How to Buy and Use VAGCOM

How to Buy and Use VAGCOM

VAG COM is a diagnostics kit for your car that you can use to identify any issues that your vehicle may be having and quickly get your car up and running again. This way you can make your own repairs rather than going to a mechanic and you can keep tabs on the status of your vehicle so that you know whether it is running as it should or whether you could make changes to make it safer or more efficient.

In other words, VAG COM can save you money and it can potentially save your life. But what exactly is this package? How do you use it? And where can you get it?

What is VAGCOM?

What can help you to make the right purchase when looking into VAGCOM is to understand exactly what it is and how it works.

To understand that, it pays to know a little about the way that a car works and about ‘OBD’.

So OBD stands for ‘On Board Diagnostics’. This is a generic term that refers to the reporting for any kind of problem that your car may have and for its general status even when everything is running fine. In other words, all those lights and all that information on your dashboard can be described as ‘OBD’. Everything from the brake lights to the check engine light tell you what’s happening inside your car and if anything needs to be fixed.

Without this, you wouldn’t know there was a problem until your car broke down in the middle of the motorway!

OBD can also refer to a specific set of guidelines that manufacturers adhere to. The most recent is called OBD-II and most new cars will conform to OBD-II standards in their diagnostics reporting.

This is not so much for you as a driver but for the mechanics and the manufacturers – it allows them to quickly identify when something is wrong with your car and what specifically that is. All the parts of the car then must report their status and when something goes wrong, they will output an error code that will be consistent no matter what model of car that is.

This error code – called a Diagnostic Trouble Code – is a four digit number that can be learned by plugging into the ‘OBD-II connector’ within modern vehicles.

So what is VAGCOM? Simple – it’s a device and a set of software you can use to get the trouble code from the OBD-II connector and to get useful instructions and insights with via software. This puts the power that the mechanic has into the hands of the car owner.

How to Buy VAGCOM

What you need to be aware of though is that there are different VAGCOM packages available on the web and not all of them are made equal.

For instance, the first commercially available solution was a VAG COM package from RossTech. This was a great package but it cost $600 and was really out of the price range of most buyers. It was also originally aimed specifically at Volkswagen owners (hence the name ‘VAG’ – Volkswagen Group).

At the other end of the spectrum you have the cheap knock-offs, many of which come from China. If you search for VAG-COM on eBay, you’ll find a bunch of products available for just $10. Don’t buy these – they are generally not fit for purpose and you may well find they aren’t at all compatible with your vehicle.

Instead, we recommend getting the Total Car Diagnostics VAG COM.

Why Total Car Diagnostics

So what’s so good about this model versus the others you might find?

Well for starters, this model is just as good as the original RossTech offering. It uses the same chips but from third party manufacturers which saves a lot of money. The firmware and software though are the exact same thing so you can rely completely on the quality and accuracy of the system.

What’s more, is that this system is highly flexible. Total Car Diagnostics VAG COM will work on any car no matter the manufacturer – whether you have Volkswagen, SEAT, Mercedes, Toyota, Ford or any other cars in your garage. This is thanks to the universal nature of the OBD-II standard on which it operates.

At the same time, this model can report on over 17,000 different issues so you’ll find it can always find the problems with your car and help you solve the problem.

The software is intuitive and easy to use even if you’re not familiar with cars and it’s excellent value for money. It comes highly recommended!

Using VAG COM

So how do you use the package?

Simple: first you want to take the main device and plug it into your car’s OBD-II connector. You should be able to find this fairly easily, it looks a bit like a printer port! If you struggle though, then just consult your car manual and it should be listed in there.

Once that’s plugged in, you need to pair the device with your computer’s Bluetooth. This will send the computer the Diagnostic Trouble Code which will be a four digit code preceded by a letter. You don’t need to worry about the code though, as once you have installed the relevant software on your computer, this will talk you through what you need to do and help you to make repairs on your vehicle.

How to Buy and Use VAGCOM
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24 Responses to How to Buy and Use VAGCOM

  1. I want to buy VAGCOM Diagnostic Kit and recommend OBD11 Scanner. Kindly advise price.
    AUDI A4 2.0 TFSI Quattro S-Line.
    Model Code: 8K206Y
    Chassis No. WAUZZZ8K7DA113660
    Year: 2012

  2. I was bought vagcom 17.1 from TOTAL CAR DIAGNOSTICS. the end of last year.It’s can be used some system controller and many system can’t be used and message NO RESPONSE FROM CONTROLLER.

  3. I have a 2012 TDI Passat. Which one will work? I want to be able to do the long coding as well..

  4. Hi. I intend to use VAG-COM with its full coding capability for two cars: an Audi RS6 4B/C5 2004 and a Skoda Octavia 2018. Which of your products (cable type and software version) is recommended to fully work with those two car models ?

  5. I have a audi tt 225 2001 and I need to recalibrate my fuel gauge will this do it also I live in wales in the uk do you post to here

  6. I have a 2001 Audi A4 1.8t, what cable and software do I need and how do I go about getting it? Thanks

  7. I’m new to this vagcom thing..which i have been studying closely for a while…i want to know, release versions of VCDS work with its current release vagcom cable versions?? Lets see VCDS 18.9 CAN WORK WITH VAGCOM CABLE 12??

  8. Hey. I have purchased vag can pro 5.51 but I can not open the coding program. eg behind camera activation instrument. Can only open gateway, engine 1 and two other things i do not remember what it’s called. I hope you can help me..My car is Passat B8 2015 .chasis no:WVWZZZ3CZFE421736

  9. To use ross-tech vag-com kit, just follow this:

    This requires an internet connection.
    Connect the VAG COM cable cable to your USB port.
    Windows should alert you about the new hardware and give you an option on where to look for the driver.
    Choose the option to look for it via Microsoft.
    The search took about 5 minutes and the driver was found and installed.

    If doesn’t work, You can reduce the baud rate of the connection on the device manager in Windows. There is also a setting in VCDS but I can’t remember it off the top of my head. It is worth trying when you can’t connect to controllers which are obviously there, such as the engine or instruments.

  10. How to get vag com at possible discount? Original RossTech site is expensive. There is vagcom on this site. Then Hex can. Then hex+can, hex v2. I’m going crazy!

    Which vag com to buy? Are they all the same. These are my questions.

  11. I forgot the brand of this less expensive one another mechanic had, but it showed the code and description.

    And there are types that you can load manufacturer software on, but those are the dealer level ones.

    Just do your research on Google and make sure you compare prices (EG: Amazon).

    Of course aAnother option is just a VAG COM cable and software for a laptop/PC. RossTech have been around in industry the longest. Can’t go wrong with their product.

  12. Love to get vag com for my t4vw the change time in and see what the faults are not running right I’m fed up going to garages and been ripped off are easy to use

  13. Hello, Im interested in getting a vagcom for myself, I have a 2009, VW Gti 2.0t cbfa if that has anything to do with the version I would need

  14. What do I need to use vag com on 2005 seat Leon cupra r 1.8t 20v 225 bam engine

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