Thanks Scott!
Do you have any experience with the Autel 906 unit? Your various post have led me to value much of what you have to say! I was just wondering what you thought of the 906. This particular unit seems to have everything I will ever need.
Lastly, can you suggest another comparable unit from another manufacturer that is priced a little lower?
I have been searching to see if I can locate a refurbished 906. Refurbs are sometimes a good deal!
For a vender, you may consider AESwave. They are more expensive, and you would likely have to call to order a 906 as it's not on their website. Mine was $1250 or so. They are an official US distributor with good customer service. I chose them over saving $250+ via amazon because I wanted support if I had issues. They answered lots of my questions about my 906, and helped me troubleshoot a no-communication issue with the tool on a old dodge van when I first got it. Long story short, ABS module in that van **** the bed mid test-drive.
So not a issue with the tool.
According to a thread I made when I was in the market, I got the tool mid-june of 2017, so I've had it about 2.5 years. It's my main use scanner, my secondary scanner is a generation 1 snap-on Modis, it's only updated to 2009 though. The autel came with a year of free updates, and I bought another year worth in November? Anyways I'm current on software. I will attempt to keep this somewhat organized, but expect rambling. I do all the diagnostic work at my shop, and used to help out my buddies used car dealer on the side with diagnostics. So I have an idea of what I want/need in a tool.
Very quick boot up. From holding the power button to the home screen is 5 seconds? Auto VIN works very well, and when it fails it usually does so instantly and then you just hit it again and it works. Pre-2005 is slow to ID, the cars are just slow in general. I prefer to just enter the info myself. A downside is brands like hyundai/kia, which first ask car generation, then year. If I don't know the difference between an XD and GD elantra chassis, I have to click on that model, which then displays the years, and click back if it's wrong. Doesn't take long, just annoying.
Euro coverage is great. Way better than any snap-on tool I've used. Lots of Euros build their service info into the tool, which means for some codes they have fault descriptions and trouble trees in the tool under "service manual" on the codes screen. Euros seem to auto-ID very quickly, almost like the tool looks for them first. Nissan takes the longest to auto-ID. Battery lasts a long time, I charge mine monthly. The cord is only 6 foot or so, so buy an OBDII extension cable. I got another 6 foot and a 25 foot. Saves wear and tear on your cable too.
It talks to everything, and I mean everything. 70 modules in a car, all of them. The only exception is the newer Chrysler stuff with the secure gateway module. All tools but snap-on are blocked right now from full bi-directional, I'm sure autel is trying to secure the same deal snap-on has. There are work-arounds, but they're mildly involved. I'm pretty sure 100% of Mode $6 is decoded. I can't remember a time I remember it not doing so. Obviously it does all the battery resets, steering angle resets, relearns, electric parking brake, oil/service lights, etc. Can reset adaptation memory when replacing components.
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Downsides:
The pre-2000 mazdas sometimes have missing models, run them as an equivalent ford instead. Mazda Milennia=ford probe for instance. I haven't seen one in so long I haven't got to see if they fixed the bug. Millenia was the only one I can remember being fully missing.
Data lists do not save. Accidentally hit "back" from the live data screen? The data lines you selected are now gone, you have to re-select them from the full list. Annoying when ford has seemingly 250 data pids for the engine alone.
Data pid names are sometimes too long to read fully. Hitting the (I) button on live data lists the whole name though. IMO they should let you adjust the width of the columns.
Autel does nothing to pre-1996 stuff obviously. Although some of the 95 OBDII compliant stuff would probably work if manually entered as a 96 model. Some of the manufactures were ahead of schedule and just sent 95s out as OBDII compliant.
Pre-2005 the modis is competitive. It's clunkier but I prefer it for some things. The Modis seems to load quicker while the autel takes longer on the old stuff, but delivers the same information. Modis boot-up time is probably double the autel though. Modis also asks me more questions about trim packages which annoys me. It's also a lab-scope, so sometimes I'll grab that if I need to scan and get a quick wave form. The early OBDII coverage ***** on all tools, because early OBDII stuff has crappy data available. The OEMs just didn't have that much info pre-2003 or so.
Any specific issues or questions I'll try to answer if you have them. This is just off the top of my head. I'm very happy with my purchase.
EDIT: Only thing similar which might be cheaper is the Launch X431? model I believe. I read the customer support was not as good, and it was a bit less user friendly. I got to play with one once and I liked it. But I know how to use a scan tool, so maybe it's relative.
Probably published right next to a full page HF ad. Have you seen any unbia$$$$ed reviews for the unit?
Yup. Me too. Of course I mostly work on GM's, so this one does what I need.
