What scanner do I need diagnose faults on 2017 Octavia? Complete newbie

[meltemi]

Hello,

 

I have always done basic maintenance to my vehicles, and liked to think I have some idea what is going on, but the Octavia is a significant step up in sophistication over anything I've owned before.

 

I've been trying to work out what diagnostic tool I need to:

1. figure out what is wrong with parkpilot / parking assist on our new-to-us Octavia
2. see if there's any reason why cruise control doesn't appear to engage
3. be generally useful to have for other problems that crop up

 

I don't have any interest in modifying the car or enabling extra features and I don't want to buy anything that risks damaging the car or is a knock off of more expensive software.

 

Can I achieve the above with a generic OBD 2 reader from amazon or Eurocarparts? 

 

I've read through the pinned topics, but these seem to be aimed at more knowledgeable folk than me - I don't understand what is meant by "coding" for instance - is it reading fault codes or inputting them to make mods / changing stuff after replacing parts?

 

 

 

 

[J.R.]

15 minutes ago, meltemi said:

Can I achieve the above with a generic OBD 2 reader from amazon or Eurocarparts? 

A resounding NO!

 

Although for question number 3 the answer would be "maybe", they should list generic OBDII codes for emissions and safety related systems, my cheap one seems to miss everything, it once showed an EGR fault on a Renault, nothing ever since on any vehicle for fault codes that really should show.

 

VCDS would be my recommendation, there are other offerings but I have not tried them, others will advise.

[Warrior193]

@meltemi From what I have read on other sections, be very cautious of any tool that allows 'one touch' changes from a menu - one wrong button press could end up making unintended changes that may be difficult and expensive to reverse.

"Coding" involves making changes to the way the vehicles systems operate, and is where you really need to load a backup before doing anything. It could be something as simple as adapting-in a replacement battery - or something much more intrusive.  

[meltemi]

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

A resounding NO!

 

Although for question number 3 the answer would be "maybe", they should list generic OBDII codes for emissions and safety related systems, my cheap one seems to miss everything, it once showed an EGR fault on a Renault, nothing ever since on any vehicle for fault codes that really should show.

 

VCDS would be my recommendation, there are other offerings but I have not tried them, others will advise.

 

Thanks for the reply. Definitely useful to know that the coverage from the generic tools is not great.

 

I am inclined to think (hope )  that VCDS might be overkill (£430 as don't want to be tied to having a Windows laptop) for me, as a non-enthusiast and we can just eat a few £100 diagnostic fees. On the other hand, there's a 2 week wait even for that at local garages

 

My Dad has a Foxwell NT520 Opel/Vauxhall version, so in the mean time I might plug that in and see if there are any clues.

[langers2k]

@meltemi - you might want to try speaking to a local VCDS owner? If nothing else they should be able to do an autoscan which should give you some pointers.

 

Maps and list to help you find someone:

- https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/224376-vcds-owners-map/

- https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/262215-list-of-vcds-owners-previously-known-as-vag-com-vcp-owners/