To share the cost, a couple of friends and I are going in partners to purchase a professional quality OBD II/CAN code reader. Must be internet updatable and have as many whistles and bells as practical.

Any suggestions?

i am interested in this as well. lightly used would work for me, provided there were no internal problems with the unit.

What do you plan on doing with it? Most code readers are pretty simple and only marginally helpful in fixing problems. Reading data, Bi-directional controls and flashing modules are all necessary nowadays. Access to OE info is vital as well- that is available in subscription form, many offer 1 day or short term access. Either an OE scanner-Best most accurate, expensive, steep learning curve. Next is the Autel Maxdas, the Snap-on scanners, there are many, check out their site Auto Enginuity is a good PC based unit. Beware about buying Scanners online, e-bay c-list etc. There are a LOT of clones from China out there. They look VERY close to the real thing, but will fail. One last note, ALL aftermarket scanners have holes in coverage and bugs, the OE stuff is limited to one make or group and some (Chrysler!) change their scanners frequently, with little or no overlap. Pick your poison.

We just bought a Bosch OBD 1300. it's one of the few we found that will read GM's OBD 1.5 systems that was only used in 1994 and 95 on specific models. most of the Scanners ignore OBD 1.5, Ask me how I know . I t comes with cables etc for OBD 1 as well. Nice unit and not to hard on the wallet
you can read more about it here. it did the job I bought it for immediately and also told me things about my new 2015 truck that were AMAZING and mind boggling.

Scanner info

I bought a $10 bluetooth OBD-2 code reader off ebay that works with my phone. Haven't used it a whole lot yet but for the price I was willing to take the gamble.

That's what I did also. I use the Android App, Torque. The basic one is free and the advanced one is $5.

http://torque-bhp.com/

Kevin

Must be the season. I also bought a $30 one from Amazon. My brother in law has a comparable one and it has been pretty useful for the price. You can also record data while driving. Pretty cool device for the price. I'm sure they are a far cry from a pro unit a shop would have but again, for the price it's worth trying out.

I've got one of these
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008ZDY..._10&sr=8-10

It cheap and works well. Also has a cool feature of the most common fixes for the codes it finds. It is updatable w a PC and internet.

IMO, I think its going to really depend on your budget.

I bought a decent one a few years ago ( its an Inova ) that reads engine, trans, abs and SRS codes. I think it was right about $350.

Just recently found myself needing something that does A604 based electronic trans CVI cks and quick learns . So I just ordered the slide in cartridges to update my old stand by SnapOn MT2500 scanner. I've been buying cars with trans issues , and spending $100 at a crack for my local dealer to quicklearn it after I get it overhauled isnt cost effective.
They should be here in a few days and have my fingers crossed they do what I need them to do.

I bought one from sears that does ABS and DTC codes.

Anyone know of a sub $50 reader that will do SRS and PS codes too?

Anything more than $30 for generic codes is a waste of money, if you want to read abs, trans or manufacturer codes than each increment will cost more money and some of the manufacturer codes will be useless unless you have access to their definition (many are not published). Graphing can be useful but on sub $800 models are quite the eye exercise to read.
Do you NEED bidirectional? SOME cars need bidirectional just to bleed brakes, think $1500 and up.
Be very careful .......... just because they advertise 96 up DOES NOT MEAN THEY READ ALL manufacturers, ever notice that for some scanners there are no videos for domestic? One thing for sure is you cannot compare based on price mark alone.
I just went through this exercise a month ago thinking I would spend up to $800 but realized what I REALLY wanted was the $1800 unit or even the $3600 unit. The updates for some of these are $800/yr. Some will not update until you complete previous (read pay for) update. Some will not update without a PC, if you use apple, now you need to buy a laptop.
If you are sharing costs than maybe the maxidas or genisis or snapon (along with expensive updates) may be within reach?
The best advice I can think of is to do plenty of reading to try and narrow down your choice AND THEN find someone who has one and try it on a car you typically work on.
Best of luck in your search.

Yeah, "Torque Pro" for Android is stunning, just blows me away with features and capabilities. Worth 100X the price!

Rick

I need to buy a new scan tool, but I need one for one specific car, my 2004 BMW. I will need to be able to reset the oil change interval. I have been looking at the CRP-129 from Launch Tech USA (there are lookalike products on e-bay, but they are not US spec).

If anyone knows of a reasonable reader that will work on a 99 Viper, please let me know.

Looks like there are lots out there but I have this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QIU...arch_detailpage

If it's just a code reader you're after I've had an Innova 3100 that I bought on sale several years ago for under $100. It tells you the code and the meaning on it's screen and you can clear them. And it can do some very simple tests, has red/yellow/green LEDs to tell you if the car is good or not for emissions test. There are also a bunch of different symbols on the screen that are supposed to tell you the status of different sensors or systems but I just use it to scan actual codes.
I also have torque with the bluetooth sender but only really use that for the gauges and other info and never got into it much.

After literally hours of research, for what I THINK I need I ended up buying an Autel AutoLink AL319. Should be here next week so I'll see if that was a good decision or something else. One thing that did come through loud and clear from the looking I did was that buying anything from Acton was a crap shoot.

Do you know which one you have?

I would get a used Snap on Modis or a Verus pro..Next best to the factory scann tool.. But its has got to make you money.