Anybody familiar with the Autel MaxiDas?

[The_Eric]

The local Cornwell rep is peddling the Autel MaxiDas DS 708. It seems to be a fairly inclusive scan tool at a price that is attractive enough that I am strongly considering purchasing one for personal use...

From what I can tell, they are relatively new to the US market and nobody around here has heard of them, so before I buy one (yes I'll demo it too) I'd like some input from those who have seen one in the wild...

 

[97prizm]

From waht is sounds like it may be a rebadged unit that you could get elsewhere for less. A couple of bodyshop forums made the mention of selecting the correct country etc as a reflash is hundreds of dollars. Links here Autel maxidas info. ,

MAlcolm

 

[sciphi]

Get a MS509 from DealExtreme if you only need a basic scan tool. For $65 it's almost impossible to beat a full-function scanner with live data when the same $65 at a local parts shop would only get a simple code reader.

 

[The_Eric]

97prizm, I don't think this is a re-badge. I'll likely contact the company to ask them questions and find out for sure.

sciphi, I already have two handhelds that have live data- a Launch Creader V and an Innova something or other.


The problem is that I want OBD 1 coverage AND ABS/airbag, something that your average sub 400.00 scan tool wont do.

 

[Silk]

We have been using the MaxiDas for about 18 months,and am sort of happy with it. The NZ market is very biased to used Japanese domestic vehicles,and they have done a very good in this sector. Our guys work from Australia and it also works very well on Australian vehicles... better than factory. We are a Mitsi dealership,and it is almost as good on Mitsi as our factory MUTT III. What I'm disappointed in is coverage of older vehicles - we have all the old Japanese plugs - Toyota,Mazda,Nissan,and it works on none of them, the only OBDI it works on is Honda,it's useless on the rest. But does Mercedes (but not my 1994 NZ new C220) and BMW.

After using the old Snap-On brick for 10 years I find it very slow to load, but everyone else seems to think it's fast. We pay NZ$4,000 for this thing and think it's cheap, so in the US you are getting it for small change.

 

[The_Eric]

Silk, thanks for your feedback!

Interesting on the OBD 1 coverage. Hopefully it works for the wife's GM product.

I hear you on the Snap On stuff being sloooowwwww..... Arrrggg! We're using a Modis with 11.4 installed. After watching some videos of the Autel unit, it completely blows it away in terms of speed.

The Modis we're using cost in the neighborhood of 7500.00 to 8000.00 US and the Autel will be around 1900.00. Updates for the Modis are more than the yearly subscription too with no penalty for not renewing every year.

 

[Vikas]

I have three of the Autel scanners/readers. All of them work but have few bugs. I also had their top of the consumer line JPxxx which did ABS and Airbags for Japanese vehicles but it had just too many bugs to be useful. I returned it back to Amazon. I do not believe Autel has any real support i.e. as far as I know they have never released any new firmware for their consumer line.

The real question is would you be comfortable with them if you have to pay $1900? I do not believe they have any real customer service history in USA to go by.

By the HF reader/scanners are all made by Autel.

- Vikas

 

[The_Eric]

This is not really consumer grade stuff. I do believe they now have customer service reps? I watched some you-tube videos put on by Autel and they introduce you to techs and other people? I think that this is all very recent, as the date on the videos are all from this month.

Hopefully they have gotten everything straightened out?

 

[tig1]

Is that some kind of Mexican beer?

 

[The_Eric]

Okay, I have the MaxiDas unit on demo from the tool rep. I can say that I'll likely opt not to buy it. One of the big reasons for me buying a tool of this caliber is to be able to use it on the wife's OBD I car and access her ABS and airbag info. This unit will not communicate with OBD I in site of the fact that it comes with the GM 12 pin connector. Also noticed some (simple) spelling errors (like engein instead of engine). Not sure why that bugs me but it does. I plugged it into an 03 Olds Alero and was pleasantly surprised at it's level of accessibility. I could reprogram key fobs, reset trans adaptives, do CKP variation relearns and command several relays and widgets for testing purposes. Also had access to all live data in the BCM, SRS and ABS.

The Snap-On rep stopped by this week and made a smoking deal on a Solus Ultra. It's supposed to be WAY faster than previous offerings and still be quite capable. I'll have it to demo next Wednesday.

I'll have the Autel unit until Monday, so if anyone has specific questions concerning it, feel free to ask.

 

[Vikas]

Does Autel have missmatched units i.e. temperature readings in centigrade but the unit says Fahrenheit or fuel pressure in pascal vs psi etc?

What do you consider "smoking deal" on the Snap-On?

 

[Silk]

You select your language and metric or other system in the set up, you may be able to select a different measuring system for each piece of data - but why on earth would you do that?

What annoys me is the range keeps changing - so you are watching something on graph or analogue, and it changes range...the graph or needle moves and you think there has been a change...or it doesn't move and you think there is no change.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Does Autel have missmatched units i.e. temperature readings in centigrade but the unit says Fahrenheit or fuel pressure in pascal vs psi etc?

What do you consider "smoking deal" on the Snap-On?


Yes, I noticed some units in metric and others in imperial. It could be because the unit was loaded with just the basic language info (demo) and was set for English but showed a British flag icon.

As for the deal, he managed to get the price down to just above the price of the Autel unit from the full list price of 3800.00 dollars. It's close enough that I'm really giving thought to it.


Originally Posted By: Silk
You select your language and metric or other system in the set up, you may be able to select a different measuring system for each piece of data - but why on earth would you do that?

What annoys me is the range keeps changing - so you are watching something on graph or analogue, and it changes range...the graph or needle moves and you think there has been a change...or it doesn't move and you think there is no change.


Yes, I noticed that too!

 

[Vikas]

My problem was the numbers were in one unit but the marking was in the other unit i.e. the displayed data was *wrong* unless you did the mental calculations in your head!

If you can get Snap On for the same price, there is no reason even to consider Autel.

I suspect in another few months, the Autel unit would be available for few hundred dollars but the Snap On would maintain its resale value.

- Vikas

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
My problem was the numbers were in one unit but the marking was in the other unit i.e. the displayed data was *wrong* unless you did the mental calculations in your head!

If you can get Snap On for the same price, there is no reason even to consider Autel.

I suspect in another few months, the Autel unit would be available for few hundred dollars but the Snap On would maintain its resale value.

- Vikas


Well, according to the Cornwell rep, they dropped the price from 2800.00??? to around 1900.00. It does sound suspicious, but this particular rep is a really nice guy and honest. I have no reason to suspect he is lying. I do believe that you're right in that the price of the Autel unit will likely come down and won't retain it's value as well as the Snappy.

I also agree that the Snap-On Solus Ultra is likely a better rig and now that the price came down to the neighborhood of the Autel unit, I'm having a hard time thinking of a reason not to get it.

 

[Vikas]

And if you really want Autel MaxiDas, just went until it shows up as a Centec unit at your local HF store

 

[Vikas]

Guess what, my favorite fearless Youtuber bought one and just did a review of it! Check out Scotty Kilmer. He bought it from US distributor and paid $1600.