Scan tool Comparison | Which one is BEST for YOU? Professional Grade!

Hello @the car care nut can you tell me which tool I can buy that just will show me the transmission pan temperature read out? I'm on a budget please

Topdon and think are both copies of Launch. Both has launch software and those are like cheap versions of Launch

Please review the LAUNCH Elite for TOYOTA (about $100-140) Toyota specific... has toyota specific functions.

I want the “Top Don” just because of that cool name.😎

Snap on scan tools suck

Shouldve tried Autel also

I purchased the 2024 Launch X431 CRP919EBT Elite Wireless Bidirectional Scan Tool, And for the price I was very disappointed with the manual. It didn’t match up with what I was seeing on the scan tool. It asked me to go to setup button but there is no setup button on the scan tool. Neither the manual or the tool have any model information. So I don’t really know if I have the tool I purchased.
When I needed to enter information during setup this big keyboard would pop up and cover the box where I needed to enter the information. It was very poorly done and very frustrating. It was also advertised with 24/7 support but no support information was in the manual.
Now I have to say it was very fast pulling information and the codes out of my 2006 Pontiac Solstice. I tried to get 3 of the small hand held cheap scanners to pull the codes with no success.
But this unit had no issues and it’s bidirectional and wireless….

YOu know, I can justify the Snap-On being so immensely expensive, considering that it's got all the features to do about 99.99999% of things you could ever want to do to a car and being from an actual American Company, and being actually MADE in America . . .

But I cannot get behind the "You'll Own Nothing And You'll Be Happy" mindset they have about buying what amounts to basically a subscription plan for the damn thing. Thats not acceptable at all.

Even if I HAD the money and could more than justify it I would not do that based on principle alone.

As I understad it, Autel will lock out you features if you do not renew the subcription for $700 / year. Very deceptive. Stay away from Autel!

woiuld thie d8 scan mercedes transmission codes

As a former Hunter employee, hearing you say ADAS made me jump out of my seat

apollo D9 Iveco is not...included

Topscan also gives you tsb and common problems
It costs 60 dollars
Subscription is 50 dollars a year after the first year.

Hi thank you in advance. How do you think about X tool d7w .

did he say an Xtool D8 doesn't have special functions?

It's called an NDA. If you would have stated that Thinkcar confessed to any partnership or affiliation with Topdon, Thinkcar may be sued. NDAs are quite prevalent these days.

Will any of these clone a 2013 Subaru WRX STI ECU?

I need a cheap on price but can rewrite change vin numbers you you swap ecu ecm

sadly xtool D8 did not communicate with my 1998 mercedes e 320 and no help from customer service. waste of about 760/-plus. you had very good review of the tool.

What about launch and autel?

5K for the Snap-On? I'll just go get another car!

chinese companies routinely copy each others intellectual property

Can you post a link to your table? Please?

My problem with ThinkCar is they don't support their shit for very long. My cheap bluetooth dongle no longer works after a couple years because they haven't updated the app or something. No way I'd spend $500+ on another tool from them.

When you say the scan tool will still work without a active subscription. I have an Autell MX808 and lost the ability to connect to DODGE. I guess it has to connect to a secure server to unlock the security on the cars ECU. Do these do that also?

Now they do have the Xtool D8BT out now that is wireless. But it is like 50 bucks more.. I keep looking at the Xtool cause I need something better since I’ve been working on a lot newer cars and would like to be able to do programming and coding..

What if you didn’t get the snap on updated, then after a few years, someone wanted to update it, would it completely catch up to date between the years you missed? Or just the year you’ve updated to ?

As a former dealer tech, I've bought and used Snap-On diagnostic tools for OBD-I and OBD-II vehicles. My first unit was bought new and ran me over $2500. I had the unit updated regularly for $500/yr and bought the supplemental foreign car OBD-I adapters. After a few years, Snap-On made the tester obsolete and it could not be updated for newer vehicles. It was a wired tester only and used alkaline batteries or powered from the DLC. It was a very good tool and I kept it after it was obsolete to have OBD-I test capabilities. I then bought a new tester for $2500 that was wireless and had a bluetooth DLC feed to the main unit. The scanner was a Li-Ion battery that recharges. This 2nd scanner was very good with many functions not available with others, yet it did not program modules. Again, after a few years of doing $500. updates, this new scanner was made obsolete and could not be updated. Snap-On also does not keep updates available for a given year after that year passes. I missed the last two years of updates due to cost, and later I could not ever purchase the last updates that I missed for the prior years. I kept this obsolete tool also, but it is not able to be used for anything past 2013 models. I find Snap-On tools are made obsolete too quickly, despite computer software update potential. After the expense of these two tools, I believe these units have to give the buyer more years of use with simple updates instead of the high cost of a whole new tool!!! I had expected a longer use life from Snap-On Tools after paying what I did to buy these two scanner diagnostic tools.

