That's unfortunate. Eventually you will spend some time with the car either in a specialty shop or dealership where the diagnostic time will quickly become more expensive than the VCDS cost and the time to learn how and what could have been figured out at home. Not even considering the coding changes you could make to alter some to customize your VW.
Obviously your choice. And VCDS requires a laptop. I take great comfort in owning it, take it on road trips. Driving to Detroit two years ago I got a CEL in Ohio. Because I had VCDS with me I could determine that the code was an odd occurrence that did no harm and, once cleared (with VCDS) would not come back. Much nicer than driving the remaining 1,500 miles that weekend wondering what, if anything, was wrong.
Well I own a HexV2 which is only good for 3 VIN numbers, do you think I would limit my usage for a lousy 6 pack? A 3 VIN costs $199.00 and for 10 Vin is $299.00
100% correct
When I updated my VCDS several years ago from the old serial port style as far as I know mine is unlimited. When did they start limiting to three VIN number use? That would surely affect buying again (or as a first time purchase) as I usually have at least two VWs and a few friends.
I clearly I'd not state that it was. If you read the post's I suggested this generic reader for just scanning codes.
Your car is a 2015, it has 28K on the clock. this means your due for some service form age. Brake fluid, Trans fluid, and your coming up on a timing belt soon, you WILL need VCDS for the brake job if you want it done properly. buying this tool your going to save yourself a lot of $$$ when it comes to the timing belt and other jobs. You will need this VCDS tool if you are going to do any trouble shooting or work yourself. The ABS, Steering, Emissions, engine management, Timing belt job, glow plugs, and so on and so forth, this tool is NECESSARY to figure out whats going on with it. Not all things that go bad give a code that will tell you what you need, you have to analyze the data.
So, if you just need to scan for codes, just go to autozone or advanced, Orileys, etc..... they all have decent scanners (generic) that you can use for free, you let them keep your Drivers Licence while you use it, then you get it back when you hand over the tool. AKA you scan in the parking lot. You can use any reader to scan for codes. its just an OBD2 connection. Nothing special is needed here. Kobra is fantastic for the price, It will pull up the code and search the internet for the explanation on your smart phone.
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