Notice from the Ross-Tech website that buying a new interface cable entitles the purchaser to free updates of the newest vcds software for 1 year.

 

What happens after that if you need the latest software? and will your cable still work with the newer updates? Cant find any info on these questions.

As far as I know you get the updates forever, and not limited to just 1 year.

 

This is of course for a genuine cable, not one of the many fakes.

Page 4 of the FAQ says this:

 

4.4  How do I update my existing VCDS software to the newest version?

You should be able to simply

Download

and install the latest release of VCDS in your PC. Make sure you have exited out of VCDS before you install the new version. All of our

Current Interfaces

that have built-in Activation, so the new version should be fully Registered and Activated once you test on a car. If you'd like to be notified when a new version of VCDS becomes available, VCDS has an update function built-in on the

Options screen

. You can also sign up for our

Announcements List

.

If you purchase a genuine Ross-Tech Interface directly from us, or from one of our Distributors, you are entitled to free software updates for at least one year from date of purchase.

No updates are available for our older Interfaces without built-in Activation, or for 3rd party Interfaces. For these, you are limited to using

VCDS-Lite

.

I've had mine for over 3 years and still getting free updates.

Mine has updated for past five odd years faultlessly

Looks like Ross-Tech need to re-word their FAQ then. It would give new potential purchasers more of an incentive to buy. As it reads at the moment, free updates are not guaranteed after the first year.

Edited 31 December, 201411 yr by maverick54

Ah ha! Maybe the "for at least one year" bit is a get-out in case they ever change the way it is currently?!

Exactly this I expect. A get out clause in case they change things at a later date.

Perhaps it is new wording, due to the fact they are currently releasing the new vcds platform, they may at some point in the future discontinue updating the old school cable, allowing them to concentrate on one product, and us to purchase the new "fully supported " dongle.

Just a thought.

I have been getting updates since 2005.

Nothing new about the wording guys, it's been like that for about 15 years. Guess you just never noticed? And yes, it's one of those clauses that leaves us some room. For example when we stopped updating old versions for non-intelligent hardware around 2004/2005. The reality is, we're also in this to make a living but we're trying to fair as well. So from our side, there are no plans to charge for updates any time soon.