We're shocked and saddened by how many uninformed buyers are on Bay — falling for hype regarding OBD/ECU car diagnosis and tuning software.

And sellers are unethically taking advantage of this by sprinkling their descriptions with purely false claims. To us it's obvious, considering we're car mechanics with combined 68 years of day-to-day experience tuning and optimizing thousands of car models in Sydney, Australia. Read more about us here.

So purpose of this article is to inform you about these common scams so you walk away like a winner. If you see any of these False Claims from any eBay seller — RUN!

Because these scam discs are loaded with outdated free open-source OBD/ECU software that don't work. We tested around 40 of them. Only 1 successfully connected to ELM interface. And even then it barely had any real meat compared to professional commercial applications used by car manufacturers.

More importantly, these discs are stuffed with illegal cracked software that will render no technical support or future software updates — which are absolutely required in a constantly evolving auto-industry — for passenger/on-road safety, emission compliance and manufacturer DTC codes.

This complaint sums it all up...

Real-life example of a customer who got "scammed" on eBay.
This was sent to us on 3 March, 2013 - asking us for assistance.

Now, let's get started...

False Claim 1: All Car Models are Supported

Impossible. Yet we admit it's a great tactic to get as many gullible buyers as possible buying.

Fact is — different countries implemented OBD-II standards in certain years. And your vehicle must be made after this year for it to work with OBD-II software. See here if your car is OBD-II compatible.

If you're still unsure, ask us.

False Claim 2: Airbag, Radio, Odometer/Mileage Adjustment, etc...

You'll find sellers claiming the following features:

False Claim 3: Multiple DVD Discs With Thousands of Files

This is a dead give away you're buying into a scam. This is done to create false perception of high value.

When what you're really getting is:

1. Thousands of ECU maps for different cars. You'll NEVER use these. Unless you happen to find a ECU optimized map for your vehicle(s), which is free online anyway.
   
   What's more, these map files can only be loaded into your car's ECU EEPROM chip using separately purchased kits.
   
   
2. Hundreds of open-source freely available OBD/ECU software from the net. Google "free obd software" and you'll see.
   
   And remember what I said above. They're outdated and nightmare to connect or use.

Congratulations. You're now informed. :-)

If you're still uncertain about anything — please contact us via eBay (Authorized Sellers: OverstockAustralia, SpeedSuccess) — or at website support center.

You may now return back to eBay and continue reading to find out what makes TOTAL OBD & ECU Auto Diagnostics™ (TOAD for short) software world-class — used by thousands of car manufacturers and home car owners (like yourself) around the world.

And why it's actually costing you MORE time, energy and money in the long run by NOT owning this revolutionary software...