Help me upgrade my code scanning ability

For years, I've been getting by with just a very basic OBDII scanner. A few weeks ago, I borrowed a Foxwell from a very generous GRM'er, and suddenly I was able to do a lot more than I thought was possible with a small handheld scanner. But customer support seems to be almost nonexistent from Foxwell.

It's time for me to buy a better scanner. My fleet currently includes three Hondas and an Acura. The Launch X431 seems to be showing up in a lot of the YouTube videos that I've been watching. Is this what I want?

Launch X431 for Honda and Acura

I have a Launch scanner that covers all makes (note that their nomenclature is really confusing, and X431 is used for multiple models); this is mine. It's not the most intuitive thing ever, but it is very capable. At the price given for the one you linked to, I'd wait for Prime Day (or Black Friday, if you don't do Prime) and buy a more universally capable unit. I'm happy to let you try mine out if you like, though the next few weeks are going to be quite busy.

In reply to 02Pilot :

Thanks for the offer. 

I have a coupon for the one that I linked, and I can have it here tomorrow for $139. So, admittedly, the low price is pushing me in that direction.

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

Fair enough. I'm sure it will do what you need on those cars - I just prefer the all-in-one solution, even though it is a bit of a compromise in terms of usability. Let me know if you want to play around with the one I've got.

Oh, and check to see if whatever you buy gets free updates for any period of time. Mine came with two years, and when you look at the retail price of paying for them, it makes a big difference (like, I'm probably just going to buy a new unit when the time comes).

I like my launch but if you are concerned with customer support it's probably not the product.  I believe they have shut down their us devision, though previously all they did was tell you if you bought from an online seller they couldn't help you.

I got burned on Launch.  My wife bought as a gift, so of course she used Amazon.  I used it to the point that I filled the memory.  I couldn't figure out how to erase old stuff so I went to the Launch website, typed in my serial number and emailed my question.  I got an answer back that I had a non-supported, counterfeit unit that originated in the Middle East, hence the programming was different and was causing my issue.  At the time they told me that buying direct was the only safe option.  He said that they didn't sell on Amazon and likely everything there was illegitimate.  This was 5 -8 years ago but still proceed with caution with any modern scanner.

I actually got a response from the manufacturer, once I tracked down the website. Granted, it was in semi-comprehensible English, but it acknowledged the question and copied someone in development about making an update to the software.

I should probably check to see if that ever happened.

EDIT: I got to use the high-end Autel that my BMW indy bought earlier this year, and found it more intuitive than the Launch. It was $3k, though, so I'm not sure if the lower end units have the same interface.

What's wrong with the Hammer Store versions?

I picked up one of these a while back. Not cheap but very capable. 

I wanted something that would work for all my domestic stuff and the VW. I also wanted to be able to program keys and fobs. It will read codes from any module. My only regret is I should have spent a little more $$$ and gotten the version that will read my motorhome as well. 

FWIW, I use a Autel MaxiPro MP808K and it does pretty much everything I need it to do. I paid $560 for it on Amazon a few years ago.

What's the major delta between the $150 / $550 .. and multi thousand dollar devices?

Are the lowest price devices capable of two way (read/write) or are those limited to read only?

I bought the Foxwell NT510 elite for my BMW/MINI stuff.  It has done everything I needed and I just bought the Mercedes/Sprinter/Smart software addon for it and was able to easily add it to the device.

Support from Foxwell is slow. It takes about 36-48 hours to get a return email But they have reliably responded and help me address any issues. 

A dirty secret is that a lot of scan tools are x.431 based.

I loved the Matco scantool that I used to use, which felt like x.431 under the hood.  where I work now we have a Snap-On and an Autel, which seems like it is also x.431 bones.  The Autel is more robust but also pretty clunky to use, and I still haven't figured out how to scan only one module for codes.

If I were to buy my own scan tool it would be an Autel, probably.  They all have strengths and weaknesses, and it's unfortunate that one can't find out what those are until you use them.  Snap-On is great for Honda but not well implemented for anything European, for example.  The Matco is a lot faster and has the best data graphing capabilities (Autel is close) but it doesn't support Euro or some Japanese cars very well.  And so on.

That Topdon posted above looks like Autel.

Personal preference is to get something android based like Matco/Autel/etc and not windows based like Snap-On, or the older OTC units (they jumped to android a ways back).  And laptop based systems are just a pain in the ass to use in an actual, you know, car, but they have the cost advantage of you not needing to buy their hardware aside from a dongle.

The Topdon is a Android based. I used mine this morning to program a couple of spare key fobs for my mother's Subaru. 

Do any of these connect you to wiring diagrams like Eric O uses in South Main Street YouTube channel? If not- where can those be sourced?

In reply to OHSCrifle :

The only scan tool I know of that does that is Volvo's VIDA.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Thanks Pete. What is the source for wiring diagrams otherwise? Is that through the service such as Alldata or is it just factory service manuals? Say BMW for example.

I have access to Alldata and Mitchell... 

Personally I have had somewhat decent luck with just searching for FSM pdfs on Google.

BMW seems to take them down with authority, Subaru are easy to find, as are RX-7.  It's hit or miss.

Even from Alldata, diagrams suck.  And then there are companies like Volvo who label their diagrams with arcane letter/number for every thing, and you need to find an index to know just what the hell you're looking at.  Probably because they don't know which of fourteen different languages you read so they make one set of diagrams and language specific indexes.

Another dirty secret: the simplified diagrams from Alldata are sometimes flat out wrong.  Connector pinouts 90 degrees rotated from actual, etc.  Chased my tail a lot because of that.