Quote:
Originally Posted by GH85Carrera
I know I will need something for my wife's Macan soon. When I last looked the decent tools were expensive. I delayed buying one as I hoped the supply of cheaper tools that work well would appear.
So for a 2017 Macan will the Torque program and a compatible reader do the basic stuff?
My El Camino has a OBD1 port and it relays very little. Of course the 911 is OBD 0
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For the Macan (or anything German built in the past 15 years), I suspect the cheapie OBD bluetooth scanners will quickly find their limit. There are many custom OBD codes on the modern cars that will not be reset by those devices. Sure, you can read some stored codes, and that will point you in the right direction, particularly for engine trouble, but there's often some additional codes and activations that only a more premium device will handle (SRS resets, service intervals, transmission adaptation, battery registration on BMWs, the list goes on and on).
Don't get me wrong, I do occasionally use my basic OBD with torque app -- it's very good for checking basic engine parameters such as fuel trims, lambda, MAP/MAF readings, emissions readiness, real coolant temp, etc. -- but there's a whole parallel universe of [common] stuff that requires a better reader on modern cars. For example, essentially every system on my wife's 2013 Mercedes has a computer with it's own diagnostics -- everything: light assemblies, wipers, windows, mirrors, seats.... Not all of those systems throw a check engine light (which is usually reserved for the engine/emissions), but the better readers will quickly tell you what's going on and save you a trip to the dealer.
See my post above on a relatively low cost option for modern cars -- no affiliation, just a reasonably satisfied user.