Apologies if this has been asked/covered before (haven’t come across hence....) but if I purchase a VCDS 3 VIN license (my wife has a 16 plate Fabia and I’m about to get a 67 plate superb) what happens with the 3rd VIN if I were to use it in another vehicle or for example if we then changed one of our two cars? I understand the principle of the system to discourage aftermarket garages from buying the cheapest cable and using it on loads of customer cars but is there a mechanism for resetting a VIN usage when it’s no longer required? (And therefore would this allow me to diagnose/code a third vehicle as a one off then in future after some time use it again on a different vehicle, as per the spirit of the VCDS owners map? - a bit like activating windows on a clean install again after 6 months....)

No, once they are used they are used (scanning cars doesn’t use up a VIN, but coding does). 
 

You can upgrade to 10 VIN, but do it directly with RT as it works out cheaper. 

Thanks Gizmo, bit of a shame but fair enough I suppose!

does that mean you can scan and reset faults on any car just not change any coding then without it using a license?

 

Quote

 

Why sell VIN-Limited interfaces?
Because it allows us to charge for the product in a manner that's somewhat commensurate with how the product is used. A professional workshop that's in and out of several vehicles a day with their VCDS gets considerably more value from the product than a private individual who only uses it occasionally on one or two of his own cars. When the previous generation of interfaces was designed in the early 2000s, most VW/Audi cars on the road did not yet know their own VIN, so it was not really practical to restrict usage that way. Hence the pricing on our universal interfaces (interfaces that worked with all the cars available at that point) had always been something of a compromise. Plenty of workshops told us that VCDS was the best value for the money of any tool they'd ever bought and that we could/should charge more, but we were already at or close to the limit of what an enthusiast would pay, and enthusiasts were (and still are!) a very important part of our business. In fact, the reason this product exists is that I got frustrated that I couldn't trouble-shoot my own cars anymore in the late 1990s. Some pros suggested that we make a less expensive version for enthusiasts by restricting what the enthusiast version could do, but that was not an approach that was palatable to me. So now more than a decade later, most of the cars people are working on do know their VINs and restricting the number of cars an enthusiast can perform certain functions on seems like a reasonable way of differentiating between a "pro" and a private individual.

Will VCDS count a car's VIN as toward the license limit as soon as I plug into a particular car?
No!  VCDS will never count a VIN toward the license limit without the user's explicit permission. It will always ask you first, thereby giving you the opportunity to decline to "register" a VIN in the interface. Besides, there are a lot of useful things you can do on an unlimited number of cars. 

What functions are not VIN-Restricted?
A VIN-Limited interface can do Auto-Scans, Clear DTCs, and look at Measuring Values on an unlimited number of cars. I think this is important because I wouldn't want to keep an enthusiast from doing basic diagnostics on his friends' cars, or to use his VCDS when evaluating used cars he's contemplating buying. You wouldn't buy a used car without doing an Auto-Scan on it first, right? In addition, you can make channel maps on an unlimited number of cars because sending us those maps helps us improve the product.  

What functions are VIN-Restricted?
In essence, it's those functions that actually change things in the car:

• Adaptation
• Basic Settings
• Changing Codings
• Changing the Gateway Installation List
• Login or Security Access
• Output Tests
• Optical Bus Diagnostic
• Readiness
• Resetting SRI
• Turning Transport Mode on or off

In addition, directly accessing a control module outside of an Auto-Scan will prompt the user whether he wants to "register" that car's VIN, but declining to do so at that point will not prevent access to the module. The same is true for the "Clear All DTCs" function. It will ask whether you wish to register a VIN, but declining to do so will not prevent the function from working.

What about older cars that do not know their VIN?
Simple: They are free. You can do anything and everything on those cars without them counting toward the license limit.  

Which cars do and don't know their VIN?
Virtually all model year 2002 and newer do know their VINs -- basically those cars with Immo-3 and up. I believe the only model year 2000 car that had Immo-3 was the Audi A8, but a few others got Immo-3 in model year 2001. 

If I sell one of my cars, can I de-register and free up that VIN slot?
No, it doesn't work that way. VINs are stored permanently.  They cannot be erased.


