ODB readers: Which would you go for?

F

FlyingTexan

Joined
Jan 28, 2017
Messages
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Location
Texas
There’s three models I like.

1) Gearwrench 7” Tablet. Very fast, comes with three years of updates, has topology

https://a.co/d/edEYTA0

2) Mucar 892BT 8” Tablet, very fast, lifetime updates, doesn’t have topology, has an AI assistant

https://a.co/d/1UwEZZt

3) Youcanic UCAN II 7” tablet, slower, lifetime updates, US based company, has topology. Has an AI assistant.

https://shop.youcanic.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopRaRgb11HuV2mIz2p44tkwl3RFyGWtibezuRCu_oVb1lULJulL

Honestly I was leaning towards the Gearbox because reviews have been great on how capable it is for the price. Three years of updates before being $150/yr after. I don’t think I’d really mind because it would still be usable without the updates and I wouldn’t need to ever update it unless I bought a new vehicle. The subscription model can be a turnoff but it tells me the model will be supported longer. The Mucar gets rave reviews by everyone but doesn’t have topology. Could be added in the future as they’ve been constantly adding updates. Problem here is nothings free in life. The lifetime updates is only for life of the product so what are the odds there’s a new product after three years when the gearwrench’s update subscription runs out? Now I’d have to buy a complete new tool.

The Mucar has a seemingly good AI integration using deepseek and has a magnetic back to store the connector which I think is a plus. It was a quad core 2.0ghz cpu and everyone says it’s very fast. Also has an integrated community for help when needed.

Then there’s the Youcanic. The most boring of them but those that have them seem to really praise the product. It has a quad core cpu that much slower than the other two and half the memory. They say it has AI that will translate any codes easily for you but can’t find any reviews of how good it is. It has the lifetime subscription included as well so back to the same worries as above but at least this is a US based company that most seem to say has excellent customer service.
 
GMBoy said:
xTool, Autel, Innova and Topdon are, in my opinion, better choices in that price range and they are known good products. Never heard of Mucar and Youcanic and I own about 30 scan tools from simple to dealer specific units.
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what do they offer at that price point that makes them better?

 
Last edited:
What do you need it to do? I recently used an Autel ML629 and was impressed by its capabilities, especially for only $100.
 
GMBoy said:
xTool, Autel, Innova and Topdon are, in my opinion, better choices in that price range and they are known good products. Never heard of Mucar and Youcanic and I own about 30 scan tools from simple to dealer specific units.
Click to expand...
30? wow. you run a small shop? that's impressive
 
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Here's mine:

Autel- for solid all-around coverage + techs use them a lot.
Topdon- deep system access without crazy cost.
OBDStar- underrated and does a lot of service functions most cheap scanners skip.
Youcanic- isn’t the fastest but it reads everything and actually explains codes without subscription headaches
 
Mucar is a no brainer. Free lifetime updates. If you want the cheaper version without the AI assistance - get the Thinkcar version.
 
I bought an ancel ad610. I only bought it to mainly back off the epb on my wife’s car when the time comes. Based off of all the crap it advertises, but doesn’t do, I’m not so sure it’ll even work.
 
Marcozi said:
As MWBF asked, what functions do you need? I've used OBDFusion for years (the company frequently updates it to keep it current), and it even allows you to capture data streams that you can load into excel.

https://www.obdsoftware.net/software/obdfusion
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Who knows. This initial one needed to read the injector rates on my 2008 Duramax. The ODB is bought for the phone and used Torque Pro with couldn’t do it. I wanted something I could use long term for multiple use cases. If you can’t predict what’s going to break then you can’t really predict what uses you’ll have. For me it’s being able to validate what’s wrong to see if it really needs to go to a shop or not. I’ll probably use on on several other’s vehicles. I went with the Mucar and it’s pretty sweet. The AI on codes is great.
 
melk said:
Autel MX900 for $454 was my choice recently.
Click to expand...
I’m wondering if I should return my Innova 5610 and order one of these. Finding too many things the Innova won’t do. As an example, wouldn’t show me wheel speed sensors on 2019 Ford Transit Connect. Couldn’t find a function to perform a battery reset after new battery install on the same car. Thankfully there is way to do it with a sequence of high beam flashes and brake pedal presses.
 
FlyingTexan said:
There’s three models I like.

