OTC Genisys (question)

[akbrazil]

HI ALL!! I am new to this site, I have read some of the posting and found some very useful info and I thank you guys for that.

I am one of those guys who love working on my own car. I have three cars (nothing fancy) and one project car that's still in the works.

I don't work for a mechanic shop nor have I ever gone to a automotive school. I have learn just by doing things myself with trial and error. I have already built 3 engines and done countless repair jobs on my own.

Anyway....
My question is about a scan tool. I have try many generic OBD2 scan tools and even had my hands on a autel al619 just a few days ago which I was very disappointed with and sent it back the very next day. I came across a Genisys with 3.0 software 2008 domestic and 2005 european, heavy duty and 2008 ABS/SRS for a very good price (under 200 bucks). From what I heard these units from there time where great tools and for someone like me who doesn't need all the high tech stuff but the ability to read all codes, monitor senors and some minor calibrating I think it may be a prefect fit.

I notice that it has the black power button so its the older model with the smaller memory. I think that model also has a slower process (which I don't see that being such a big issue for me). It doesn't have the smart cable but it does come with a bunch of chips (6 in total).

What do you guys think about this purchase??
How upgradable is this unit (being that it fairly old)??

My main problem is price. I can't afford those high tech newer models so a used unit in good working condition would work best for me.

Any input would be most appreciated.

Thanks again.

 

[K-Dog]

I HAD a Matco MD-1,000 which is nothing more than a rebadged Genisys.
It was really great for domestic stuff, hit and miss on Asian, and just short of worthless on European. Super easy to use. Pretty rugged.
If you are working on "older" ( late 90's early 2000's ) domestic stuff for $200.00 it would be a easy home run.

 

[shockwave]

The problem is genisys is outdated for a lot of needs today and can be very slow for a scanner you need bicontrol these days and a solus or autel works great but can be slow a simple odb2 Bluetooth with software helps out and cheaper than most out there

And live data and there rates are key where my solus ultra is slower than my old Otc nemisys on love data refresh rates

 

[svocharlie]

I have a Genisys similar to yours but with red button. Mine is updated thru 2005 and it works great for my needs. I am a diy weekend car guy and work on late 1990's and early 2000's cars. Great for ford, Lincoln, GM, Jeep and some Toyota. Not good for VW. Recommend for $200 or less. Be aware the cost to upgrade coverage years is very expensive.

 

[Greg85mcss]

I've had the genisys in my old & current shops & went to a 2 day training on using it. They can do some pretty cool stuff when everything is working right but both have been glitchy. They also take some time to get used to how to navigate. As mentioned before I like the live data much better than the solus. Also it's easy to activate things like sensors & window motors manually for troubleshooting. I'd give it a shot for that price as long as you get the direct cable so you don't have to rely on Bluetooth.


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[dclassical]

I have a Genisys similar to yours but with red button. Mine is updated thru 2005 and it works great for my needs. I am a diy weekend car guy and work on late 1990's and early 2000's cars. Great for ford, Lincoln, GM, Jeep and some Toyota. Not good for VW. Recommend for $200 or less. Be aware the cost to upgrade coverage years is very expensive.

I also have the Genisys (and the Nemisys though this one stopped working and I never had time to look into it).

It is a good unit, with some bidirectional controls which were useful to me. My version (bought new) includes ABS, Airbag, Transmission, ...

Mode 6 is supported but gives you raw data.
Graphing is nice.

However I only have one very old flashdrive to transfer data to a PC and the software was never good (in my opinion) and does not work on my newer PCs. I always wanted to see how their data was saved to have my own visualization program.

I think that for $200 it could serve you well if your vehicles are supported. Yearly updates are expensive.

 

[akbrazil]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

Here is another question.
Since this is an older unit - how far can I go with upgrades to get it todays level of car tech without needed all the fancy stuff. Basically what i am trying to say, the newer genisys have the ability to scan cars that are within our present year. Can this older unit be upgraded to do the same or will I hit a wall and be stuck with early 2000's year vehicles??

I've seen software upgrades on eBay for about 150 bucks that can upgrade the operating system to a 5.0. I have also found updates on the software for domestic and european cars for a few hundreds. Will these updates work or is this unit too old for that???

 

[bdelmar2]

The black button can't be upgraded to 4.0 or 5.0.

I haven't actually tried, but from my reading this is what I gathered.

The black button is pretty slow in any case, and even if it would run the newer software it would be unusably slow I'm sure.

I wouldn't spend anything on a black button (they are pretty old), save the money and put it towards a red button at least, or better yet an evo.

I have the evo with 4.0 and its fairly comparable to the snap on solus ultra we have at work. Not quite as handy as its larger, maybe not quite as fast but close, not as much info on euro, or at least the Volkswagen as mentioned earlier.

Tried to avoid euro stuff until I started at this shop and have mostly used the snap on to scan them, but it wouldn't hook up to a vw recently and my evo did, but I did notice a difference in what I could look at.

 

[akbrazil]

The black button can't be upgraded to 4.0 or 5.0.

I haven't actually tried, but from my reading this is what I gathered.

The black button is pretty slow in any case, and even if it would run the newer software it would be unusably slow I'm sure.

I wouldn't spend anything on a black button (they are pretty old), save the money and put it towards a red button at least, or better yet an evo.

I have the evo with 4.0 and its fairly comparable to the snap on solus ultra we have at work. Not quite as handy as its larger, maybe not quite as fast but close, not as much info on euro, or at least the Volkswagen as mentioned earlier.

Tried to avoid euro stuff until I started at this shop and have mostly used the snap on to scan them, but it wouldn't hook up to a vw recently and my evo did, but I did notice a difference in what I could look at.

Oh wow!! Damnit!! I already purchased the unit.
So there is really no way of updating it for new model years??
Upgrade to 4.0?
Upgrade domestic, asian and european for 2012?

The unit currently does up too
2007 domestic
2005 asian
2005 european
2008 abs/srs

 

[akbrazil]

What about, if you hook this scanner to model years that passes what the unit is capable of scanning - will it still scan and just not have the full features of the upgraded software?

 

[bdelmar2]

It will still do generic obdII yes, at least for vehicles that you have the chips for.

Not sure when they quite making the keys/chips, or how far up the old ones will still work.

Could get the smart cable, but those are about $250.

I read a little on otc's tech site, it might be possible - but not recommended -to upgrade to 4.0. Seems there varying opinions on that.

Really wouldn't put any more money in that scanner.

Scanner itself was around $200, 4.0 upgrade is prolly going to cost around $200, cable $250.

So you would have @650 in an old scanner.

A quick look on ebay gives:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OTC-Genisys...:g:atkAAOSwunJWEu0N&item=291676838266&vxp=mtr

That one is $799, probably cheaper ones available, that was just the first lower priced one that popped up.