Carista, OBDeleven or vcds

[higsy98]

Looking to get one of these for my s4 (have an iphone) but I'm not sure about the pros and cons of each?

[Iwantyourcar]

Carista isn’t going to give you all of the options you will get from the others. I have it. Good for basic trouble shooting and activating hidden menus and other little options.


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[Ruthlessbeatle]

Love my obd11 used it on multiple cars and it's always been great. No bulk of a computer

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[f1torrents]

VCDS is the only option you should be looking at.

[Morritse]

VCDS is the only option you should be looking at.

This

[Neil F]

I have Carista. I does what I needed It offers customizations (there is a long list) OBD II Diagnostics and service. Everything is pre-programmed in the app. The app is OCCASIONALLY updated with new features though from what I understand our platform is not updated much. I have seen a couple new features in the 3 years I have had it. You pay annually for keeping the app updated though you have to. There is one for sale in the classified

Not much knowledge on OBD eleven. I know you can do some coding. I did not consider it because it was android only. Don’t know if that has changed

[jyim]

Carista has been great on the go. It can activate a lot of settings that are done through VCDS and you don’t need a laptop. I don’t have VCDS but the carista has taken care of all my needs so far.

[Smac770]

VCDS is the best of the three, but you'll need a Windows device to operate it fully.
OBDeleven works more fully on Android than iOS. Decent amount of important stuff is not there yet on iOS - https://obdeleven.com/en/apps-and-features And I can't stand nickle and dime outfits like their "credits".
Carista, it always sucks when someone posts DTCs from a Carista device. And it's a subscription model. Don't waste your time.

[Iwantyourcar]

I keep carista in my glove box. At any moment I can scan my car if I’m getting any sort of lights. It’s only 9.99 for the month and all done through the App Store. You can activate and cancel whenever you want. I’ve also helped out a few buddies with their audis and bmws.

I still would like to get vcds


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[Morritse]

I keep carista in my glove box. At any moment I can scan my car if I’m getting any sort of lights. It’s only 9.99 for the month and all done through the App Store. You can activate and cancel whenever you want. I’ve also helped out a few buddies with their audis and bmws.

I still would like to get vcds


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"Only $10/month?" Wtf?

[higsy98]

VCDS is the best of the three, but you'll need a Windows device to operate it fully.
OBDeleven works more fully on Android than iOS. Decent amount of important stuff is not there yet on iOS - https://obdeleven.com/en/apps-and-features And I can't stand nickle and dime outfits like their "credits".
Carista, it always sucks when someone posts DTCs from a Carista device. And it's a subscription model. Don't waste your time.

for vcds what do you have to do to use it?

[OliNix]

OBDeleven is great, the next gen works with iPhone flawlessly.

I have never use their “credits” and never will. They are only for automated routines. A Pro account is essential, but this is a one off payment.

I used to have the android version, and used to keep an old phone in the car to run it. I have just swapped to the new version and run it on my iPhone. Even though the feature list says some things are not yet supported, I have not found any restrictions in reality yet.

Best money I ever spent on a diagnostics tool (and I have many!)


OliNix
B8.5 S4 Avant - Glacier White

[jasonj1965]

vcds is the way to go for all volkswagen and audi


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[Smac770]

for vcds what do you have to do to use it?

You need a Ross-Tech cable, https://store.ross-tech.com/shop/vchv2_ent/ , and then download (VCDS itself is "free"; the licensing is implemented in the cable itself) and run VCDS on a Windows device. I use my Windows 10 laptop that sits here; I always take it with me on road trips anyway. Note, you can do scans without committing a car to the license history of the cable, but if you want to do anything like go into specific control modules to read values or perform operations, you have to commit the VIN to the license history. But at least this way you can do scans of say cars you are considering buying without burning up your licenses.

I have a HEX-NET device since that was the only upgrade path they offered for my HEX-CAN device; it allows me to access it with Safari on my iPhone and perform some level of interaction. Enough to pull codes impromptu in the field should I get a sudden light with no indication of the problem. But I wouldn't pay for it new. You'd get better results for your money from having a HEX-V2 for real work and an OBDeleven starter pack in the glove box for impromptu DTC and live data reading. I find it a bit curious that OBDeleven only provides DTC freeze frame data in the Pro version; and that doesn't even work yet apparently on iOS anyway.

[higsy98]

You need a Ross-Tech cable, https://store.ross-tech.com/shop/vchv2_ent/ , and then download (VCDS itself is "free"; the licensing is implemented in the cable itself) and run VCDS on a Windows device. I use my Windows 10 laptop that sits here; I always take it with me on road trips anyway. Note, you can do scans without committing a car to the license history of the cable, but if you want to do anything like go into specific control modules to read values or perform operations, you have to commit the VIN to the license history. But at least this way you can do scans of say cars you are considering buying without burning up your licenses.

I have a HEX-NET device since that was the only upgrade path they offered for my HEX-CAN device; it allows me to access it with Safari on my iPhone and perform some level of interaction. Enough to pull codes impromptu in the field should I get a sudden light with no indication of the problem. But I wouldn't pay for it new. You'd get better results for your money from having a HEX-V2 for real work and an OBDeleven starter pack in the glove box for impromptu DTC and live data reading. I find it a bit curious that OBDeleven only provides DTC freeze frame data in the Pro version; and that doesn't even work yet apparently on iOS anyway.

Now what is a hex-net device?

