car diagnostic tool purchase advice

jones 19

looking to buy a car diagnostic tool,im planning to start a small car repair work shop, and i'm looking for a suitable diagnostic tool. willing to spend 600euro or around. any one with help? im shining towards the launch x431 tool. it seems to cover the lot or nearly, as most car diagnostic tools don't.
thanks

Owen

You won't do better than the Launch. It's a serious bit of kit, and upgradeable when you've more funds to the Master version.

jones 19

ya ,they seem to be the job. theres some available on done deal but i'd bull if i bought a counter fit. would spend a few more quid if i found a dealer with back up services, warranty ,demo,etc....

Owen

Master tech systems (Think that's the name) in the UK seem to be the best in the business at upgrades/sales.

Plug

A few lads in work have the snap-on solas, seems to be pretty good, im not sure on price but I'd say its dearer than the launch.

Owen

I've used the Snapon too, but the Launch IMHO is the better unit.

Buford T Justice

Personally, I've found Autoboss V30 the best, but it is expensive

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/carextras/2007745

jones 19

seems to be very hard to buy a diagnostic tool in ireland, any ideas?
wary of the launch x431 on done deal. couldnt find that master tech crowed in the uk
sound lads

couldntthink

Launch x431 won't read transits. It also won't work properly unless it's warm. I find it to be quite cumbersome but the snap on solus is a nice unit.

Bosch kts is good for live data, but too much sh1te on it that you never need. KTS 650 won't communicate with Mitsubishi though.

As a start off point you should look into the small sealey handheld diagnostic tools. I bought the VAG specific vs862 recently and I'm inpressed. It reads everything on vw/audi/skoda/seat, and also reads engine codes on all EOBD systems with a code and description so you don't need to look it up in a book. It doesn't have a live data function but some of the more expensive ones do I think. I got mine for 93 quid off Ebay. At that price it starts me off and will pay for itself in no time.

Jesus Shaves

anything other than an autoboss and you're wasting your time, spend the extra on it or you'll only end up spending more in the end on updates and different diag tools to cover more vehicles

autoboss covers most

crosshair1

These folks are a dealer for launch here http://www.woodford-diagnostics.com/
600eu wont go too far unfortunately in the diagnostic end of things.
The only thing within your price range thats worth having IMHO is VCDS (vag-com), genuine, would set you back about 300, and its also pretty good on EOBD vehicles and can create data logs.
If your serious about business, I think you'd be best advised to buy from a reputable outfit here or uk and at least have a warranty and updates available.
For an all round tool I think the launch is probably the best, it has good coverage of european and jap, which I find puts it above the snappy or bosch, its also is cheaper. Its not wonderful on ford, lacking in activations, but I've had it on a denso tdci transit today with an egr/maf fault and earlier this week coded 2 new delphi injectors on another so it can still deal with most problems.
No single machine will cater for all your needs and you will have to identify what makes you are seeing most of as you go along and see if its going to add up buying other tools to cater for specific areas.
What scanners have you used/ have access to up until now?

jones 19

ive been out of the loop for the last 5 years, last unit i used was a toyota diagnostic tool in a main dealers. wouldn't mind doing a day course or something to get the basics even though it may take longer to catch back up.
sound for the reply.

couldntthink

crosshair1 wrote: »

These folks are a dealer for launch here http://www.woodford-diagnostics.com/
600eu wont go too far unfortunately in the diagnostic end of things.
The only thing within your price range thats worth having IMHO is VCDS (vag-com), genuine, would set you back about 300, and its also pretty good on EOBD vehicles and can create data logs.
If your serious about business, I think you'd be best advised to buy from a reputable outfit here or uk and at least have a warranty and updates available.
For an all round tool I think the launch is probably the best, it has good coverage of european and jap, which I find puts it above the snappy or bosch, its also is cheaper. Its not wonderful on ford, lacking in activations, but I've had it on a denso tdci transit today with an egr/maf fault and earlier this week coded 2 new delphi injectors on another so it can still deal with most problems.
No single machine will cater for all your needs and you will have to identify what makes you are seeing most of as you go along and see if its going to add up buying other tools to cater for specific areas.
What scanners have you used/ have access to up until now?

Crosshair, have you ever had any problems connecting to transits with the X431. Whenever I try to connect with my boss' one it won't connect. Is there a certain update needed? It connects fine to mondeos but never trannys.

crosshair1

I usually pick the mondeo when connecting to a transit, only because it saves me scrolling down more.
The injector coding is only available under mondeo also.

AdamLB

You probably dont want to go this route but:
I bought the Op-com disk for my laptop for about e15. It came with the pin plug too and is amazing. It gives me a complete reading of absolutley everything. My machanic uses launch most of the time but after seeing how I use the laptop hes getting opcom too. Only works with Opels and Vauxhalls but still, there are a lot of Opels and Vaulhalls so for 15 squid it's well worth it.

Technoprisoner

your not going to get a lot for €600. if you really want a launch system it can be got in ireland from GSF.. there is some other diagnostics available from them too http://www.gsfdiagnostics.com/GE5.pdf anything else you need to know drop me a message

El Guapo!

I have the Autoboss V30 and it does just about everything you need. It is a little bit more expensive but its worth it in my opinion. The only car I seem to have trouble using it on is Jag. Other than that it covers everything.

Atlantic Diesel

If you are looking for a good scanner than the Launch is a good all rounder, However there are more cloned Launch scanners out there than real ones, They all work much the same when reading out codes but the counterfeit scanners fall down on the job when it comes to data streams and live readings, they can often give incorrect readings and they can cause havoc when trying to recode an ecu , stay away from these, its a false economy, As regards the launch having trouble communicating with some Fords, This is because there are multiple proprietory systems in Fords, some are Delphi, some Bosch, Some Siemens, some Denso, The launch often has trouble getting into the Siemens /Ford system, No one scanner will do all vehicles and it really depends on what vehicles you want to specialise in e.g European, Japanese.
If you really want to save yourself money and still do a credible job, buy a good automotive oscilloscope and spend time learning how to use it and then get a cheap code reader like the sykes-pickavant thingy, with these 2 items and a bit of know how you will be able to do 90% of the faults that present at your workshop.If i had to pick one tool in the workshop it would be a €100 handheld scope i use. If you need coding and programming done it is cheaper to go to main dealers rather than burning your fingers trying to recode with conterfeit tools. In the scale of things injectors, pumps and ecus are the most common items to be recoded so if your starting off I'd let that for now and concentrate on the faultfinding using the scope and cheap code reader, Bosch, Delphi & Launch systems are very expensive €2000 upwards + yearly subscriptions, Not much point in spending that unless you have serious throughput in your workshop, it will take too long to get payback from these tools, The guy on the street wont be impressed by boxes full of expensive diagnostic kit, he just wants his car fixed quickly and cheaply. you can do this without all the top end stuff, Listening to your customer, observing the faults, reading the diagnostic trouble codes, excellent hand and eye checks and a good understanding of how the systems work will enable you to fix 99% of what comes through your door. If you need any advice on starting up pm me

crosshair1

Atlantic,
I'd have to agree with the emphasis on scope testing but surely decent serial tools are a must for any workshop prior to going the scope route.
There are so many systems now requiring resets (adaptions, trims, ima's, additives, calibrations ) after fitting components, I would think its unwise to shy from this end of repairs.
The guy on the street wont be too impressed either if youve charged him for replacing a faulty component and the original complaint is still there until he goes to the dealer/specialist.