1) Gearwrench 7” Tablet. Very fast, comes with three years of updates, has topology

https://a.co/d/edEYTA0

2) Mucar 892BT 8” Tablet, very fast, lifetime updates, doesn’t have topology, has an AI assistant

https://a.co/d/1UwEZZt

3) Youcanic UCAN II 7” tablet, slower, lifetime updates, US based company, has topology. Has an AI assistant.

https://shop.youcanic.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopRaRgb11HuV2mIz2p44tkwl3RFyGWtibezuRCu_oVb1lULJulL

Honestly I was leaning towards the Gearbox because reviews have been great on how capable it is for the price. Three years of updates before being $150/yr after. I don’t think I’d really mind because it would still be usable without the updates and I wouldn’t need to ever update it unless I bought a new vehicle. The subscription model can be a turnoff but it tells me the model will be supported longer. The Mucar gets rave reviews by everyone but doesn’t have topology. Could be added in the future as they’ve been constantly adding updates. Problem here is nothings free in life. The lifetime updates is only for life of the product so what are the odds there’s a new product after three years when the gearwrench’s update subscription runs out? Now I’d have to buy a complete new tool.

The Mucar has a seemingly good AI integration using deepseek and has a magnetic back to store the connector which I think is a plus. It was a quad core 2.0ghz cpu and everyone says it’s very fast. Also has an integrated community for help when needed.

Then there’s the Youcanic. The most boring of them but those that have them seem to really praise the product. It has a quad core cpu that much slower than the other two and half the memory. They say it has AI that will translate any codes easily for you but can’t find any reviews of how good it is. It has the lifetime subscription included as well so back to the same worries as above but at least this is a US based company that most seem to say has excellent customer service.
Click to expand...
You can buy code readers from $20-$3000, and the cheaper may not be able to give transmission codes or $$ depends on something else the DIY will not use? Often a lot of the $$ depends on how much vehicle-specific info stored inside? However, I find the $20 and $60 meets MY needs, and Google is my friend to give vehicle-specific answers on any codes.
 
Doesn't this totally depend on which kinds of cars you work on?

My experience is that if you just need plain old OBDII then you can get by with ONE scantool. If you need manufacturer-specific codes you often need one for each brand and sometimes more than one. And then if you want bidirectional control you typically have to cough up more money. "Free lifetime updates" only works if you bought the right scantool for that brand the first time. But even then, for example, when BMW went to Ethernet bus with the F and G series cars, scantools that did everything on the E cars will not work at all on the F or G cars.

I'm still searching for a good bidirectional scantool that will work on my 2015 Mazda and my 2020 Acura. I don't know if one exists for less than $1000.
 
bdc101 said:
I'm still searching for a good bidirectional scantool that will work on my 2015 Mazda and my 2020 Acura. I don't know if one exists for less than $1000.
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Any of the Otofix stuff oughta get you there. You can update any marque any time (within the window of free updates -- probably two years). You don't need multiple scan tools. This is sort of a myth from lower end stuff like Foxwell where you can order it with, say, just BMW loaded. Foxwell makes higher end stuff, too (I think) that will cover all makes

Otofix is just poor man's Autel
 
D60 said:
Any of the Otofix stuff oughta get you there. You can update any marque any time (within the window of free updates -- probably two years). You don't need multiple scan tools. This is sort of a myth from lower end stuff like Foxwell where you can order it with, say, just BMW loaded. Foxwell makes higher end stuff, too (I think) that will cover all makes

Otofix is just poor man's Autel
Click to expand...
So Otofix will do bidirectional testing, and manufacturer-specific codes from any make/model?

Which Otofix is that? There are 15 different models on Amazon going from $320 up to $1000.

Totally possible that I am not up to date here, trying to get educated.
 
I just bought the Otofix D1 Lite to do calibrations on my Macan's dual clutch transmission and transfer case integration resets. You can download files for pretty much any manufacturer with two years of included updates. I updated the tablet OS and Interface program without issue and then downloaded Porsche, Mazda, Ford, Toyota and Subaru files without hitting any data storage issues. It has an SD slot if you need more space. It does bidirection coding.

Check here:

https://www.otofixtech.com/vehicle-coverage/coverage2

https://www.otofixtech.us/products/...Dscq0Fys2DSaXWKvao-7lqAnEEm9GL30yPOrGYATqIbJ7

I have a dedicated iCarSoft POR 3.0 unit but it can't do many things on the Macan that I want to do.
I also have a ScanGauge II of really old vintage for basic things and to watch some parameters with driving/towing.
 
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