caddy (2K chassis)

2004+ Audi A3/S3 (8P chassis)

2004+ Seat Altea (5P chassis)

2004+ Skoda Octavia (1Z chassis)

2005+ Seat Toledo (5P chassis)

2005+ Golf Plus (5M chassis)

2005+ Seat Leon (1P chassis)

2005.5+ Jetta/GLI (1K chassis)

2006+ Eos (1F chassis)

2007+ Audi TT (8J chassis)

2007+ VW Golf Variant/Wagon (1K chassis)

2008+ VW Tiguan (5N chassis)

2008+ Audi A3 Cabriolet (8P chassis)

2005.5+ VW Passat (B6 Platform, 3C chassis)

2008+ VW Passat CC (35 chassis)

2008+ Skoda Superb (3T chassis)

2009+ VW Scirocco (13 chassis)

2009+ VW Golf (5K chassis)

"If your car's chassis type isn't on this list, it's not compatible with this interface! "

Whereas the HEX-USB+CAN "works with all diagnostic-capable VW, Audi, Seat, and Skoda models from 1990 through 2008".

Granted it is £50 (roughly) dearer, but covers everything, so is as 'future proof' as you can get.

The micro-CAN lead covers the three cars I currently need to take care of, I also wonder that going forward, there's a good chance that if I need to work on some car that isn't covered by that list in 5 year's time, there is a good chance that it might be a new technology that the more expensive current version won't cover either?

It's playing the odds I guess. I do have a bit of a mental block around the £200 mark though. Spending <= £200 seems ok, above that seems like a lot of money to risk on something I might not find as useful as I hope I will!

Are there any Briskoda members in your area? You might find one that will go 50/50 on the purchase of a HEX-USB+CAN lead. Have you got friends/work collegues that drive a VAG car you might be able to interest them in sharing the cost. When I was looking to buy the cheapest place I found was here SAB

The other factor is that the more expensive lead will probably have a better secondhand value if you decide to sell it in the future.

Just get a micro-can if you're buying new and save the £58. Or get a second hand hex+can when one comes up for sale. One sold on here (in 3 minutes!) very recently for £125. If you're buying new I can highly recommend Gendan.

Edited 15 July, 200916 yr by wega3k

I suppose I'm still worried that I'm going to be spending £200+ on a lead that will not pay for itself, apart from me doing scans every now and again to convince myself that it was a worthwhile investment!

I guess that's it though; if I don't buy it, something will go wrong and I'll wish I had one! If I do buy it, it'll sit on a shelf for years serving no purpose...

That said though, I am now more or less responsible for 3 cars in the family that could be covered by the Micro-CAN lead, let alone the more expensive version. It certainly makes it more compelling, but I'm still worried I'll be spending £200+ on a shelf-filler

I know what you're saying but I'm still glad I shelled out the £180 on mine. Used it reset variable service intervals, diagnose problems on friends cars, tweak settings and demonstrate to a private buyer of my car that there were no faults (and check the car I replaced it with).

I got a HEX+CAN and it's paid for itself already.

With three cars I'd say it's worth getting a lead.

Glad my issue has served some purpose

I hear exactly what you're saying about the lead - I'm sure most of us have gone through the same thought process before buying ours! I got mine on a GB a couple of years ago, so it was good value and I got the HEX+CAN because I had the Fabia at the time. That's also proved useful as I've sorted out some issues on Lupos/Polos too.

It is a bit of gamble on how much use you'll get and whether it represents value for money compared with seeing someone local for the odd bit of fault scanning. But as Mark says, with 3 cars that can make use of it, I think that tips the balance in favour of purchase

Steve

There was a GB on here and Nigel might still have some left.

I was the same as you but with 2 cars to look after. I bought one that was as future proof as possible.

Heres the link to the most recent GB.

http://briskoda.net/group-buys-promotions/vcds-vag-com-group-buy/127790/

I see you have found the post already, sorry for being so slow.

Apart from an initial scan of both my cars I havent used it at all, but I know its there if I need it. My decision was based on me wanting to buy a moddified car and just about everyone with a modded car say its a very useful/important tool to have.

Hope that helps.

I don't intend ever modifying any of the cars, so that's not an issue for me.

I guess one strong arguement for getting it is that there are three cars rather than just one, and I don't envisage any of them going anywhere in the coming years. And even if they did, they would probably be replaced with VAG cars (I'd make sure of it if I bought VAG-COM!!).

I've asked Nigel for some up-to-date info, also to see if he can get Micro-CAN at discount. We'll see what he says...

