VCDS to buy

[hpoolsteve]

Guys, Just a quick one,

Which eBay lead should i buy to be able to use VCDS? Its a mind field. Will be used on a 2013 Fr TDI

Thanks

 

[Munkie]

Also looking for same answer. Surely not everyone is buying the £300+ real deal kits

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Pops848]

Any Chinese cable will work with Vcds lite, well most anyway.
Problem Being is two fold

Vcds lite is limited functionality, doesn't full scan and very little coding capability

Get a cracked Vcds full program and if cable dies during coding you will kill your car.

Buy a cable, can be picked up for £240 ish

 

[Bengal]

Any Chinese cable will work with Vcds lite, well most anyway.
Problem Being is two fold

Vcds lite is limited functionality, doesn't full scan and very little coding capability

Get a cracked Vcds full program and if cable dies during coding you will kill your car.

Buy a cable, can be picked up for £240 ish

Agree with this

If the cost is too much just think of it this way you can sell your services for £10 a diagnostic locally once you get knowledge of it.

Mine has paid for itself this way.

 

[Speed-FReek]

Alternatively get something like OBDeleven which is around £50.

If you want to use any of the helper "apps" that come with OBDeleven, those work on a credit system where you need to purchase in-app credits. The helper "apps" automatically perform certain adaptation and coding tasks without you needing to know what underlying coding bytes you need to set.

You do also have the option of performing manual adaptation and long coding instead for free (no credits required) but the only difference is that where VCDS has descriptions against each of the bit values stating what they do, OBDeleven doesn't so you either blindly change settings (not recommended) or try to find a resource that describes what each of the bits do for that control module in your particular car.

 

[dodds_turbo]

For VCDS you will need the Hex-CAN cable. It's used to be sold for £270 from UK retailers like Gendan or Ilexa, you can sometimes pick them up on eBay for £150-200. I've noticed now they current cable is called Hex-v2 and is sold in 3 tiers: home, enthusiast, Pro (locked to 1 VIN, use on up to 10 VINs or unlimited). Seems a fairly pricy was to do things now, as others mention options like OBDeleven or Carista. I don't have any experience with these two so will let others recommend them.

I will say Ross-Tech have build a pretty solid and comprehensive program to use with their genuine cables. It's beats the other options for connecting to modules and getting readable useable information from them.
Overkill for simple fault-finding but for coding extra functionality and adding in OEM retrofits it's the best.