Hi,

I might buy a VCDS/VAG-COM for my car to save having to borrow it. I see on the Ross-Tech website the prices are about £200 or so, but I’ve found a few others for sale much cheaper. What’s the difference?

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Dan

Edited 17 May, 201115 yr by mannyo
Links to illegal cables removed

Neither of those links posted are for kosher Ross Tech cables.

The Ross-Tech interface (cable) is for the 'full fat' version that will work on all VAG cars (HEX+CAN interface) allowing you to log graphs, make adaptations and do scans, plus you get full support from them if you run into any problems, put simply the eBay cables are copies and do not let you do all the above.

I bought mine from here Gendan,

I'm not affiliated with this company, They were the most reasonable when I wanted my cable!

And none of the Ebay cables will work with the Octavia MK2 as it uses a different protocol only supported by the correct ross tech cables. if you find a cheap one that does then it will be an illegal cable supplied with a hacked version of the software and cannot be discussed here.

I bought mine from here Gendan,

I'm not affiliated with this company, They were the most reasonable when I wanted my cable!

Same here.....

Thanks for all your replies. I think I might leave it for the time being at that price then - bit more than I wanted to spend at the moment.

What's the difference between VAG-COM and VCDS? Is it just a later version?

Cheers.

They just re-named it I think.

Thanks for all your replies. I think I might leave it for the time being at that price then - bit more than I wanted to spend at the moment.

What's the difference between VAG-COM and VCDS? Is it just a later version?

Cheers.

They just re-named it I think.

Correct, although if someone is referring to 'their' product they are selling as VAG-COM then you can be pretty sure it is not the real deal

Alright, thanks a lot everyone.

What's the difference between VAG-COM and VCDS? Is it just a later version?

They just re-named it I think.

We renamed the product because VW pitched a hissy fit when we tried to trademark VAG-COM. So rather then duke it out in court and spend all our money there, we chose to spend our money to make a name we could trade mark. For the enlightened, VCDS stands for VAG-COM Diagnostic System. We still love the product as VAG-COM and we still respond to that name. We just are no longer able to call it by that name per our agreement with VWoA.

Correct, although if someone is referring to 'their' product they are selling as VAG-COM then you can be pretty sure it is not the real deal

Gizmo68 is correct. There are many out there selling product that is not legit. There are also some who sell VCDS-Lite compatible wires and they call them VAG-COM 409 wires. The problem we have is that so many have decided to profit from stealing our product and they confuse potential users all over the world. We understand money is tight for all - it is for us also. But where can you buy a factory equivalent tool for 1/20th the price of the factory tool? Answer: only at Ross-Tech!

Gendan here too, the blue boxed full kit.