How do you work £200 for micro-can:confused:

It cost me £125 odd pence including shipping and Tax and that was direct from Ross-Tech. Granted that was over a year ago but have they really gone up that much?

I wouldn't be without mine though now and am thinking of upgrading to a Hex-Can-USB lead in the near future

Carl:thumbup:

How do you work £200 for micro-can:confused:

It cost me £125 odd pence including shipping and Tax and that was direct from Ross-Tech. Granted that was over a year ago but have they really gone up that much?

I wouldn't be without mine though now and am thinking of upgrading to a Hex-Can-USB lead in the near future

Carl:thumbup:

I'm quoting the prices from here:

Audi, VW, Seat, Skoda tools :: Gendan Automotive Products

I'm not sure how the exchange rate compares to a year ago... perhaps I should wait until it's more favourable?!

Why are you thinking of upgrading?

Just so that i can support older cars

It's fine for my Octy and the Fiancee's Golf

But any older cars i can't support

Its $249 direct from Ross-Tech for Micro-Can which equates to roughly £150 you will prob get stung for around £12 tax (sure thats what i was charged) so Approx £165

Cheaper than £200

Carl:thumbup:

Pay the extra and get the HEX+CAN lead. At £40 a scan which a dealer will charge, it would have paid for itself in 7 scans. Also cars like the Fabia II and Roomster (5J chassis) are not CAN based for their diagnostics, even though they were introduced after the CAN based Octavia II.

What if your wife or mother in law were to get one of these cars?, you'll never hear the last of it.

Just so that i can support older cars

It's fine for my Octy and the Fiancee's Golf

But any older cars i can't support

Its $249 direct from Ross-Tech for Micro-Can which equates to roughly £150 you will prob get stung for around £12 tax (sure thats what i was charged) so Approx £165

Cheaper than £200

Carl:thumbup:

Sounds good, were Ross-Tech happy to send it to you in the UK, given they have distributors over here?

Just so that i can support older cars

It's fine for my Octy and the Fiancee's Golf

But any older cars i can't support

Its $249 direct from Ross-Tech for Micro-Can which equates to roughly £150 you will prob get stung for around £12 tax (sure thats what i was charged) so Approx £165

Cheaper than £200

Carl:thumbup:

Just walked through a trial run of ordering from Ross-Tech, there is a $50 shipping charge to the UK! Which brings it upto £182 before import taxes are taken into account :eek:

yup, import tax and the ridiculous customs handlings fees will bring it up to the gendan price.

Hmmm i never paid that much but then again it was a year ago.

They are more than happy to send it to you.

I'm even considering sending mine back and then i can get a Hex-Can-USB for $129 plus shipping

Carl:thumbup:

Buy the Hex + Can, After the initial outlay thats it!

You will find it invaluable, And you'll find yourself using a lot more than you anticipate now.

And the cable will always retain a value if you need/want to sell (support issues aside),

And as has been proved on here it will sell quickly!

And look at it like this, If you were to get each car scanned at the respective dealers you'd be looking at over £120

Buy the Hex + Can, After the initial outlay thats it!

You will find it invaluable, And you'll find yourself using a lot more than you anticipate now.

And the cable will always retain a value if you need/want to sell (support issues aside),

And as has been proved on here it will sell quickly!

And look at it like this, If you were to get each car scanned at the respective dealers you'd be looking at over £120

You know, you've made a major point there... Even if I buy it and then a few years down the line think "I don't need/use this", I can sell it on for a large % of it's inital cost (support issue aside).

I've been thinking of it as £200-260, but in reality it's those figures - resale value, which is considerable.

I think with this in mind, I'll go for it

Now where's Nige...

Hmm... must get one myself as well

(that right Dave?:lol:)

I have used my HEX+CAN-USB lead on my Felica, Octavia and Fabia. My elder son bought an Audi S3 - so it was used on that plus he borrows it from time to time to help his VAG-owning friends or those looking to buy a VAG car. And now it is also used on my younger son's Bora. It covered its costs long ago.

One more point to keep in mind about the value: Ross-Tech does not charge for updates to the product. Once you own the product, you can update for free, you can install the software on as many computers as you like without paying further fees, and last, if you need support, although we are on the other side of the pond, we do support UK customers daily through email and these forums. Our support goes beyond the product itself - it goes to what you are doing with the product. Look at our website and all the tech info that is already there. Poke around the Ross-Tech wiki. Where else do you find that information for free?