Anyone with any experience of scan tools?

[Cycleops]

I have a guy down here who comes and sorts any mechanical issues with our cars. I’d like to get him a not too expensive scan tool so he can expand his knowledge and better solve problems with ours and his other customers cars.
There are a multitude of these things on the market at all sorts of prices so I wondering if anyone on here has experience with them. I can buy in the U.K. and then someone can bring it down.

 

[Electric_Andy]

There are quite a few cheap ones (£30 ish) but check the specs and reviews as some are only compatible with certain makes of cars. They will do simple tasks like clearing codes, but any of the cheap ones will not allow you to tackle anything related to safety (ABS, brakes and air bags). I think Scotty Kilmer recommends the CGSULIT SC204. He's tried out a lot of scan tools and says this one is very good.

 

[fossyant]

We have a couple at home - mine works with 'torque' phone app and will tell you codes etc - has been very useful recently diagnosing a sensor fault and a ignition coil. My son has an aftermarket VW group one that can do rather alot. Mine won't clear ABS or airbag faults.

 

[Milkfloat]

I recently sold my VCDS for VAG cars, I made a tidy profit after having it for more than 15 years. It is amazing what it allowed you to do and I used it frequently on VW / Audi/ Skoda forum member's cars as well as friends and family. A simple fault reader for £20 can be be very useful, but for more of a professional approach then systems designed for individual manufactures are a great bet, especially if you want to recode rather than simple read and clear fault codes.

On top of this, I would advise that a reader is useless without someone who knows what they are doing, or someone with good google skills.

 

[Cycleops]

Well seeing as Scotty Kilmer recommends it @Electric_Andy that might be the one to go for. ‘Rev up yer engines’.

 

[MichaelW2]

Cars have so many computers they should be able to self diagnose, order the required part from ebay and pop up the youtube replacement video on the ICE screen.

 

[fossyant]

Cars have so many computers they should be able to self diagnose, order the required part from ebay and pop up the youtube replacement video on the ICE screen.

They can - you just need something to read the code. My Nissan can be 'interrogated' without a reader, but using the reader is far easier than some magic button presses, pedal and ignition fiddling. If I get an airbag fault, there is a procedure to make the car re-scan the air bags - e.g. if you knock a plug or unclip one it will throw an error). If the car detects a fault, the light will remain on, if not, it will turn off.

As mentioned above, the 'reader' told me two parts were 'faulty'. I was able to reset then test again and the same faults came up. Just saves garage time, and popping on a new sensor was pretty easy.

 

[CXRAndy]

If he wants all bells, Android based Launch do various models. Autel are popular too. Depends on what vehicles and age he is generally working on. There are many diag tools, some are vehicle manufacturer specific like VAG group.

https://www.launchtech.co.uk/
https://www.autel.uk/

 

[Cycleops]

Thanks for all the info guys. It's mostly older models he's working on. Toyota, Kia, Hyundai and other Japanese makes are popular here although VAG are also here in numbers and GM.
I was thinking a dongle type would work for him as he'd also need a smartphone which he could use to check out instructional video on YouTube.

 

[Smokin Joe]

If he wants all bells, Android based Launch do various models. Autel are popular too. Depends on what vehicles and age he is generally working on. There are many diag tools, some are vehicle manufacturer specific like VAG group.

https://www.launchtech.co.uk/
https://www.autel.uk/

I've just bought an Autel AL319, not bad for the average home bodger and under £30. It correctly identified which coil pack had given up the ghost on my Polo. They get good reviews on "Which code reader" websites.

 

[Cycleops]

I’ll probably go with one of the GCSULIT models. They are in China and courier shipping is free. Seems like a good deal.