Hi Mart. I have the Autel unit and had it a few years now. Worth every single pound note.. One point I would make about these units and they are all pretty much the same, after you've run a diagnostic test and you get your list of things that either give a fault reading or not, the one thing I have found is that NOT every fault code will be relevant to your model. The reason for this is simple. When the manufacturers install the wiring harnesses and install the ECU's or BCM's they are all more or less programmed the same. So for example if you take a car with heated seats or heated side mirrors and other bells and whistles, the next model down will have the same electrical set up. What this means is that once you do a scan and you find there's loads of faults, my advice to everyone is to do a Reset fault codes first then run the diagnostic test to give you a true reading of the fault codes. If and ONLY if they return with the same codes, then you know full well that the car your working on has these things installed and need looking at. Always clear codes first then run the diagnostic test again to get true fault codes. I hope this helps out a bit. Also to note when you get a car to work on, you dont know that the last person bothered to reset the codes, so its always worth deleting the stored codes first anyway. 👍👍👍 As always Martin I love your content. Teza
@@classicgamer4451 As there are so many out there these days, its so easy to spend a lot of money on something you may only use on the odd occasion. I think the otofix D1 that Mart has done the review on, sounds to be around the maximum I would go to if I were looking for my first unit. There are other brands but as I've never used them, its really hard to give you good solid sound advice on what you should spend and who you go with. I do use Autel and have their MX808. When I bought this, one of the perks at the time were a lifetime of free updates. The MX808 is a powerful piece of kit but it does have its limitations. However, there has never been anything I have not been able to do with it. To give you an idea of what I have managed to do is as follows, 1: program a new ECU 2: Install a new EPS (electric power steering) unit and align the wheels, 3: Reset service and Engine management lights and add new service intervals, 4: Reset oil lights, 5: Bleed brakes with ABS, this unit is excellent at doing this and the list goes on. It may like I am trying to sell Autel, but I can only speak freely and truthfully about the products I have used. I did like the look of the Otofix unit Mart was show casing and was particularly interested to see how much quicker it was when starting up. However once the unit has been used and updated a few times, I wonder how much quicker it would be after a fair few updates. The one thing I have had to do to my Autel unit do is increase the memory size which meant simply buying a new micro SD card. Whatever brand you go for, you need to ensure that the memory capacity is either huge or there is the facility to use a larger sized micro SD card, something along the lines of 256GB. Finally In terms of price you do need to spend anything upward from £450 to £700. Believe it or not this is cheap. I've looked at some really good kit and if I had the odd £3,000 spare, I would have treated myself but then lost out of the free life time of updates I have now. I apologise for a long winded answer but I hope this gives you a clearer picture of what you need to be looking for. Just to add that I am NOT being paid to review any AUTEL Kit, its just my own opinion and what I like and have been using for a few years.
So, the reality is that in order to fix or endeavour to fault find most cars nowadays you need a scanner with bi-directional capability as a minimum is my guess. As without you cannot really identify the area of root cause, as all you will get on the car dash is a warning something is wrong, the scanner will then home in on the faulty area and if it can be bi-directionaly controlled to fine tune the to the fault area, where you can conduct multimeter tests etc... if needed. (e.g window motor or switch), keep up the excellent vids.
Martin just brought a launch x431 pro plus diagnostic off ebay and it could not connect to the car and it could not find the vin number and its said it had topology mapping MODULES did not work it's gone back to ebay 😊
Hi Martin., It looks a good tool but the Xtool A30M can do all of this for £180. Maybe you can do a review on that, I have one and they are spot on. Difference is you use your phone or tablet as your viewer. You only get a Bluetooth dongle. And its bidirectional. Does programming for injectors etc and can email report from your phone/tablet. Oh and free updates for life 😊
Agreed, managed to get the A30M (bi-directional capbilities superb) for £150 and it's a cracking bit of kit, I leave it in the car, you dont need to lug a larger tablet around etc......just use your phone, assuming it has the memory of course, but, not to forget, the larger tablet units like the D1 and others (for a price) do provide extra functions that the A30M doesn't do ALL, coding, programming and immobiliser key stuff, FCA Auth...... but for the DIy or everyday carry A30 superb and great value.
Please help. I've just bought this product but it didn't come with any instructions on how to connect it to the internet. Tried help downloads but they don't work and have got no response from customer service. You can't actually use it without updating it but how do you connect the thing to your hub?
