Article Date:28/05/17
When it comes to Volkswagen Auto Group (VAG) family cars, you will generally hear of a few diagnostic tools mentioned.
There are several tools available - here are some of them. Generally speaking you should buy VCDS, as it has the majority of functions required for most amateur car enthusiasts. If you don't want to pay for a full copy of VCDS then you can buy a clone on eBay and use an old version of VCDS software with it with reduced functionality. Eventually I want to own a large amount of Automotive tools, as I plan on developing into Automotive Electronics and Diagnostics sectors. So I'll be working on ECU tuning and reprogramming
Price : £1000-£2000
This is the dealership diagnostic interface, basically can do all the functions that a dealer could do, providing you have the modules, cables, licenses for the product. An awesome tool, but generally Volkswagen OEM products are licensed to the company making them, although if you're lucky you can sometimes find them on eBay
Price : £200-400
This product is generally considered the best aftermarket diagnostic software you can buy which is as close to as factory diagnostics as possible. It doesn't allow you to program the dash odometer, or obtain the ECU code for immobiliser key programming, but it does pretty much everything else. These things are worth their price tag, every trip to the dealer or car garage for a simple diagnostic is between £40-£100 every time. Volkswagens tend to develop problems with age electronically in my experience and through bad design flaws, plus they can get them at random points too. If you're an amateur DIY mechanic or motor vehicle repairer, get one. Without question, it will pay it back in no time at all
Price : £500-£5000
I guessed the price of this product, because there are varying modules you can add onto the baseline product. This pretty much allows you to do everything that VCDS and VAGTACHO can do in one, providing you have the modules
Price : £400
This software / hardware is more of an add-on to a package, it's not really designed for diagnostics, it's mainly for reprogramming the odometer and dash mileage correction. Alongside obtaining the SKC code for the immobiliser so you can program in new keys into the car. If you do a lot of mileage correction, then it may be worth buying one of these. You can get dodgy chinese copies on eBay which supposedly do the same thing, although personally I wouldn't want to test it. Especially with how unprotected some scan tools are which can potentially damage your car
