Mikey360 68 Posted March 31, 2018 What's everyone's personal favourite? I've used a few of the cheap ebay ones that link up to your phone, looking for a more professional one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark101 536 Posted March 31, 2018 Best diagnostic tool? My ear 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AutoJacob 34 Posted March 31, 2018 (edited) Got a snap on ethos, works sweet and tells me what I need to know.. even does key programming etc, comes with 2 or 3 years updates and warranty. Edited March 31, 2018 by AutoJacob 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EPV 631 Posted March 31, 2018 Aren’t the snap on proper ones about £2k? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AutoJacob 34 Posted March 31, 2018 38 minutes ago, EPV said: Aren’t the snap on proper ones about £2k? £1800 incl vat from my local snap on man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted April 1, 2018 I went for the launch x431 from my local factors was £1450 I tried the Ethos even got the old version which never failed but just rolled out of date, we already have key programmers so didn’t need that feature this time, be lost with a good diagnostic Machibe I don’t understand anyone who trades in cars could survive without one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark101 536 Posted April 1, 2018 11 hours ago, Mikey360 said: What's everyone's personal favourite? I've used a few of the cheap ebay ones that link up to your phone, looking for a more professional one. Luckily, my partner workshop will do free diagnostics for me and they are 2 minutes away. Maybe you could come to the same arrangement with yours? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted April 1, 2018 Funnily enough my old launch died yesterday! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted April 1, 2018 1 hour ago, Mark101 said: Luckily, my partner workshop will do free diagnostics for me and they are 2 minutes away. Maybe you could come to the same arrangement with yours? We started off doing the same thing, but once we started moving more and more cars I could see it was starting to get a pain pulling there fitters off every five minutes for plug ins the second have value on these machines is high you could always bite the bullet is marks suggestion doesn’t work then if you find your not using it you can easily sell it on. 2 minutes ago, met said: Funnily enough my old launch died yesterday! I wouldn’t call that funny I remember when my old ethos went out of date range I could have cried Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MSP Motors 39 Posted April 1, 2018 i have 4 cheap laptops and i have ista,diagbox,vagcom, Renault clip, Vauxhall, ids, star and my favourite.....autocom which i use most. In my experience I find it a lot easier to have the right tools for the job. I even had to lend my £100 laptop to my garage the other day as they could not program injectors on a transit connect with the snap on tool they have. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frankieola 22 Posted April 1, 2018 29 minutes ago, MSP Motors said: i have 4 cheap laptops and i have ista,diagbox,vagcom, Renault clip, Vauxhall, ids, star and my favourite.....autocom which i use most. In my experience I find it a lot easier to have the right tools for the job. I even had to lend my £100 laptop to my garage the other day as they could not program injectors on a transit connect with the snap on tool they have. Sorry if I'm just being thick, how did you get all these? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted April 1, 2018 Vauxhall Star is a bril bit of kit does a bucket load more than an obd reader Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andymc1973 199 Posted April 1, 2018 2 hours ago, MSP Motors said: i have 4 cheap laptops and i have ista,diagbox,vagcom, Renault clip, Vauxhall, ids, star and my favourite.....autocom which i use most. In my experience I find it a lot easier to have the right tools for the job. I even had to lend my £100 laptop to my garage the other day as they could not program injectors on a transit connect with the snap on tool they have. What did they all set you back? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cruise 1 Posted April 1, 2018 I Second the Autel, excellent bit of kit and good value for money 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
It's me 615 Posted April 1, 2018 4 hours ago, andymc1973 said: What did they all set you back? depends where he bought them from i see my fantastic launch crp129 has now price crashed on aliexpress i updated mine a few months back via the internet and its dongle,super tool that works out of the box fast ive loads of laptops but hated the time the various programmes took to communicate with stuff like renaults or fiats so they are all stuffed in the bottom of the filing cabinet for emergancies Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted April 1, 2018 7 hours ago, justina3 said: We started off doing the same thing, but once we started moving more and more cars I could see it was starting to get a pain pulling there fitters off every five minutes for plug ins the second have value on these machines is high you could always bite the bullet is marks suggestion doesn’t work then if you find your not using it you can easily sell it on. I wouldn’t call that funny I remember when my old ethos went out of date range I could have cried If it wasn't for the abundance of chocolate I'd be in tears too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted April 1, 2018 2 minutes ago, met said: If it wasn't for the abundance of chocolate I'd be in tears too I tried coffe even that didn’t work to be fair my garage only had one tech that could use there machine they run a Bosch system and he is always flat out so me punching him for pesky vw fault codes every five mins was always gojng to be temporary measure Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boydy1985 0 Posted April 2, 2018 S and B, The Lauch X431 that you have are you able to do forced Regens on the likes of a 2010 Mercedes C220 and a 2012 Audi A5 3.0Tdi for example? I use a Delphi Clone which is really good but doesn't seem to be that good On Bmw or Mercedes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted April 2, 2018 Are these Chinese 'clones' really worth a punt these days. Back in the day they were stinking cheap (almost disposable) but I don't see any great bargains these days? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stalker 180 Posted April 2, 2018 1 hour ago, met said: Are these Chinese 'clones' really worth a punt these days. Back in the day they were stinking cheap (almost disposable) but I don't see any great bargains these days? That because EBAY aren't supposed to let sellers sell fake/counterfeit goods.... You have to look elsewhere Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andymc1973 199 Posted April 2, 2018 is there no "one tool fits all" available? or a device with multiple brands on Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark101 536 Posted April 2, 2018 6 minutes ago, tradex said: We have a cheap Foxwell that gets a lot of use and seems to do most brands and has very good real time data, I think it was something like £500 a few years back, so more like £40 now. Talks to pretty much every system on the car and for a budget scanner is to be recommended. We just had two issues this week that it helped clear in real time, a stalling Focus which was an intermittent brake pedal switch, and a Clio climate fault caused by a duff roof sensor. Had a bad steering sensor on a Punto before that. I agree with those that say, they couldn't work without a decent scanner. Excuse my inexperience - when you say it "cleared" the faults - did you need to replace the sensors or does this simply clear the fault? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark101 536 Posted April 2, 2018 7 minutes ago, tradex said: it does a lot but won't repair things. New pedal switch, new temp sensor motor unit, new rack needed......but yes it clears codes once repaired You need an 'all systems' scanner, geek speak for does much everything. Foxwell do blowouts and you can sometimes catch a real bargain. Nice guys to deal with too in our experience. I thought it sounded too good to be true - can you tell I'm no mechanic! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted April 2, 2018 You also find that no matter how good the machine is if you cant fault find or have a basic understanding of whats going on no scanner in the world is going to help you. like this morning Cylinder two misfire, sigh here we go again VW finest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted April 2, 2018 4 hours ago, Stalker said: That because EBAY aren't supposed to let sellers sell fake/counterfeit goods.... You have to look elsewhere I wasn't exactly looking on ebay to start with! Lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