[Iwantyourcar]

"Only $10/month?" Wtf?

Yeah. 10 bones. You can deactivate the subscription right when you sign up and it’s still good for 30 days (just won’t auto renew). So far I’ve had to use it once this year.


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[Smac770]

Now what is a hex-net device?

https://store.ross-tech.com/shop/vchn_10/

[blackfunk]

They all have their uses. Carista is probably the most basic, followed closely by ODB11. VCD is in a whole 'nother league compared to the two.

I got in with Carista at beta for $20. +6yrs later its turned into the buy of the century. I still use it quite a bit though and it is my favorite of the three for ease of use. ODB11 can be a bit difficult to navigate and of course you'd better RTM for VCDS.

[higsy98]

They all have their uses. Carista is probably the most basic, followed closely by ODB11. VCD is in a whole 'nother league compared to the two.

I got in with Carista at beta for $20. +6yrs later its turned into the buy of the century. I still use it quite a bit though and it is my favorite of the three for ease of use. ODB11 can be a bit difficult to navigate and of course you'd better RTM for VCDS.

does vcds give me the option to change things like the others?

[sacandagaD]

does vcds give me the option to change things like the others?

If it can be done to an S4 using scan tools, VCDS can do it. Where it really shines is data logging, you can get really granular data on how your car is performing. That is why serious enthusiasts use it.

[blackfunk]

As sacandadaD pointed out - VCDS is really to get very granular, you can do things like change the coding region for your car i.e. if you're driving through another country that drives on the 'wrong side' and you need to dip your right headlight instead of your left light you can do so with VCDS. You can adjust just about every feature using long code format through VCDS - Carista and ODB11 only exposes either the short code version (ODB11) or the toggle yes/no (Carista), where VCDS will give you the option to change the behavior based on other options available in other countries.

[djn876]

If it can be done to an S4 using scan tools, VCDS can do it. Where it really shines is data logging, you can get really granular data on how your car is performing. That is why serious enthusiasts use it.

VCDS is great at being able to read all of the modules and interact with them, but it is just OK as a logging software. You can do a max of maybe 12 parameters(?) and the logging frequency ends up being relatively low unless I'm missing something. Biggest benefit is logging the trans data, but there are other options for that too.

ECUTools is my favorite as you can log as many things as you want with a fairly high refresh rate. I use it to log 50 something parameters around 10-15 Hz. Even HPTuners let's you log more at a decent rate. 034s logger looks pretty good too from what I have seen.

It's a great program, but just OK for actual data logging.

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[Smac770]

VCDS does artificially limit the number of PIDs tracked to 12. I've asked them to up this; we'll have to see if they ever do.
The Bosch MED17 ECM on my 2.0T will only process up to 8 PIDs per transaction. Once I add a 9th PID to the logging without "UDS split", the results fail. Your 3.0T uses Simos8; how many PIDs can it process per transaction?

With 8 PIDs per transaction, if I pick 12 PIDs, they get split up into two transactions, of say 7 and 5 or 8 and 4. As such, if I could pick 16, then I'd get the full 8 and 8. Not being able to do 8 and 8 is just wasting PID slots. A bit annoying.
But it's still far ahead of OBDeleven and Carista.

ECUTool and HPTuner look nice, that Pro Link in particular. But they won't help you back the parking brake off to do your rear brakes, etc.

[higsy98]

VCDS does artificially limit the number of PIDs tracked to 12. I've asked them to up this; we'll have to see if they ever do.
The Bosch MED17 ECM on my 2.0T will only process up to 8 PIDs per transaction. Once I add a 9th PID to the logging without "UDS split", the results fail. Your 3.0T uses Simos8; how many PIDs can it process per transaction?

With 8 PIDs per transaction, if I pick 12 PIDs, they get split up into two transactions, of say 7 and 5 or 8 and 4. As such, if I could pick 16, then I'd get the full 8 and 8. Not being able to do 8 and 8 is just wasting PID slots. A bit annoying.
But it's still far ahead of OBDeleven and Carista.

ECUTool and HPTuner look nice, that Pro Link in particular. But they won't help you back the parking brake off to do your rear brakes, etc.

is there anything that i can do with the others that i can't do with vcds?

[blackfunk]

Nope.

[MarkerB]

I have ODB11, and it certainly supports long codes... and I believe it has since before this thread was started. I don't think there's any programming you can do with VCDS that your can't do with ODB11. Please anyone, correct me if I'm wrong.

However, someone erroneously stated here that the ODB11 Pro version only requires a one-time charge. It is a yearly subscription.

[Smac770]

Pro was a one time charge of $30. It's now a $30 annual subscription. OBDeleven changed that at the start of 2021.

You can access long coding, adaptations, and basic settings similar to VCDS if you have the Pro license for OBDeleven. Don't know if it has a long coding helper facet; I'm sure whatever information it my have is just a direct rip of the information that was already in VCDS.

[doughboy17]

Pro was a one time charge of $30. It's now a $30 annual subscription. OBDeleven changed that at the start of 2021.

You can access long coding, adaptations, and basic settings similar to VCDS if you have the Pro license for OBDeleven. Don't know if it has a long coding helper facet; I'm sure whatever information it my have is just a direct rip of the information that was already in VCDS.

^ This. OBD11 was a bargain when I got the dongle and Pro software (one time charge) for $80. Now, with the SAAS subscription model, you may want to compare price against VCDS.