snap on solus

[volaredon]

sorry for the "dead horse" thread but I'd like a current update on people's thoughts.

I currently have the original Brick, MT2500, came with 2001 stiff when I bought it new off the truck in 03 for ~$3500.... never could stomach the cost of an update.
last week the Snap on guy came around with the "scanner rep" pushing the newest Solus at ~$3600 Sorry I can't justify that for mostly at home use.... work has a Genisys, that seems better on GM's but I always had better luck finding what I was after on Dodges (all I have ever owned, personally) or Fords with the Brick, than the Genisys.
This week the Snap on guy had an original Solus with the 14.2 update on it and he shot me a price of $400 but when he responded to the "how much?" question, he said the price like he was posting it back to me as a question.
I have never been a "driveability" guy, mostly an "undercar" type of a wrench. I am not up on Snap on's line of scanners to know enough about them regarding the difference between an Ethos, a Solus, a Solus Pro or Ultra, or Verus or Vantage etc....

He let me keep the solus (original version) to play around with for now...
I played with it a little over teh last few days and even though everyone complains about the original version of Solus being "slow", it seems faster than the Genisys which likewise is good to 2014.
The snap on guy says that the current update that is available, will probably be the last one that the original Solus can take.

I can see a vast improvement in this Solus vs my Brick, and I don't need something for all day every day/ I will probably use work's unit 90% of the time there, just occasionally when we both need scanners at the same time, it will mainly be my "at home" machine.
This one has 14.1 update in it, and my guess is I won't need anything newer for a while/ I have been able to do what I have had to with my old Brick (that is only good to 01) for the most part until just the last year or 2, but I have had access to the one from work since so it hasn't been that much of a deal being that far out of date....

though I know this thing is all but obsolete, it is a big improvement over my Brick, definitely does more, and such, but my other scanner is an Innova something or nother and it cannot do much "at all".... and it cost my wife like $140 on sale a year ago Christmas....

I was thinking of offering the Snap on guy $300 "cash" for it, on his asking price of $400.... not stringing him out at $20/week I think he would take it.... If I can get this thing for that, would it be worth it for my intended use or should I pass?

 

[bdelmar2]

I own an otc genisys evo, it is only updated to 2011 I think? Maybe 2012, and 2010 for European.

Its not a bad scanner except for the oscilloscope module - that part was a waste of money.

At work we have a Solus Ultra updated to the newest 16.2 software.

I like the Solus a lot better, didn't at first, but the more I used it the more I liked it.

It does seem faster than my Genisys by a fair amount, but I think a lot of that is the way they connect. With the Otc it takes longer to initially get to into the vehicle, but then it never has to reconnect. The Snap on initially hooks up much quicker, but also has to reconnect to read more info quite a bit.

Not sure what going on behind the scenes to make it like this, but its something I noticed in regard to speed. Also I'm still on 4.0 operating system on the genisys and 5.0 or whatever they are up to now would probably be a little faster.

Honestly there isn't enough difference in speed on any of the newer ones to make a huge difference to me. The exception being if you shut the Otc down without backing all the way back to the home screen first it will make you go through about a 5 minute system check - that *****.

The snap on doesn't have that issue.

The main difference between the older solus and a newer one is the personality keys. Back when I bought my Otc, Snap on was just coming out with the machines that didn't need the keys, but they were really expensive in comparison, now they are not so bad relatively speaking still quite a lot more than a keyed system though, even used. Keys are a hassle.

Another thing you might want to look at is how far the Solus you are looking at can be updated. I'm not really up on the specific information for all the different versions of scanners and software they are marketing, but I do recall reading that some of the units can only be upgraded to a certain version.

Otc is the same way, but any Genisys newer than one with the black power button can be upgraded to 5.0, it just may not be as fast. They change processors now and again, but they have a disk based operating system than can be upgraded fairly easily by the end user.

We just got the 16.2 upgrade for the Solus a few months ago, it was about $1000. As far as I know you are stuck with buying them from the dealer, and can only buy the newest one.

You can get the Genisys upgrades for around $750 on ebay when they are new and down to $200-$300 when a newer one comes out.

$400 or better yet, the $300 isn't a bad deal for a older Solus off the truck I guess. That seems to be about the bottom line for an actual real scanner - around here anyway.

I am looking around for an older Modis myself. Its basically the same as a Solus, but has the Scope built in. I've seen a couple older ones on CL for $500, but those deals generally show up when I don't have the cash handy of course.

Whether or not the scanner is worth it to you right now is more or less the main question and nobody other than you can really answer that - well, we have a 50/50 shot at being right I guess, lol.

You might try looking at your local Craigslist and seeing what else is available around you, maybe even another Genisys machine - they are usually cheaper than a snap on.

But like I said, $300-$500 is about as cheap as you can get any functional real scanner. I guess that must be what they call the 'intrinsic' value.

So you probably won't find one cheaper, but you might find a little better one - newer software or a scope, or some extras like cabling or more keys - also maybe with more unlocked, you didn't mention if the one you are looking at has US, European, and Asian unlocked. Maybe Snap on only does US and Import instead of 3 divisions, I forget. Same coverage, just divided up differently.

