Hi All.

Looking for some advice about OBD scanners please.

I'm not a garage or a mechanic. Just an Octavia owner who doesn't mind doing some basic car maintenance.

I can see a huge selection of these plug-in diagnostic devices on Amazon ranging in price from under £20 to over £200, and almost everywhere in between!

They all say they can display information from the various sensors in the car.

They all say they can lookup the 'DTC' error codes and display a description of the fault.

And they all say they can clear faults to put any warning lights out (although why you'd clear a warning light without fixing the underlying problem is beyond me, unless you still have to clear the fault manually after fixing the problem?).

Has anybody got one of these things?

What's the difference between the lower priced ones and the higher priced ones?

Is it worth getting one at all?

Thanks.

I’d love to hear more about this too if anyone has any thoughts

I have blueish, not the most cheaper, works good with torque.

But if you need only for vag obd11, there are some dicounts

https://obdeleven.com/products

Edited 2 July2 Jul by imart143

On 06/06/2025 at 16:34, Davva said:

And they all say they can clear faults to put any warning lights out (although why you'd clear a warning light without fixing the underlying problem is beyond me, unless you still have to clear the fault manually after fixing the problem?).

Not all fault codes clear automatically, in many cases you have to fix the problem and then clear the code.

I've used VCDS for nearly 20 years, I like its comprehensive coverage of all the modules in a modern Skoda (not just the major ones), the free for life software upgrades and the great online support (if you have a genuine one not a clone or copy). No it's not cheap, but compare it to the cost of a diagnostic visit to a dealer and it doesn't look so bad.

Edited 2 July2 Jul by PetrolDave

As per PetrolDave's posting, when you think about it, if a fault code is logged due to a "hard" fault ie one that is still present, then no scan tool can get rid of it showing up, yes it will get cleared - but only for as long as it takes for that controller to re-check the system, intermittent faults after being logged and no longer valid can be cleared and will only appear again when that fault next "happens", some lower levels on modern cars just get cleared, as far as dash warning lights are concerned, after maybe 10 engine starts with no repeat of that fault, some others even vanish with time - which can be annoying if your car is still under warranty and you don't have time to drop everything and get the dealer to check your car!

Edit:- oh, another vote for VCDS if you serious/keen enough, I've had it almost from the beginning - well either late 2001 or early 2002.

Edited 2 July2 Jul by rum4mo

Thanks everyone for your insights and advice.
I've done a bit more research myself and it seems that the cheaper ones (under £100) only include engine fault codes. The more expensive ones appear to include SRS and ABS faults as well.

It mostly goes down to the level of systems it can read and change, and the cars it can work on.

I have a £20 Lidl's scanner in the glovebox. It'll tell me ECU and ABS fault codes so I can go Google them, turn a service light off on most older cars, and that's about it. When my van put an engine light on 100 miles from home, it gave me a code to google so I could make a decision whether to continue, and turned the light off. That's all I wanted.

My brother's got a Snap on Solus. It'll give him the fault code, live data, test a systems operation (power it up, see if it works) and a guide as to what the fault means and some common fixes. I was chasing a fault on a Peugeot, it told me what the code meant, a few things to check with a meter and how to fix it.

Then you've got stuff like VCDS, which will be able to look at all the car's systems, give fault codes, show the live data from the system, do output checks, let you recode modules.... but only on VAG. I've got it, when I bought it, it was the thing to have. The level of stuff it can do on VAG cars is pretty comprehensive (except security systems), but it's a bit clunky to use and you really need a laptop. Last time I used it, it identified a faulty injector on my Polo, told me which one it was, what was wrong with it, and then allowed me to code the replacement in.

Then there's the Chinese stuff, Topdon and the like. Mine was £350, it can do pretty much anything VCDS can do, but on any car, and it's fairly easy to use for most things. But.... some of the interface is a can be written in Engrish, and there's no real guarantee that it's going to do the right thing to your car, and still be working a few years down the line.

So really, it's down to what you want to work on, what you want to be able to do on it, and what sort of brand do you want to buy? Yeah, VCDS is amazing, if you want to spend a few hours geeking out changing settings or tracing an awkward fault on a Skoda, but it's a no real use when your mate's Fiesta throws an ABS light.

44 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

As per PetrolDave's posting, when you think about it, if a fault code is logged due to a "hard" fault ie one that is still present, then no scan tool can get rid of it showing up, yes it will get cleared - but only for as long as it takes for that controller to re-check the system, intermittent faults after being logged and no longer valid can be cleared and will only appear again when that fault next "happens", some lower levels on modern cars just get cleared, as far as dash warning lights are concerned, after maybe 10 engine starts with no repeat of that fault, some others even vanish with time - which can be annoying if your car is still under warranty and you don't have time to drop everything and get the dealer to check your car!

Edit:- oh, another vote for VCDS if you serious/keen enough, I've had it almost from the beginning - well either late 2001 or early 2002.

I had exactly this on my Octavia recently. An "Oil pressure sensor" warning message, and the oilcan symbol on the dash lit up orange. I checked the oil level and its ok. Phoned the garage straight away and the earliest they could book me in was in 2 weeks, but advised as long as I keep a manual check on the oil level, it would be ok to drive. The warning message appeared every time I started the engine, and the oil warning light stayed orange every time I drove the car until the day before it was due to go into the garage, and then the warning message and the oil light cleared. I took it to the garage anyway. They checked the sensor and reckon its ok. They told me the oil pressure sensor is a known fault on VAG cars, and if it happens again they'd swap out the sensor. Touch wood, it hasn't happened since.

Edited 2 July2 Jul by Davva

5 hours ago, Davva said:

Thanks everyone for your insights and advice.
I've done a bit more research myself and it seems that the cheaper ones (under £100) only include engine fault codes. The more expensive ones appear to include SRS and ABS faults as well.

Yes, plus VCDS and some other can talk to all the smart controllers - and there are quite a few in the typical VW Group car, so that tends to mean that they cover "everything" .

1 hour ago, rum4mo said:

there are quite a few in the typical VW Group car

A modern VAG vehicle has correctly been described as "a computer network on wheels" 😵‍💫

That's anything with a canbus to be fair, so most cars made in this century

Another vote for VCDS from me.

Not the cheapest but the support from the makers is second to none and their website is chock full of helpful and knowledgable people (and is managed by the makers themselves).

https://forums.ross-tech.com/index.php