Fixed it- Tablet has limited range so wasn't picking up wifi like the laptop and mobile was. Moved it closer to the hub and the connect to wifi drop down suddenly appeared.
Ottofix...clever name..hehe. does it allow you to program ur cars vin into a new ecu/pcm? Or program keys? Just curious. Again, thanx for sharin martin
@John Parish Audi are in a world of their own when it comes to scanners, I have a 53 plate , and I had to get a dedicated scanner for VW/Audi for it to tell me which abs sensor had gone , it was only £40 but does the lot
@@retrorestore I mean the dongle that plugs into the OBD mate? Do u have to charge it with the USB cord or does it get its charge from the car when u plug it in?
Thanks mate, the review was great Martin I went out and bought one after watching it. The tool is brilliant, just didn’t say anything in the instructions about changing it
Hi Mart. I have the Autel unit and had it a few years now. Worth every single pound note.. One point I would make about these units and they are all pretty much the same, after you've run a diagnostic test and you get your list of things that either give a fault reading or not, the one thing I have found is that NOT every fault code will be relevant to your model. The reason for this is simple. When the manufacturers install the wiring harnesses and install the ECU's or BCM's they are all more or less programmed the same. So for example if you take a car with heated seats or heated side mirrors and other bells and whistles, the next model down will have the same electrical set up. What this means is that once you do a scan and you find there's loads of faults, my advice to everyone is to do a Reset fault codes first then run the diagnostic test to give you a true reading of the fault codes. If and ONLY if they return with the same codes, then you know full well that the car your working on has these things installed and need looking at. Always clear codes first then run the diagnostic test again to get true fault codes. I hope this helps out a bit. Also to note when you get a car to work on, you dont know that the last person bothered to reset the codes, so its always worth deleting the stored codes first anyway. 👍👍👍 As always Martin I love your content. Teza
Nice tip Tez
Hi Terence can you recommend a good bi directional scan tool that won't brake the bank 👍
@@classicgamer4451 As there are so many out there these days, its so easy to spend a lot of money on something you may only use on the odd occasion. I think the otofix D1 that Mart has done the review on, sounds to be around the maximum I would go to if I were looking for my first unit. There are other brands but as I've never used them, its really hard to give you good solid sound advice on what you should spend and who you go with. I do use Autel and have their MX808. When I bought this, one of the perks at the time were a lifetime of free updates. The MX808 is a powerful piece of kit but it does have its limitations. However, there has never been anything I have not been able to do with it. To give you an idea of what I have managed to do is as follows, 1: program a new ECU 2: Install a new EPS (electric power steering) unit and align the wheels, 3: Reset service and Engine management lights and add new service intervals, 4: Reset oil lights, 5: Bleed brakes with ABS, this unit is excellent at doing this and the list goes on. It may like I am trying to sell Autel, but I can only speak freely and truthfully about the products I have used. I did like the look of the Otofix unit Mart was show casing and was particularly interested to see how much quicker it was when starting up. However once the unit has been used and updated a few times, I wonder how much quicker it would be after a fair few updates. The one thing I have had to do to my Autel unit do is increase the memory size which meant simply buying a new micro SD card. Whatever brand you go for, you need to ensure that the memory capacity is either huge or there is the facility to use a larger sized micro SD card, something along the lines of 256GB. Finally In terms of price you do need to spend anything upward from £450 to £700. Believe it or not this is cheap. I've looked at some really good kit and if I had the odd £3,000 spare, I would have treated myself but then lost out of the free life time of updates I have now. I apologise for a long winded answer but I hope this gives you a clearer picture of what you need to be looking for. Just to add that I am NOT being paid to review any AUTEL Kit, its just my own opinion and what I like and have been using for a few years.
@Terence Cottington many thank bud it's nice you give good answer 👍
Xtool a30d, 75 bucks at Aliexpress. All makes, all modules. Inside is 400$ tablet. Lifetime free update! No competition.
great stuff! thanks for showing us how indepth things are now with a lot newer cars!
Nice one Martin enjoy watching your videos watching from South Africa
What a cracking piece of kit Martin. Great vlog 👍🏻👍🏻
So, the reality is that in order to fix or endeavour to fault find most cars nowadays you need a scanner with bi-directional capability as a minimum is my guess.
