Sorry chaps, yet another inane question.

I know little about OBD readers and hopefully I'll never need one, but a little cheapy to keep in the car can't do any harm can it 😃.

I'm told on another channel that even a cheapish one is capable of turning off the stop/start function on a 2018 Kodiaq. If that's true, I may or may not do that, but otherwise it would be used purely for code reading if ever needed.

So does anyone here know if that's true and can anyone recommend and OBD 2 reader in the £20 - £30 bracket (£40 max) that works ??

Edited 7 January, 20206 yr by olderman1

I am afraid you cannot get anything decent for 40 quit.

Cheapest OBD (ELM 327) readers cost few pounds but you can only read data from them via phone app (VAG DPF or Torque apps for example).

 

Cheapest approved device is still OBD11.

39 euros for device and 25 euros (55 pounds) for Pro licence to activate Pro app on the phone.

Good thing is, you can do almost all tweaks there what VCDS does.

 

P.S. There is also Carista, but there are several opninions on that product. Some likes it, some say it screwed the coding totally.

But just for disableing start / stop it could be worth to try. Adapter for 20 euros and 1 month free trial for paid apps. 

Edited 7 January, 20206 yr by linni

I've had Carista and to be frank it was crap. Now got the OBDeleven with a pro licence. Simple enough to use and also easy to build up your credits balance. You need credits if your going to use the built in coding apps rather than taking the risk of long coding. My advice would be to go to the OBDeleven website and see what the apps will do for your vehicle. Then balance the cost of the OBDeleven against the cost of the options as a factory fit. You'll be quids in!

17 minutes ago, MarkN901 said:

You need credits if your going to use the built in coding apps rather than taking the risk of long coding

 

Vice versa, the apps can mess up the codings.

Coding by yourself by proved instructions is always safer with OBD11.

Thanks for the replies so far guys, but I think this might be getting over complicated. All I think I want/need is something akin to the device in the link below, so that if I get a fault light on the dashboard I can see if it needs urgent attention, reset it if need be and to have some insight into what's going on before I lay myself at the mercy of my dealer.

If there's one out there that tells me what the codes actually mean, that would be a bonus, as looking them up on my phone when away from home won't work if I can't get a signal.

If there's one on the market that will turn off the start/stop it would be a bonus, but not a necessity. I'm quite used to turning it off manually at the start of each journey.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autel-AutoLink-AL319-Universal-Diagnostic/dp/B007XE8C74/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=1X38KPCYP6TQA&keywords=obd2+reader&qid=1578402331&sprefix=obd+2%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzQUFCUlBVSzMxWDRBJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzk3NDgwMUNaR0dLREMyODUwUiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTcyMzg2M0M4SEM0R1BKTjhRRyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

This device can only read errors, not to erase them. 

Definitely it cannot make any changes to any control modules.

30 pounds in not far fron 55 pounds for OBD11.

 

P.S. Do not afraid, OBD11 is not complicated to use. 

Edited 7 January, 20206 yr by linni

The low cost non-VAG specific code readers usually struggle to properly read the useful fault codes.

 

There are lots of generic fault codes that aren't much use, being able to read the detailed fault codes, such as those listed here is much more useful for pinpointing and diagnosing faults...

 

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Fault_Codes

45 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

The low cost non-VAG specific code readers usually struggle to properly read the useful fault codes.

 

There are lots of generic fault codes that aren't much use, being able to read the detailed fault codes, such as those listed here is much more useful for pinpointing and diagnosing faults...

 

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Fault_Codes

 

Thanks Silver 1011, that's a handy list to have. I've now saved that on my phone but, if I'm e.g. abroad and I get a fault light in the car how do I read the fault code so I can then check it against the Ross-Tech list ?

This is what I want an OBD reader for, some of which do list DTCs and are capable of turning off the warning light.

Is there a better alternative to an OBD reader that I don't have to buy credits or a subscription for ?

I am sure there are OBD readers out there that will be able to read the Ross-Tech (the owners of VAG-COM / VCDS) fault codes, but I guess it's a risk.

 

The OBD readers, like the one you linked earlier is really your only choice at your budget, and especially if you want to avoid ongoing subscriptions and costs etc.

 

This one makes specific reference to VAG cars which may help...

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ANCEL-Diagnostic-Volkswagen-Diagnosis-Throttle/dp/B07BS7PDC2

 

If you look at the example fault codes (U0002, 05477, 08581)...

 

 

...these are the generic codes that don't mean much without the accompanying text on the screen of the reader.

 

However, in the example above if you look at the second code (05477 in the middle), it also gives you the Ross-Tech code (P1565) underneath...

 

 

This is the important / useful one as it can be used to cross-reference on the Ross-Tech fault code page linked earlier, and again here...

 

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/17973/P1565/005477

 

 

The advantage being that rather than just the basic text / description on the reader itself, you get the added benefit of "Possible Symptoms", "Possible Causes" and "Possible Solutions" from Ross-Tech, which can be invaluable.

 

Some will argue that by using Ross-Tech's website in this way, without paying for VCDS goes against what they do, to the detriment of further or future investment. I kind of agree, but then again they're a business and could if they wanted to restrict access to their fault code detail.

 

The key here will be to find a generic OBD reader that shows the Ross-Tech fault codes as shown above.

 

Edited 8 January, 20206 yr by silver1011

Great information, thanks once again Silver 1011

I did also just notice that the 'generic' code is also shown on Ross-Tech's site, but isn't on the list from which you search...

 

 

This may be deliberate, i.e. those that gain access to the generic code (05477 / 005477) find it more difficult to then use Ross-Tech's library without having the Ross-Tech code (P1565)?

 

I might of course be over thinking this!

Thanks again. I think this is likely as close to what I had in mind that I'm likely to find and I've found it £14 cheaper on E Bay. 😁

7 minutes ago, olderman1 said:

Thanks again. I think this is likely as close to what I had in mind that I'm likely to find and I've found it £14 cheaper on E Bay. 😁

This was making my head hurt a bit because there's so much choice on the market, so I just bit the bullet and ordered the Ancel one from E Bay. When I went to pay I got some extra discount for some unknown reason, so I've ended up paying £37. Job's a good'un, thanks again Silver.

1 hour ago, olderman1 said:

This is what I want an OBD reader for, some of which do list DTCs and are capable of turning off the warning light.

 

Back to basics.
Lots of OBDII devices can read the fault codes. Only few of them can clear the fault codes.

 

Example. Change of battery.

Newer cars are very sensitive. But not only. My previous 2014 Superb had battery changed. New owner (a friend of mine) told he had only to adjust the clock afterwards.

After a week a warning light in dashboard popped on.

Came to me, made a VCDS scan -  almost one third of modules gave error messages.

Cleared DTC - s, cluster lamp went off and also the error list was cleared. 

Visit to dealer would cost probably around 100 + euros.