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Vcds/ scanner suggestion

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:01 pm
by nodeward
I have got a cheap scanner but it only does the engine on my 2011. Can anyone recommend something that doesn't cost the earth so I can read codes on other systems not bothered about messing around with too much just want the fault codes

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Re: Vcds/ scanner suggestion

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:37 pm
by mark1a

Have a look at the Carista app & dongle. Reads & resets fault codes plus a few customisation options too.

https://caristaapp.com

Re: Vcds/ scanner suggestion

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:11 am
by nodeward
Nice, I'll check that out, cheers

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Re: Vcds/ scanner suggestion

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 12:35 pm
by Yeti
Carista's alright, I keep one of the dongles in each of my modern VAG's as part of my breakdown kit. Just make sure you've got one that works reliably on that car, as they can be a bit hit and miss (my Ibiza doesn't seem to like any of them).

I'm going to say something a bit controversial here, I use a copy of a VCDS lead and an older version of VCDS or VCDS-lite ($99 from Ross-Tech), depending what I'm doing. Yep, I'm sure someone, somewhere on the internet has had a car lose all it's settings/burst into flames/eat the driver/go on a chainsaw massacre as a result of using this setup, but I've never had a problem, nor do I know anyone in person who has.

The older setup will do all the Caddy's up to (but not including) the latest shape. Spend about £50 on the cable from someone who's in the UK (not just using a UK address as a front) and you should be ok. Spend £3 on one straight from China and you probably won't be.

VCDS-Lite info page on Ross-Tech - http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds-lite/index.php

If you can accept the limitations of what it can do, the main problem with VCDS Lite is you only get to install and activate it twice. So I'd say use it on a laptop that you know's reliable, even if it is 15 years old, and image the hard disk as soon as you've installed, so you don't need to activate again if you restore the laptop from that image.

Re: Vcds/ scanner suggestion

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 5:49 pm
by nodeward
Mine is canbus so I dont think the lite version will work for me but I'll check it out

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