Learn me: OBD II Scanners

Looking for at these for a Christmas gift. Can the GRM collective recommend a good scanner for less than $100? Or, should I still just keep going to O'Reillys?

I bought a generic $25 reader. So far I haven't been able to get the software working. So I would recommend stepping up to a level better than freeware

I have one that use Bluetooth to connect to my Galaxy using the "torque" software. Works great and only cost me $25 from ebay

Hell, I got the $25 bluetooth one from ebay and Torque for Android. Works far beyond what I had expected. Wish I could find that dongle...

mad_machine wrote: I have one that use Bluetooth to connect to my Galaxy using the "torque" software. Works great and only cost me $25 from ebay

Amazon sells the Bluetooth dongles too, from what I hear the Torque app makes most scanners obsolete. I'm planning to pick one up soon.

That torque app is cool, I might go that route for myself, but the dinosaur I'm buying for (Dad) doesn't have a cell phone. I understand the new cars use a CAN? code system? I'd like to include that capability.

Amazon has super cheap prices on these things btw. Thanks for the suggestions guys!

I bought this one: Autel AL519 back in Sept. (It was $10 cheaper then) and have mostly been satisfied with it. I bought it for it's CAN Bus capabilities and decent reviews. After purchasing it though I discovered that Autel makes at least some of the HF scan tools, I didn't consider any of the HF options because their electronics & I don't have the best track record. Time will tell.

I've been able to read/clear codes on a '95 850 (yes it's got OBDII), a '97 S70, a '02 Century, a '04 Passat, and even and '09 Jetta. The VWs CAN Bus is what I bought it for. It read, identified and cleared the codes on the older Passat, it read the codes on the newer Jetta, but couldn't identify them, manufacturer specific. I was able to consult Google & my Bentley Manual to figure out what the codes were. It had no issue clearing the codes on the VWs after the repairs were completed.

Live data is kind of neat, but not something I've needed to utilize yet. I'm satisfied, though I kind of wished I'd sprang for a model that could do ABS & SRS as well. I really wanted one of the Innova models, but for the money I spent and the Autel's capabilities I'm content.

The instant read "readiness monitor" might be worth something if you lived somewhere that has emissions testing, I don't so it's kind of pointless to me.

The color screen on the Autel, while nice, does not make it worth more than another brand with better/more functions.

A feature to make sure you get on any modern scan tool you look at is OBD-II Mode 6, you can actually glean some info from the non-continuously monitored systems, and any newer scan tools should be able to make heads or tails of the info.

Manufacturer's page for the AL519 http://www.autel.us/Products/al519.htm

Edit to add:
I managed to install the software that came with the scan tool, and according to their website it's the latest version, but have not been able to get the scan tool to be discovered/recognized by the software. Win 7 64 bit, USB 2.0 & 3.0. Windows makes a noise like you put a USB device in, but the software never sees the scan tool. Like I said it's the latest version of the software and the scan tool has latest firmware too, but this will be a problem if I ever need to update the device. Hopefully there's a fix in the works. I haven't contacted anyone about the issue, so I don't know if it's common, or if there's a fix.

• Lee

This is the HF version of the Autel AL519 that I bought recently. I think I got it for less than $80 with a "super coupon." You can also find 25% off coupons in Road & Track, for example.

http://www.harborfreight.com/can-obd-ii-professional-scan-tool-60694.html

I had no problem updating it on the Autel website, though the documentation doesn't tell you can do that.

Worked great identifying and clearing some codes on my MINI recently.