Hello

I see a lot of talk on here about VCDS but I'm not sure of what it is.

It sounds like something that programmes certain features of the car

If so, is it just a handheld device and you plug it in to cars serial interface or something ?

Can they just be bought on eBay ?

If so, for how much roughly ?

Sorry for silly q's

Don't have it myself. It is a programme for your PC. It programmes the car and is a substitute for the Volkswagen diagnostics that VW sell to garages.

You need the special cable that the company sells: http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Its GBP 300 for the lite version for modern cars and GBP 360 for the full on version.

I did get a quote from a dublin dealer but it was 475 plus VAT IIRC.

Check out the website and get a link to a supplier in the UK if I were you.

HTH

By the way, you can get cables on ebay for bobbins and then buy a restricted version of the programme direct from the makers. Apparently this doesn't work well and in addition the moderators on here will go mad if you recommend someone do that.

Can't help you more but there is a special forum on here just for VCDS (once know as VAG COM)

I bought one a few years ago & I didn't have a clue :wonder: . It came with a large paperback manual.

I installed the CD/DVD onto my laptop & then plugged it into my car.

There was so much information shown, it was intimidating just thinking how easy it would be to alter things & c**k it all up .

I sold it

VCDS as I called it - Very Costly Dangerous Software, because unless you know exactly what values do what, you can really screw up your car.

In the right hands, it can be an invaluable diagnostic tool, in the wrong ones (including mine), it could be potentially disastrous & mean a very expensive trip to the garage.

Basically, unless you know exactly what you are doing with this software, then leave it alone.

Leave it to someone who knows what they're doing, there are members of the forum who know the in's & out's of it.

Friendlyfire -- a fellow Galway man : )

Thanks for the detailed reply

Jaysus, its fairly expensive and sounds like if you dont know what your at that you could rightly fook things up

Others, thanks also for the replies, I was just wondering what it was and how it worked and now I have the answers, I wont be touching it

evening star, sounds like a perfect acronym