Autel didn’t respond to u because unlike topdon and xtool autel doesn’t need ur help to sell their products because they are the best even better than snapon in my opinion

Im a tech student with the xtool d8. They now make a wireless version, and you can get it for around $500. I havent seen the snap on readers in the shop do anything mine couldn’t, especially for 10 times the price

Autel, you messed up

The Snap On gives you something none of the others give you and that is support that you can count on, you have a Snap On dealer who stops by your shop every week, all of them will require you to have a subscription to stay current. As for the comment about things you don't need, sure you don't need them until you need that function. Just because you may not use some functions often does not mean they are a waste of money.

There are a lot of complaints on these cheaper brands about lack of customer service.

How about OTOFIX D1 ?

the snap on does not do maserati were you can get a far cheaper model that does, launch is about the best out there now

Firstly, great video! Question for you please: how are less common commands (commands specific to certain make & model) handled with these bi-directional tools? Do the car's modules present a list of available commands that are displayed on the scan tool so that different cars & modules will yield a different list of available commands, or is the scan tool pre-programmed with a fixed list of commands that various cars may or may not support? For a specific example, I'm looking for a scan tool that can command my Chevy Bolt EV to run the transmission fluid pump manually as part of the drive unit fluid fill process, and so far the scan tools I've looked at don't specifically show that command available for this car. Any help would be appreciated, thank you in advance!

The D8 seems like the perfect scan tool for me.

That snaoon tool is a terrible investment. Definitley not worth its own weight in the long run. Warranty is rather mediocre compare to all thes other cheaper brand tool.

Hello again car care nut. Got a question about the topdon. Can you verify if there scan tools can program and or code ecm/bcm for lexus and toyota?

Thinkcar, topdon, launch, kingbolen, are all under the Launch brand

Snap on most bullshit scan tool ever... Throw your money.rate just 3star only...

Wired in my opinion also has it's place and comes in handy when it comes to ECU programming. Also it is generally faster too. I don't trust ECU programming using wireless. One glitch or drop connection and your ECU can get corrupted and destroyed. Wireless overall is better but when it comes to programming costly items like ECUs I like using wired just for that. Less can go wrong. Obviously if you had to choose one go with the wireless as how often do people program ECUs.

When you use the connector, does it still require battery?

will it do a active test to demand max fuel pressure on the cp3 injection pump to test?for a 2005 gmc sierra 2500hd with a 6.6L duramax?if not do you know what bidirectional scanner will? thank you

I have the xtoold7....good enough for a shade tree mechanic 😊

ThinkCar... Yeah... I ordered a ThinkDiag 2 from them, paid extra for expedited shipping. 2 weeks later, tracking info still showed nothing, so I contacted their support. Daily. For 3 days. They gave me updated tracking info showing exactly what the tracking info I already had was showing: they still hadn't shipped. I asked for my expedited shipping to be refunded and they ignored me for a couple more days until I asked to cancel the order. They immediately said they'd check with their shipping department and I asked if it's not shipped yet can we just cancel the order, to which they responded affirmatively. The next morning, I woke to a message from them stating that they had finally shipped my tool. Over 3 weeks after I ordered it. With expedited shipping.

I was LIVID! I had already ordered a different tool (which will get here Friday, while my ThinkCar tool is still in the freakin' Netherlands!!) and requested the order be cancelled the day BEFORE it was shipped!

I asked them no fewer than 5 times (cursing at them on the 5th as they had ignored the first 4) how to return the tool when it arrives as I had tried to (and been told I could) cancel the order before it shipped... and the still shipped it AFTER that request. Cursing got a response -- they're issuing a refund, letting me keep the tool, sounds like a win, right? Well, no. The tool is completely useless without a subscription and I'll be damned if I give this company another penny.

Full disclosure, I financially backed ThinkCar 5 years ago when they wanted to develop and release a TPMS tool. They were great back then, and this tool was purchased through their VIP program, something I have access to as a (former) investor in the company. Let's just say this experience has made me feel anything but important. I urge anyone reading this to stay away from ThinkCar.

Far. Far away.

Update prices XTool. D7 currently $419. D7 currently $499. Both with free ship with prime. 3 year updates free.

D 10,thumb up

As a diyer I bought an Autel but somehow the system messed up and not able to restore to original version. Autel didn’t want to help me recover before I purchased an update. But diyer don’t want spend money on update. So the scan tool become abandoned now.😢