Which Obd Ii Scanner To Buy
Which Obd Ii Scanner To Buy
Owning one of the best OBD-II scanners is essential in the current economic climate. Cost of living has risen dramatically in recent months, and the last thing you need is bill from the mechanic. Fortunately a good OBD-II scanner can diagnose your problems, and help you figure out whether you need to visit a professional.
On-board diagnostic (OBD) scanners plug directly into your car's access port, and give you a glimpse at what's going on in your car's computer. A good scanner can identify if your problem is trivial matter that takes a few minutes to fix, or if it's more serious. Saving you unnecessary trips to a mechanic, and stopping unscrupulous types from taking you for a ride.
OBD-II/EOBD scanners work on almost all passenger vehicles sold in the United States since 1996, in Canada since 1998, in the European Union since 2004, and in Australia, Mexico and New Zealand since 2006. (Here's how to find your car's OBD-II port (opens in new tab) on North American cars, and here's how to find your OBD-II/EOBD port worldwide (opens in new tab).)
Not all the best OBD-II scanners are created equal. There are two general types of devices, handhelds and wireless scanners, with fairly self-explanatory names. Whichever type you choose, there are several high-performance OBD-II scanners that cost less than $200. The best OBD-II scanners is no longer an unaffordable luxury, but something you need to have in your car.
The Innova 6100P is the kind of OBD-II scanner that can make any amateur mechanic feel like a professional. That's certainly how we felt during our testing, anyway. This crossover device can function as both a handheld unit, while also connecting to the Innova app, and offering up a great variety of diagnostic and predictive abilities.
The $140 Innova 6100P has all the features you would want from an amateur mechanic's OBD-II scanner. Its 2.8-inch color screen displays everything from live data to fault codes to a pre-inspection I/M readiness check. It even predicts when components might fail and what repairs and parts your car may need at any given time.
If you're looking for a Bluetooth OBD-II module that is capable and free of set-up drama, the Innova CarScan Mobile 1000 is the scanner for you. In fact we'd go so far as to say it's the most useful Bluetooth scanner we've tested, and the easiest to set up. Simply plug it in and load up Innova's pair of companion apps to get things going.
Like other Innova scanners, the CarScan Mobile 1000 is able to perform a large number of diagnostic functions, as well as the ability to describe the necessary parts and repairs you might not. What's more it's predictive software can give you an idea of which components might fail and when. If that wasn't enough the app also functions as a set of automotive gauges, with a variety of presentation options.
Despite that, the Topdon ArtiDiag500 is one of the most capable consumer-grade OBD-II scanners we've seen. It can monitor the brakes, airbags and battery, run an I/M pre-inspection test and also display and graph live car data. The Android-based unit has its own rechargeable battery and can update its own software, two things you don't often see on handheld scanners.
The Bosch OBD 1300 diagnostic scanner stands out by including cables to connect with pre-1996 Chrysler, Ford, GM and Toyota cars. It can get heavy once the 6-foot extension cable is attached, but the OBD 1300's small size hides its powerful range of abilities.
Unlike many handheld diagnostic scanners, the Bosch OBD 1300 doesn't get power from your car's OBD-II port. Instead, it uses AA batteries or your car's cigarette lighter to power its large color screen, which shows graphing data clearly.
The scanner's database holds details on 26 million repair suggestions. It can check the anti-lock brakes and air bags on most cars released from 1996 to 2013, monitor the charging system and battery and run a pre-inspection emissions test. You'll need