Looking for a Cheap Scan Tool

Question

Hi...I have a question....Which diagnostic scanner that I can buy for myself that doesn't cost an arm n leg.....a friend of mine bought a Snap on scanner n costs 7 thousands and he has to pay few thousands just to have it updated every couple years. I saw one of you YouTube videos where you used a scanner on a vehicle...I think it was a Innovation or something like that. So what's the cheapest car scanner that I can get and you can update it yourself ??? Thanks

Dan · Accepted Answer

Personally I think all of these SnapOn and BlueDriver scanners are a ripoff.

From my understanding of things, There are 4 main categories of scanners:

OBDII - These scanners are the cheapest and the most basic. They're used to check what code has triggered a check engine light, about 85% of the time (unless it's a high-tech car) it's all you need.
4 System Scanners - These go a bit further and "enhance" the basic OBD-II capabilities with the ability to do an in-depth scan of additional systems (usually ECM, ABS, SRS and AT).
ALL System Scanners - These are already serious scanners and have the ability to access a lot of different systems in addition to regular OBDII, IMO, these are the best value for money.
Bi-Directional Scanners - If you do serious diagnosis, these can scan all of the systems, do procedures and testing of components, these are what diagnostic professionals need.

On regular cars, 90% of the time, a regular OBDII scanner is all that you need, something like a ThinkCar ThinkOBD 100 (35$) it's all that most people really need, and they usually have lifetime updates and warranty.

The Foxwell NT-624 Elite, at under $200 it's a decent all-system scanner, they often also have lifetime free updates - it's basic but it's almost a must if you have some European car and you need to check what's triggering the "Steering column electronics" system fault message or things like that.

If you are looking for a cheap Bi-directional scanner, the Launch Diagun V ($750) is, IMO, a bargain although it has free-updates for only 2 years - once that period runs out you can still use it on cars that are included in the last update you installed onto it.

I saw Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics on YouTube use it, and for the price it's quite impressive. Recently he began using ThinkCar ThinkTool PROS ($1,000) (I also remember scotty using it once in a video) and it's a more powerful tool that also has 2 years of update but 5 years of warranty. and that's already a super serious professional tool.

(the prices I mentioned are what I currently saw online, check all of the info on each scanner before you choose one, I could be wrong / mistaken. 🤷‍♂️)