Cheap & cheerful fault code reader?

[Stoofa]

I've just had a warning light appear on my FL Octy vRS. Don't particularly want to pay Skoda the privilege just to scan my car for fault codes - especially if it's a minor error and something I can sort myself or for beer money.
Not after VCDS, just want something cheap and cheerful that I can plug in and get any/all fault codes. I see these things on Ebay starting at £7 - any recommendations from anyone on what to get?

Ta

Edited by Stoofa on Sunday 3rd January 18:33

[Easternlight]

ELM327 Bluetooth dongle from eBay for under a fiver and Torque app for your phone will do a lot of the OBDII codes plus more and is small enough to leave in the car.
Or any OBDII code reader really, the more you spend the deeper you will be able to diagnose.

[Stoofa]

Thanks for your response.
I've just picked a link at random:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bluetooth-Car-Scanner-EL...

So something like this and I can download the Torque app and away I go?
As you said, the more I spend the deeper I can go, but just want to get an idea of what the car is trying to tell me

Cheers.

[msremmert]

You've got a few options here.
Torque and a cheap bluetooth reader are two things every enthusiast should have in their car - providing you're running Android. If you have an iPhone then you'll need to look else where at Wifi dongles.

Alternatively, I found this a very good option.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/U281-VW-Audi-Skoda-OBD2-...

The bluetooth reader and the bog standard readers off ebay will only read basic stuff but this one goes a bit further and read/clear codes off your airbag controller, ABS/traction control and stuff like that. Very handy when I upset my airbag controller during a tinkering session.

Alternatively, find a friend with VCDS. If you live in Wales, feel free to use mine.