Carista, advice.

[A19quattro]

I have been advised to get Carista and the VAG DPF android app as we have issues with a VW T5, EGR DPF etc. I know nothing about these things, I have heard bits and pieces about Carista on here and just ran a search which showed loads of people have it and a variety of things that can be done with it. I also have Vag-com which I use for fault codes and service light re-sets but never really got to grips with the coding side. I don't want to just buy carista to monitor a DPF and never use it for anything else, if I do get it am I likely to find it more user friendly than Vag-com and what other kind of things is it good for. Also I see from the pricing on the website, some services are free but others chargable. The app I am supposed to get doesn't seem to be listed there so unsure where I get it from, any advice greatly appreciated as I am not very 'techie' minded.

 

[pxr5]

You could also consider OBDEleven. Has apps and is easy to use, cheaper than VCDS. Android only at the moment but an IOS version is imminent

https://obdeleven.com/en/

 

[techaddict]

It's essentially a more user-friendly version of vag-com/ross-tech/VCDS software. There's an associated Carista app (for iOS and Android) from the respective stores and it's advisable to use that.
When you buy the adapter you get a month's free trial and it allows you to do much (but not all) of what you can do with VCDS cable+software without needing to code.

Pricing-wise, you can either pay per year or per week once your month-trial has ended. If you're just doing basic diagnostics then you don't need to pay for options, but to reset service indicators you'll need to have a subscription (advice: just buy it for a week when you need to reset it).

The key question is: what do you want to do with it other than just monitoring DPF?

 

[A19quattro]

I have never got into coding on Vag-com, I would like to but somehow just never got round to it. I would be keeping it anyway but just hoping the Carista would be more user friendly and I could take it away with me when I am out and about and get any readings/ fault codes etc as necessary. What else can it do I might like?

 

[techaddict]

It's definitely more user friendly as you're just pushing an icon on the screen.

The options break down into three categories really:
- Diagnose
- Customise
- Service

Diagnose is your standard OBD2 type of thing with fault codes.
Customise will depend on your car and model but is an extensive (although not complete) list of things you can do, such as change the number of indicator flashes.
Service allows you to reset service intervals, disable electronic parking brake so that you can retract the pistons and the like.

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[A19quattro]

Sounds good, it's a pity about the subscription thing, kind of makes it a bit more awkward but I think I can work around it
Cheers for the advice and info.

 

[techaddict]

No worries. The other to consider is OBD Eleven. It's like Carista but uses a credits system - you get a couple hundred credits if you're buy the product version and the modifications/service resets etc cost anywhere from 10-100 credits.

I don't believe they expire and you can purchase more at any time through in-app purchases.

The only downside is that I think the app only works on Android.

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