recommend me a decent scanner

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I am a weekend shadetree mechanic.. looking to clear codes and view codes and see live data. I am not a professional. I have a cheap autel I bought years ago that has sufficed but want an upgrade.

Like to keep under 100.00

Not sure if Bluetooth or plugin type is better.

Thanks
 
i recently picked up the maxidiag elite. well worth the $200 price tag. scans and clears faults in all modules, and can view live data.
 
Do you have American or Japanese cars? My understanding is German cars can be finicky about code readers. The $20 bluetooth reader that runs with Torque Lite works well for me.
 
I have a $20 generic Bluetooth and the torque app for free. Way more useful than a dedicated scanner.

Make sure the adapter has a switch or auto shutoff. You can leave it on all the time if so.
 
A decent part of the money spent goes to the "box" with buttons etc. If you can bluetooth it you get more smarts in the software, and a better chance of competing software, an update, or even a 3rd party "crack".

My Innova 3160 claimed to be "upgradeable" but then a few years later they hatched the 3160S and left me out to dry.

FWIW there are about 5 things to look for:

1) codes
2) I/M readiness
3) Generic OBDII data (not encrypted) stuff like ign advance
4) Mfr Specific OBDII data (encrypted) stuff like knock retard from optimal
5) Bi-directionality, being able to command the car to do stuff or update its firmware.
 
I use a $3 ebay bluetooth dongle with torque - works great for me and my Grand Marquis, but I have had issues with GM vehicles' ECUs not communicating (mid-00's Grand Am/Prix). After loading the custom Ford PID's (basically the ID/Parameter for reading OE specific sensors/codes) to Torque Pro (about $6 on Play store) I can see a large amount of information from within the ECU - it even allows me to see things like specific cylinder misfire counts, which is useful because Ford decided that it shouldn't throw a code unless a cylinder is misfiring something like 23.5% of the time. I love my cheap torque/BT dongle combo for what it is.

HOWEVER, they certainly don't work for every vehicle (at least the cheap $3 clear-blue china units) and then there's the issue of it only communicating with the ECU. That's fine and dandy if all you want is to check/clear basic codes - it works great for that, but if you want to talk to the TCU or ABS system, you will need a dedicated tool. My 10yr old Harbor Freight scanner can read TCU and ABS on my brother's Kia.
 
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