As without you cannot really identify the area of root cause, as all you will get on the car dash is a warning something is wrong, the scanner will then home in on the faulty area and if it can be bi-directionaly controlled to fine tune the to the fault area, where you can conduct multimeter tests etc... if needed. (e.g window motor or switch), keep up the excellent vids.
Great review Martin nice bit of kit 👍👍👍👍
Very interesting video Martin
Great video, I wish I could afford a decent scanner.
Nice bit of kit Martin.
This is a great review but I'll be sticking with my Topdon (bought purely on the strength of your review).
👍👍👍Thank you
Martin just brought a launch x431 pro plus diagnostic off ebay and it could not connect to the car and it could not find the vin number and its said it had topology mapping MODULES did not work it's gone back to ebay 😊
There's a lot of fake ones out there.
Hi Martin.,
It looks a good tool but the Xtool A30M can do all of this for £180.
Maybe you can do a review on that, I have one and they are spot on.
Difference is you use your phone or tablet as your viewer.
You only get a Bluetooth dongle.
And its bidirectional.
Does programming for injectors etc and can email report from your phone/tablet.
Oh and free updates for life 😊
Agreed, managed to get the A30M (bi-directional capbilities superb) for £150 and it's a cracking bit of kit, I leave it in the car, you dont need to lug a larger tablet around etc......just use your phone, assuming it has the memory of course, but, not to forget, the larger tablet units like the D1 and others (for a price) do provide extra functions that the A30M doesn't do ALL, coding, programming and immobiliser key stuff, FCA Auth...... but for the DIy or everyday carry A30 superb and great value.
A30m is £100 now
And a30d 50.-
Martin I was looking at them on ebay mate can do key coding 😊
£600! No cost of living crisis in Otofix land! Great review Martin, but Topdon wins for us poorer diy-ers.
I'm saving up for that kit
No need, go for d1 lite, 90% same. Price 250 at Ali sale
I bet garages hate that we can purchase these things lol 😮😅
Nor coz alot of people still cannot read live data 😂😂😂 all the gear no idea😅
@@kellytaylor3134dont take long to learn, its not rocket science 😂👍🏼
Please help. I've just bought this product but it didn't come with any instructions on how to connect it to the internet. Tried help downloads but they don't work and have got no response from customer service. You can't actually use it without updating it but how do you connect the thing to your hub?
Fixed it- Tablet has limited range so wasn't picking up wifi like the laptop and mobile was. Moved it closer to the hub and the connect to wifi drop down suddenly appeared.
There you go.
Ottofix...clever name..hehe. does it allow you to program ur cars vin into a new ecu/pcm? Or program keys? Just curious. Again, thanx for sharin martin
Yes it does do that.
@@retrorestore wow you're up early 🙂
So are you lol
@@retrorestore somehow I gotta get one!
Evening mart , I bet all them fault codes was caused by a flat battery or flat ish battery
@John Parish Audi are in a world of their own when it comes to scanners, I have a 53 plate , and I had to get a dedicated scanner for VW/Audi for it to tell me which abs sensor had gone , it was only £40 but does the lot
Blimey that's quite expensive I don't think I will be getting one of these any time soon
D1 lite 200£ from Ali sale atm.
It's moved on a lot since I used to use a code reader on my 90's VW's. Lol.
Hi Martin this might be a stupid question but do u need to charge the V1 that plugs into the car?
?? Not sure what you mean Steve.
@@retrorestore I mean the dongle that plugs into the OBD mate? Do u have to charge it with the USB cord or does it get its charge from the car when u plug it in?
@@steveratcliffe4427 It does gave a usb C connector so I suppose you could charge it that way, not sure if it would charge whilst being used.
Thanks mate, the review was great Martin I went out and bought one after watching it. The tool is brilliant, just didn’t say anything in the instructions about changing it
Think I’ll stick with TopDon with free for life updates 👍
Free for life? Definitely not
Tell us the model. Comparable Bidirectional Topdon?
800 series is lower class compared to this Autel Lite.
Can anyone recommend a bi directional diagnostic scanner for£250 many thanks
I doubt that you'll get one for that price.
Otofix D1 light around £ 260-280. Latest update brings Bi-D function, all reviewed can't see difference from old D1
Lite doesnt code?
Looks and sounds like Ray Winstone lol