All right, all you pros out there. Let's get some questions answered.

Just bought a 2000 A6 2.7T 6-Speed, and would like to get the set-up to access codes, scan, etc. Trying to figure out which software, cables, etc.

1. It looks like most people use Ross-tech Vag-com. It's $99 from Ross-tech (I think they are on versions 5xx now). Is this the best option? In people's experience, how useful is the stuff that's missing from the shareware 4xx version?

2. I am planning on buying a USB cable, but which? From Ross-Tech, the cable is $249 (with software license), so figure $150 cost for the cable. They also have "Pro" cables -- do I really care about them?

3. What about the $25-$25 cables I can buy on eBay? Are they really inferior to the Ross-tech?

I guess $249 isn't too bad, but if I can spend less, that's better. I've searched audiworld, but (as usual), it's very difficult to read (98% of each post is the signature, it doesn't show everything on one page, in short - a mess). All I can find are general questions, like "Do I need USB". I don't need that kind of info, I can figure out whether I need USB all by mah-self, thank you very much.

Thanks.

 

The $249 will be the best money you ever spent on your car if you plan on doing your own maintenance.

Ross-tech has some of the best technical support. You will get NONE from the ebay ones. There are often configuration problems when you are dealing with the generic cables also. The cheapo ones from ebay are usually dumb cables and don't configure themselves like the nice ross-tech ones. I've had both and was not impressed with the cheap ones. I bought mine from obdtool.com btw.

Next time if you want more exposure post general questions like this in the "general tech" forum.

 

I bought a "cheapo" cable on ebay. works great, never a flaw, best $50.00 i ever spent compared to $249

 

my el cheapo ebay cable works flawlessly, required no extensive "support" and i have lots of extra money in my pocket compared to the genuine product buyers. as a matter of fact for my vag-com diagnosis of a bad oxygen sensor and abs wheel speed sensor, the free download gave me all the info i needed, without even paying for a product license that would not have changed ANYTHING in my case. $50 vs $250 - - just make darn sure that there is SOME advantage to the genuine product or licensed copy before you spend. if you are thinking of a knock-off email me and i'll send you a link for the person i bought my perfectly adequate cable.

 

further note - i should have mentioned that the newer models like the one Jestnomen shows the ross-tech cables ARE better as the generic cables do not interface that well with the car or support the newest software. but for what i can see for the 2000 (like mine) even the ross-tech web site lists no advantages for the good cables. (except for automatically registering the product every time you plug it in - important if you ever run into licensing issues {ex. computer crash}) the genuine cables are better, and i'm sure some of the knock-offs are really crappy, but i'm still not convinced enough to spend $200 more dollars. just my 2 cents.