Diagnostic Reader Coder

[chasingracecars]

Thinking of getting an Autel or similar, one VW needs to have a battery coding and I have to send the car to garage to do rear brakes annually when I can do them bar back off the park brake.

Budget around £300 and ideally not a major cost for subscriptions. Would be nice to enable disable things like start stop and mirror folds etc.

Can anyone suggest a good one?

[spookly]

I bought one of the 2nd gen ThnkDiag units. Was £120 ish IIRC.
It's just a large OBD2 dongle that plugs in and you connect with a smartphone app. But it covers any vehicle and covers a lot of maintenance functions, manufacturer specific diagnostics, and even vehicle adaptations.

I went through 4 different units priced between £100 and £600 trying to get something to reset the airbag system on a 2020 Sprinter. The ThinkDiag unit had it sorted in a couple of minutes.

You can probably check online if it covers the specific things you want. I think their support is China based, but do respond.

[LightweightLouisDanvers]

chasingracecars said:

Thinking of getting an Autel or similar, one VW needs to have a battery coding and I have to send the car to garage to do rear brakes annually when I can do them bar back off the park brake.

Budget around £300 and ideally not a major cost for subscriptions. Would be nice to enable disable things like start stop and mirror folds etc.

Can anyone suggest a good one?

The Autel AP200 is a Bluetooth version that links to your phone. Costs about £50. It has 1 free vehicle type included and you pay £19.99 to add others. No annual subscription involved.
I've used it to do VW electronic handbrake rear pads. Its a great bit of kit. I keep it in the car. 1st time you use it and don't take your car to a garage for diagnostics or pad changing it will have paid for itself.

[Castrol for a knave]

I have the Thinkdiag

Great piece of kit.