MaxiScan OBDII Check Engine Auto Scanner - Trouble Code Reader (CANBUS) - $19.99 Shipped @ NE (was $69.99/Great Reviews)

$20.15 shipped at Amazon for those who have Amazon Prime ... link

savvy002 said:   $20.15 shipped at Amazon for those who have Amazon Prime ... link

Yes thanks for adding the link, I did see that price. Some FW'ers also get charged tax through Amazon, while other do not through NE. This also does not require a $79/year membership to ship free. Matter of choice for your situation.

See also this thread about the same unit at Amazon, other ways to get it, alternative products, and other alternatives:
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1185656
$19.99FS is a little better than I usually see it on Amazon. This is a $20-25 item, I have no idea where that $69.99 list price comes from.

Everybody who owns a car or plans to own one should own a code scanner. This $20 one will do the job fine. When that Check Engine Light comes on, your first order of business is to get the code number and google for it for your car.

I got mine (just like this one) from Harbor Freight 5 years ago. It's been rattling around various toolboxes and such, had a rough life, and works every time.

Anyone gone the Bluetooth route with Torque app from Android? Which BT adaptor did you use?

I got something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELM327-v1-5-Bluetooth-Interface-OBD2-Auto-Scanner-Adapter-Tool-TORQUE-ANDROID-/180831217676?pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&hash=item2a1a61680c&vxp=mtr

I've been using it for about a year and a half now with torque. It works pretty well but Torque does complain about bad data/connections if you ask it to test the reader. The readings I've gotten are all valid though as are all the gauges (speed/engine rpm/etc). I think its fine to use this as long as you're not using this to tune your engine or doing something that needs really accurate readings. Just make sure you buy from a reputable seller, in case it doesn't work.

hpmaster said:   
Before you fire it up, 420, you may want to note that the sale of the "compact model" has all buyer's identities hidden, there are no feedbacks for that item, so something tells me it's not worth all the tea in China, or all the "medicine" in Oakland.

Risky Purchase, No Feedbacks, ID's Hidden :( OMG!!

Just saying,

HPM.

yeah... i wont speak to the sellers legitimacy, i did not specifically order from these sellers, nor do i own the newer version. just linking whats cheap on eBay.

Also got mine about a year ago for this price. And I'll be darned if my engine light didn't come on today while driving on the highway. Scanned it when I got home---code 457, "Emissions Control/Cap Loose". Checked the gas cap, and sure enough it was not screwed on. Cleared the code, good to go.

OT. Getting the code is just the first step, and sometimes error codes require considerable detective work to figure out. My son drives a beat up, very old, high mileage Lexus. It started running rough, as if there was some misfiring going on, and the engine light came on. The code reader suggested that three cylinders were misfiring. We cleared the codes, restarted the engine, then re-read the codes. This time it indicated that a different assortment of cylinders were misfiring.

The truth was, the coil went bad on a single cylinder, and when one cylinder misfires due to a bad coil, it often messes up the engine in a way that errors are generated for other cylinders as well, even though there is really nothing wrong with them. Took a couple of hours of reading forums online to glean that info. The trick was seeing which error code came up first---it was always cylinder number 4. Turned out to be a 5 minute repair to replace that coil, problem solved. The code reader certainly helped.