whcih diagnostics tool

[s410man]

i am looking fro a diagnostics scanner to read and lear fault codes and reset service lights etc

will be on a selection of cars such as land rover Peugeot Mazda and Renault but could be any make really

budget up to around £500 but could do with being a bit less

am a complete newbie to diagnostics but everybody seems to be complaining how much it costs so thought id have a look at it

any reccomendations

thanks

 

[AndyStobbs]

Afraid £500, is pretty much entry level. I recently bought a VDO tool which has good multimake. Mine does TPMS too, but I think its available without that and cheaper as a result. Think continental are marketing it as conti sys check. Very good tool by and large, does EOBD, airbags, abs, auto box, climate control, battery config.

If you want I will pm my number and will discuss it some more on the phone.

Andy

 

[s410man]

i have been looking at sh snap on mt2500 and ethos but have heard people say they arent the best for diagnostics

am happ y to buy sh as it wont get a massive amount of use

 

[brewdexta]

You can get TOAD for about 100 AUS dollars. May be OK for occasional use? Haven't tried it but seems to get reasonable reviews on Amazon

Thats just the software, you need the interface(s), doesnt seem too expensive, about 40 AUS for their version

I'm betting there are other similar PC based implementations. Not commercial quality but at a fraction of the price an possibly OK for occasional use?

Apologies if this is complete rubbish, its a few years since I looked into buying some cheap diagnostics when I was bored with Landrover's flow chart component swapping method of fault diagnosis that meant the disco was in the garage constantly. That was until I discovered the disco3 forum, after that I told the main dealer probable cause after checking symptoms on the forum, pity the main dealers don't use it, but that would reduce their warranty revenues

 

[AndyStobbs]

i have been looking at sh snap on mt2500 and ethos but have heard people say they arent the best for diagnostics

am happ y to buy sh as it wont get a massive amount of use

In the trade the snap on stuff is not much loved. Still it can be quite capable. I forgot to add that a great many service light resets are still a manual procedure.

 

[zzr1200]

You won't get MV/MM system for Land Rover products for 500 squidlets, no way....

 

[AndyStobbs]

The autodiagnos kit it quite good for the money on LR group. When conti bought them out, I was informed all the software was pooled, and loaded to all of the group products. This is probably stretching a point a little, but the little vdo system I mentioned earlier is pretty good on LR.
I've not used it in anger much as a diagnostic tool, as I only really bought it to fill the TPMS gap I was beginning to see. Still, I have used it a little and lent it out a few times. Deals with sprinter vans on EOBD plug well, had it plugged into an XKR 2006 and it would access all the systems it was capable of ie. Airbags, Autobox (was a paddle shift model), tpms, engine via EOBD, immobilzer. Most of them were read/clear faults only - but for £500 you are not going to get much in the way of live data from any kit.


Used it on a P38 range, and the software is ready for Evoque (though not used it on one yet).

 

[s410man]

You won't get MV/MM system for Land Rover products for 500 squidlets, no way....

even sh??

not saying your wrong just wondering

 

[Robotstar5]

You won't get MV/MM system for Land Rover products for 500 squidlets, no way....

A friend of mine mainly restores RR classics but services other models and looked into diagnostics kits, to cover all LR models (past & current) he was quoted £12K

 

[AndyStobbs]

Testbook is the one for legacy cover. Then it became IDS for the newer models. But for owner/enthusiast use there are tools out there that will cover most needs at a fraction of cost.

 

[zzr1200]

even sh??

not saying your wrong just wondering

I have a MSV Extreme 2 with the P38 multi-vehicle all modules from BBS.



If I had a spare 12 grand laying around, I'd buy the full Land Rover Vehicle Range MV Package.

 

[armalites]

All petrol vehicles after 2000 and diesels from 2004 are required to be OBDII compliant so even the cheap scanner should be able to read code etc.

The reality is they don't all work on all cars and if you want to soemthing vehicle specific then you more specialised kit.

Reseting service lights is a vehicle specific thing.

I have generic scanner but I have a Rovacom with TD5 multi-licence and also a Nanocom for Landrover stuff.

The Rovacom can do stuff that Landrover will tell isn't possible ie enabling features.

 

[zzr1200]

There's a second hand ROVERCOM2 for sale in BBS Bargain Basement Section for 2200.00 GBP.

Not a bad price considering the cost of the new kit and the vehicles covered by it...

 

[gulf]

We use Launch gear,cant fault it really.