Can I upgrade a 3-VIN license to 10 VINs, or a 10-VIN license to Unlimited?
Yes, absolutely. There's a provision for that in our store.

What if I'm swapping components from different cars?
If you're swapping components like instrument clusters or ECUs that have different VINs stored in them, you may have to register each of the different VINs.

 

From Rosstechs FAQ (https://forums.ross-tech.com/showthread.php?8869):

Quote

What functions are not VIN-Restricted?
A VIN-Limited interface can do Auto-Scans, Clear DTCs, and look at Measuring Values on an unlimited number of cars. I think this is important because I wouldn't want to keep an enthusiast from doing basic diagnostics on his friends' cars, or to use his VCDS when evaluating used cars he's contemplating buying. You wouldn't buy a used car without doing an Auto-Scan on it first, right? In addition, you can make channel maps on an unlimited number of cars because sending us those maps helps us improve the product.

 

It's worth considering a 10-VIN version as at least when I upgraded to a HEX-V2, it worked out as better value for money. Plus you're also only one upgrade away from unlimited VINs

Ok thanks for the replies. 3 is enough for me, I just like to consider the what ifs and future proofing when I spend my money!

i can’t justify the cost of the larger vin systems at the moment (already stretching myself buying the car!) so the 3 vin one will suffice.

So, if I offer to help a stranger I lose one VIN?  How are so many volunteering to code other members cars?

From what I've read, the majority of things you might do with VCDS don't require a VIN to be put in.

His question was about "coding" which would require the VIN to be registered, I would be confident that the answer is that people offering the service have paid for an unlimited VIN version.

I didn't read enough, sorry. 

I suppose I could offer help in exchange for a contribution to upgrading.

35 minutes ago, farty said:

So, if I offer to help a stranger I lose one VIN?  How are so many volunteering to code other members cars?

 

The older CAN-HEX interfaces were never VIN limited so there were no VIN's to use up. They are great for helping people with compatible cars but it's become more difficult since the newer cars are incompatible with older interfaces.

 

9 minutes ago, farty said:

I suppose I could offer help in exchange for a contribution to upgrading.

 

Personally, i don't think it's unreasonable to ask for payment on VIN-limited interfaces as long as you're upfront about the costs.

 

On a side note, this is why I prefer the 10-VIN edition as it's much better value:

- 3-VIN £225 or £75 per VIN

- 10-VIN £299 or £30 per VIN

 

The 10-VIN also only needs one 'upgrade' to become unlimited. Currently, upgrades are £169 or $169 (~£130 at today's exchange rate), it means to get an unlimited version is:

- £485 if you start with a 3-VIN (225+130+130)

- £429 is you start with a 10-VIN (299+130)

- £450 is you go straight for unlimited

 

Assuming you start with a 10-VIN and charge £10-15 per VIN will pretty much pay for the 10 to unlimited upgrade cost as you run out of VIN's. Once you're unlimited you can still charge £10 to recoup the initial VCDS costs

@langers2k  Thanks.  I have a 3-VIN license and have used one.  If I buy a 10-VIN upgrade I would have 9 VINS available.  PayPal will debit me £132 at today's rate.  That's £14.67 per VIN.

I've added my details to the VCSD thread.

Edited 7 September, 20205 yr by farty
tidied up and checked with PayPal currency converter

I realise now that I was dumb to have bought a 3 VIN version.

On 07/09/2020 at 14:11, J.R. said:

I realise now that I was dumb to have bought a 3 VIN version.

Yes I’m coming to the conclusion that even though I will only have two cars to use VCDS on at the moment a 3 vin license wouldn’t be that difficult to run out of if either myself or my wife’s car had to be changed for whatever reason so I guess I’ll be going for the 10 vin as well....

Well even considering the above comments (including my own!) I’ve gone and bought the 3 vin version from gendan now.

need it to clear a fault I’ve got that Carista doesn’t seem capable of dealing with and decided I just couldn’t justify the 10 vin cost at the moment.

got no plans to change either mine or the wife’s cars anytime soon so hopefully this will see me right for a while and include the next car whichever of us cracks first!