I bought a cheap Ebay/Chinese USB OBDII cable. (Please refrain from saying "Should have bought a Vag-Com" and the like.) Couldn't get it to work with my laptop. It recognizes it is connected to the car but it has problems communicating with the car. I need a diagnostic tool because my car is in limp mode and I need to find what is wrong with it. Should I go with another OBDII cable and the $99 Ross-Tech license, buy a Ross-Tech cable, or buy a V-checker Pro from ECS tuning? Or does someone know how to get the cable I have to work with my laptop? From the description, the V-checker Pro seems to do what a Vag-Com would but I don't have to lug around my laptop. Anyone tried both and have some comments on which is better? Thanks in advance.

 

Anyone? I'm sure someone has used a V-Checker Pro before. Any comments on how well it works?

 

The ultimate choice of course would be a legitimate Ross Tech VAG-COM cable. This cable/software would enable you to perform diagnostics on the entire car, not just the engine.

Looks to me like the V-Checker Pro only deals with engine-related information. If you were to come across a fault code for the airbag or ABS modules (for example) you would want something more than the V-Checker.

Think of the Ross-Tech cable as an investment. Put more money out up front, and it will pay for itself. Ross-Tech has incredible customer service and they are constantly improving their software. IMO this is the single most important tool for our cars.

You could get away with using the Chinese cable but as you noticed you had connectivity issues, and paying the $99 won't guarantee these issues will go away. You could try a different cheap cable and maybe it would work but Ross-Tech doesn't provide support for products other than their own.

 

Good advice. Thanks for the reply.