looking into investing in vag-com but there seem to be loads of versions and different cables available. Can anyone point me in the right direction on what to buy and where from

If you buy anything other than a genuine Vag-Com, you will have to download the correct version of the software for it and pay to register the software. That ties the software to one particular laptop.

A genuine Vag-Com lead on the other hand contains a dongle which automatically licences any copy of Vag-Com it is used with. Genuine leads are more expensive, but you can import them from the US while the exchange rate is in our favour to save a bit.

The Vag-Com software itself is free, and the newest versions contain a lot of context-sensitive help to 'walk' you through common procedures.

What year Octavia? If before 2005, then buying a dongle style KEY series interface will give everything you need. If after 2005, then you may want to consider either the HEX series interface or a MicroCan interface. All of these are available from our UK resellers as well as from us directly.