Hi everyone,

 

I am looking to get vcds software and the corresponding obd2 plug so I can perform more advanced procedures on mine and family members cars. Is it worth going for genuine ross tech vcds or instead saving some cash and getting a version off ebay? £225 for Ross tech vcds seems a little steep, especially considering the limitation to only 3 vehicles. Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated.

Are you willing to risk corrupting the modules in your car/s with a chinese knock off cable ?? potentially costing you many £K to get replaced, you won't have that worry with a genuine lead from Gendan (Ross-Tech UK supplier) and you'll be able to use it with the latest software version unlike the copies that are stuck on earlier versions, the VIN limit 3 or 10 only applies if you do any re-coding just reading fault codes doesn't count in the limit 

Aye Nige is right here. I've got one of the VCDS cables from Gendan and their services are very good, plus they sent me a free small packet of Haribo jelly sweets which made me feel better about my car not working right at the time.

 

Not buy cheap buy twice in this case... but buy cheap and p*** away your money potentially writing off a car electrically or causing other serious damage. Not worth it to save a couple of quid, IMO.

Thanks for the advice, I'll go for the Ross tech version then, the last thing I need is more car issues. Also having looked at the various jobs that need doing, the savings I make on doing it myself will more than make up for the cost of the vcds.

What year is the Fabia? The freeware VCDS Lite will work up to March 2010 or thereabouts, from memory. Suitable cable for that is sub-20 quid.

Other cars are probably more recent though?

The cars I'll be using it on are a 2007 mk2 fabia, a 2010 mk2 superb, a 2015 vw toureg and potentially another vw group car from 2015 to 2020. I'm guessing I'll need the full version to work on these vehicles.

Yep, Lite would do for the Fabia, but not the others.

I had a Hex-can cable that worked well with my 2015 Octavia and it was unlimited vin.

 

When I swapped to my 2019 Karoq the Hex-can would't do much so I sold it on Ebay for something like £285.

Bought a Hex-V2 and all works again with the Karoq.

(Hex-V2 is 3 vin limited but ok for me)

 

Might be worth looking at used but the unlimited vin cables certainly command a premium.

16 hours ago, tfspark said:

Might be worth looking at used but the unlimited vin cables certainly command a premium.

Worth noting that if you buy used and the previous owner has registered with Ross-Tech before you can register for support they need to confirm that they have sold the cable (i.e. it hasn't been stolen) and you have to pay $99 to transfer ownership (and support).