Vag-com

[sam4191]

Hi guys,

I'm just wondering if anyone on here would know where/if I can get a copy of VAG-com for an affordable price? i.e. not £200 odd. lol.

Also, while I'm here, can anyone recommend any cheap(ish) mods to maybe make her sound any better, or look any better? She is a 2000 a4 2.4, in silver with 19" TSW Catalunya wheels on 225/35/19 tyres.

Thanks!

Sam

 

[aragorn]

Well if you want to stay legit, rosstech will sell you a licence for about $100 which will allow you to use a cheapo ebay lead with the full functionality.

http://www.ross-tech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=VSWR&Category_Code=VAGCOM

 

[sam4191]

Well if you want to stay legit, rosstech will sell you a licence for about $100 which will allow you to use a cheapo ebay lead with the full functionality.

http://www.ross-tech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=VSWR&Category_Code=VAGCOM

Oh right, thanks for that!
But sorry for being stupid, but what will that actually buy me, as i dont really understand it. Is that a disc with the VAG-com interface software, and i'd have to locate a cable from ebay?

 

[aragorn]

Aye basically rosstech provide a free version of vagcom to anyone, and when you buy the cheap ebay cables you usually get this free copy with it, or you can download it from the rosstech website.

The free version is quite limited in what it can do though, it will basically read fault codes and not much else.

That $100 gives you a licence key to turn the free version into a fully functional copy of vagcom.

It would be advisable to get the cheapo cable from ebay and get it all working properly with the free version, before shelling out for the licence key, and i'm sure this is what rosstech themselves recommend too if you plan to go down that route.

 

[aragorn]

hmm for some reason the forum didnt add that post to the summary on the main page...

 

[sam4191]

Aye basically rosstech provide a free version of vagcom to anyone, and when you buy the cheap ebay cables you usually get this free copy with it, or you can download it from the rosstech website.

The free version is quite limited in what it can do though, it will basically read fault codes and not much else.

That $100 gives you a licence key to turn the free version into a fully functional copy of vagcom.

It would be advisable to get the cheapo cable from ebay and get it all working properly with the free version, before shelling out for the licence key, and i'm sure this is what rosstech themselves recommend too if you plan to go down that route.

Oh, brilliant!

I will do that then! :thumbsup:

Thanks very much for your help!

Sam

 

[andybnwc]

i did not know that , excellent $100 seems good to me

 

[aragorn]

Yer its not a bad price tbh. The only issue you'll have is that you'll basically have no support. Something doesn't quite work properly and they'll just blame the hardware. But i think for an older car like the B5, that doesnt need CAN or anything fancy, it makes sense to just go down the ebay route.

 

[Fraser]

well you could look at it the other way, get the CAN lead which is fully forwards and backwards compatible - if you ever move away from Audi/VW then you can still sell for near what you bought it for

you get full support, functionality and a decent resale

stop penny pinching and get the proper kit

 

[aragorn]

I quite simply cant afford to spend £250-300quid on a bit of cable and some software. The car only cost £1200. 300quid puts a years worth of rubber on the car or a month and a halfs worth of fuel.

Sometimes penny pinching is required, and in my opinion the ebay kit does the job just fine. If you DO require the extra functionality of the full kit then $100 is a reasonable price, as its about the same as what audi would charge you for a "diagnostic". And even if i were to buy a newer car, like a B6 say, the lead will still work just fine.

Yes, perhaps by the time i have enough cash to wander off and buy a 2007 model A4 that requires CAN, then i'll be willing to spend the extra for the real lead, but at the moment, the kit i have is more than good enough for what it needs to do.

 

[Lee Goodall]

This same arguement seems to come up every month or so and at the end of the day it's all down to budget.

Personally I would do what Aragorn said and get a cheap cable, check that it works and if it's fine and you want more functions then get the licenced version.. could save you £££s.