I was looking for a OBDII scanner for all the cars I work on locally, and the stores had racks of them, but most were the LED readout.. that just spit out the codes .. and they were $150-$400.. Way more than I wanted to spend.. Then I ran across one last one that was $60..

It was a U-Scan.

Just a Plug in, with Bluetooth built in. So I read the packaging and it said it had a free app for Android or Iphone that you dl'ed,.. and synched through bluetooth.

I thought, ok great,.. It's OBDII and CAN -- It MAY give me more than just codes since it's going to connect to a computer (phones),.. and it's a fraction of the price of the others.

So I grabbed it.. and man I'm impressed.

I made a video, turned out 20 mins.. but you can easily skim through it to get the gist of what it does.

I'm sure many of you have heard/seen it, maybe have one, etc.. but for those who haven't, definitely something worth checking out:

 

edit : answered my own question

 

Never saw it

This thing is full of awesome though,.. Mainly because it's so cheap for giving you just about every readout the car has. But practically, you don't need it.. on the other hand it pays for itself just by reading a single code and giving you a "fix" from it's database for it I suppose.

If you mod your car, are into tracking, racing, etc Then it would have tons of uses with regularity. It fits in the OBD slot without getting in the way of your knee's, legs, etc...

I have an old Iphone 4 that I have permanently mounted in the car attached to my Passport Max and it can pull from that OBD plug at any time I'm curious or need it. But, I'm way into gadgets like that.. lol.

 

I'd check the reviews on Amazon carefully. What's all the talk about recurring charges to use this thing?

http://www.amazon.com/Actron-CP9599-...owViewpoints=1

 

Well people who review tend to leave them when they have problems.. we know that,.. then you have those who just LOVE it and rave about it.. Not much middle ground in the review arena. I tend to review most everything I buy good or bad as I use reviews in my research process before I buy most things..

Now this was an impulse buy, sort of.. I didn't research diagnostic tools -- I merely needed one , (not for the 350).. , and this was the cheapest by a mile at my local auto shop.. $60 compared to $100-$400 depending on what you bought... as I said I had a hunch it might have more capability since it's sort of in the 21st century being tied into a computer, with software that can be changed/updated constantly, etc.

I read the reviews, and most charge talk was just wrong.

This is how it works,..

You buy the unit, about $60.

It works without paying any more money.. but for the "live data" that I showed in the video.. you have two options.

1) about $6-$7 to buy a license for ONE vehicle,..or
2) $15 or so to buy a license that will work on every vehicle.. (unlimited).

That's it.

Some reviews talk about how this was $125, and then you spend twice that on purchases.. huh? Maybe 6 months ago+ they had a diff. scheme with their pricing, but it's two flat charges,.. one time, no more. I personally didn't mind spending $75 with the unlimited for what this does, and it's already paid for itself two times over with 3 vehicles I've pulled codes and used the live data to help get to the root of an issue that may have otherwise taken hours.. So I could throw it away now and it would have been worth it.

I've checked my billing and there aren't any "additional" charges besides the single charge to give me unlimited vehicles. The company wouldn't stay in business very long if they were scamming people with multiple charges for the same thing. There isn't even an option to buy anything more after you buy the license..

I think a great deal of the problematic reviews, frankly, are due to user error. I noticed quite a few negative reviews that were basically that they couldn't get it to work, and then blame the unit.. especially those using Iphone's.

Bluetooth is an easy technology to use.. and not a lot can go wrong with it. -- But,.. it can be a little fickle when pairing the device the first time. For people who aren't technically inclined I can see where they couldn't get it to work.. then of course blame the device and not their own incompetence.

It didn't give me any issue.. Plugged it into the OBD port.. dl'ed app,.. opened app,.. paired with phone.. app recognized the vehicle .. done.

I am not trying to get other people to buy it, just posted this to show people what's out their for cheap. I had not idea this kind of thing was available to see 90% of the vehicles ECU live stats for $60... and I'm sure others are the same way.

I basically knew code readers existed, but my impression were they were fairly standard in giving you a readout of the code.. and at best a lookup of what it meant.

Which is what this device does without buying anything. It's a code reader , fully functional even if you don't buy the $7 or $15 license for the live stats of MAF/ fuel trims, intake temp, coolant temp, engine load calc, O2 sensor voltage, alternator voltage, etc etc..

 

Interesting tool!

So how does it work with the additional upgrades?
You get them through their website, or email them?

Im willing to pay for the add-ons as long as they will work, i can use this for my Z as well as for the Infiniti.
The price for the ABS read-out is a bit high imo.

 

I bough the elm 327 off ebay after seeing member taiwanese using it. It was like 12 shipped and works with various phone apps. so far it has been easy to use.

 

I bought the ELM 327 last year. It took me a while to figure it out since I normally don't use BT and had to learn from scratch. Finally got it to work but I haven't done any real testing on it.

I have a Samsung S3 phone that I use with the app.

 

damn autocorrect on my phone...member was Taywan! not taiwanese

 

lmao! I knew who you were talking about.

Cux, did you have anyone in the car with you when you tested your Z with this scanner?

I'm trying to "guess" the weight of the Z with my weight and a tank of gas.

 

$9.99 shippedf from EBay and Works great.

 

sadly i havent driven my z in 6 months....

I used it in the mini cooper and was getting questioned by the wife.....she was like WTF are you doing, you silly! Put it in her 335i too.

I would start at 3200lb, 8lb per gallon and then your weight. That would be ballpark enough.

 

Ha! My Z has been hibernating for 6 months! Might be another 2 weeks or more before I take her out of the garage.

Now that I think of it, I should test it on the new Caravan.

Thanks for the numbers. I threw in 3500 lbs to start when I was setting up the Z profile.

 

Just bought the elm 327 from ebay for $12 much better than the $100 Firestone wanted to plug it into their system!