Another thing with the OTC system, you can get Heavy Truck by unlocking the software and having the cable/cables but with Snap on you have to buy a different scanner. So if you do any of that and can find a Genisys with it unlocked it would be handy.

You do want to compare what is unlocked of course, pretty much need US and all the imports, be they euro or Asian, and maybe the heavy truck if looking at OTC.

Otc is also modular, at least in theory anyway. Meaning you can buy a Scope module, or a 5 gas analyzer, but I can tell you the scope is awful and a waste of money basically, and I've never really used a gas analyzer so not sure how helpful that would be, probably more useful in a emissions state, like California for example.

On the other hand if you buy from your dealer and it dies in a couple months you can probably get something back from him in the form of a deal on something else or whatever, if you buy of CL you would be out of luck.

Though it seems if a scanner works good its hard to kill one.

 

[volaredon]

It has both Asian and Euro though I don't/won't work on imported ****. The latest update on this scanner that I am considering is 14.4, will do up to 2014. It has 6, non recharegeable AA batteries in it, but since I know that it gets its power from the car while it is connected, so it isn't drawing from the AA's.... This scanner has a ton of keys on it, which is not a big deal at all. everyone says what a pain they are, that hasn't been the source of any problems with my current Brick/ beyond not having enough of them with it.. I have all the attachments--cables and adapters for the Brick that will all work on this unit, which is another reason I am leaning toward staying with another Snap on.
I have heard of AutoTel and a few others just very recently but have never seen them,let alone used them....

 

[volaredon]

ok let me ask this.... what is (are) the difference(s) between the regular Solus, the Solus Pro, the Solus Ultra or the Solus Edge? for home use and occasional at work use on 98% "big 3" branded cars, would I really notice much difference? What other bells and whistles would I be missing by buying this one vs getting a newer version?

I have been looking on CL and on FeeBay and see some of the other solus models (newer versions I guess) for sale that are not updated as new as this one is.... so for more upfront cost, plus then having to pay for an update sooner I don't see what good it would do me to get one of these newer ones... from what i am seeing I would be in the same boat with this unit as I would with the Solus "pro" version, that being that the current update the snappy guy has out right now will be the last one available for either of these 2.
I am not running a shop with my scanner so I do not know that I need the newest biggest baddest with more bells and whistles than I will probably be able to access....
I am a fleet mechanic for the state that I live in.... so I have the "work-bought" unit available to me "most" of the time/ unless the other guy needs it at the same time that I do.

Though the need is less frequent than cars/lt trucks, it might be nice to be aboe to do larger vehicles like the International 4900/7400 series trucks for which I have seen stuff available for some of the Snap on scanners that can do those too.... but definitely not a "deal breaker" if I get one that won't... cuz like I say I do very very few of those.

 

[dsmnickk90]

Have a solus pro with 16.4 and euro. Paid $900 for it. It does it job but touch screen would be nice. I almostill wished I saved up a little and hot am autel.

 

[toolenthusiast]

Exactly which Solus model is your Snap-On guy selling for $400? That seems like a good deal...

 

[volaredon]

(just went out to my truck to bring it in) it is a Solus EESC 310 with the 14.4 update, has the CAN adapter and the standard OBD II adapter (pre-CAN system) and probably 30 or so (just guessing) keys with it.

 

[volaredon]

never used an am autel so I can't judge...

 

[toolenthusiast]

That model is getting long in the tooth. Here's the most important question: how much is it going to cost you to upgrade to the latest software? You might find that by the time you pay for the upgrade, you would be better off buying an OTC Encore w/ one year of free updates for ~$1,200 or grabbing a Matco MaxMe for $900 and paying as-you-go for software. The MaxMe is $20/month for each OEM, $60/region, and $105/month for all manufacturers. It makes sense for home use for a lot of guys.

 

[volaredon]

well for my uses the Brick thats good to '01 is just recently not able to work with the vehicles that I needed it for.... gives you an idea what I work on. the Solus is good to '14, which is a huge improvement in its own right.... I don't need it enough at this point to have to pay as I go every month for updates.... how user friendly are those compared to this one?

 

[Two Speed]

Keep your brick around though. If you ever work on older ford stuff, the brick can view some live data on the eec-iv that the newer stuff no longer supports (new stuff just pulls codes essentially).

 

[toolenthusiast]

They're extremely user-friendly. They boot right up in a matter of seconds, they automatically identify the vehicle, and they have a 1-touch full vehicle scan to show you the codes in every module. (That's not a big deal for older cars, but I scanned a 2016 domestic the other day and it went through 43 systems).

If you're working on older cars all the time, you could have a heck of a deal by grabbing that Solus.

 

[volaredon]

the brick isnt going anywhere...... well the original one I have might, because of thumbwheel issues but I bought a 2nd brick at an auction just because of that.... minimal adapters with the 2nd one, but I didn't buy that one for those....

 

[volaredon]

well... tomorrow's Wed., snappy returns to my shop.... lets see if he accepts what I intend to offer for this unit...

 

[brveagle]

this has been a useful thread. i still rock the brick but that's because i just work on my vehicle and families vehicles, all 90's stuff. but eventually i will need to upgrade..

 

[volaredon]

this solus will do all of that, not the cartridges, but the adapters will all work with the solus.
I got this one.... tool guy took my "cash in hand" offer honestly I was surprised.