My Dad's 2017 Skoda Superb has an engine light that has come on and I'd like to be able to diagnose what it is.

Do I need VCDS to do this?

My only experience of Ross-Tech stuff was about 10 years ago when I downloaded some free Ross-Tech software, bought an eBay cable for not a lot of money and used it to program a Volkswagen Transporter van to accept cruise control. I recall at the time it was cheap, easy and took me about 20 mins from start to finish with some basic instructions.

I naively tried to repeat this with the Superb but quickly discovered nothing was recognised, I'm guessing due to the type and age of the cavle, but who knows.

What is the most cost effective way for me to find out what the engine light is for and either reset it or attend to the issue?

Thanks in advance.

Edited 5 September, 20255 Sep by Lasttriumph
Typo

Cheapest way would be to contact a local member who has HEX-V2 or HEX-NET VCDS.

On 05/09/2025 at 20:21, Lasttriumph said:

Do I need VCDS to do this?

Not necessarily, many scan tools may be able to read the code and help with diagnosis and if appropriate resets and/or clear code(s) but not all repairs are just a matter of plugging in a scan tool and just deleting error codes, checking, cross-checking is needed plus often diagnostics and further testing or checking with other diagnostic tools including the human senses.

I agree with Gizmo's post.

Thanks all, I bought a cheap scan tool from Amazon which identified a failed number 2 glow plug. I replaced, erased the code and now all is well with the world. :)

VCDS is your best option, its "cheap" and works well. You can do much more with VCDS than with those cheap market scanners. I would go with VCDS

VCDS is very favoured by many but also bear in mind it only does VW products/brands.

11 minutes ago, nta16 said:

VCDS is very favoured by many but also bear in mind it only does VW products/brands.

It also works in generic OBD mode so can be used on other makes too - I've used it on a colleagues Lexus to clear a DPF fault so he could drive home 50 miles at more than 30mph!

Thanks all, the generic scanner did the job perfectly and identified a bad number 2 glow plug. Now replaced and code reset.