Hi

I have read widely about obd2 equipment.  I have 2 Skoda cars in the household but relatives own other manufacturers.  I would like a diagnostic scanner to read faults. I have seen a sealy vs8812 obd2 scanner, about £70 mark . This would scan general and some manufacturer specific error codes. But does not do any maintenance functions. Other cheap scanners available but the internet is rife with knockoffs.

 

Then there is Foxwell nt644pro. This will do the above that the sealy unit does but also do several manufacturer cars for dpf epb battery confugurator etc ,but not abs brake bleeding. Foxwell has nt630 for abs and airbag only.

 

There are ELM327 obd2 bluetooth connectors and the Torque app for diagnostic purposes and another for DPF. App is cheap but the connectors are not unless you buy a knockoff one for a few£. Risk of fusing cars own obd2 port. 

 

Would torque app dpf or other dpf obd2 be useful or only to force regenerate and avoid garage fees? 

 

Finally there is the Skoda or bag specific vcds. If all the cars in my family were Skoda or vag it would be a no brainer to buy this. It offers coding which I would like to pursue but it is not a must. 

 

In summary I am looking for a diagnostic scanner for any manufacturer, but will require epb, ABS and possibly battery configuration functions for several manufacturers. I would spend £xxx but no more, simply because the 'lifetime updates' are 1 to 2 yrs only. 

I intend keeping car a long time .

 

Any advice on any of above would be appreciated

 Thanks

 

 

Edited 2 September, 20187 yr by bmbmdmb

VCDS really is the best all rounder,

partly because it will do almost the most that can be done (VCP can do slightly more, but is harder and more dangerous to use in the wrong hands, but there is an annual subscription for updates) VCDS comes with free updates for life and s/h interfaces sell for not far off what they cost to buy brand new!

Gizmo

Vcds - does it do DPF functions? If so, what are they?

 

Yes, you can check the status of the DPF and also do emergency regenerations, the process is covered on the Ross-Tech site (it’s not something I have needed to do to date)