Well, you could if you own a VW or Audi vehicle, a laptop and a couple hundred dollars in your pocket. Ross-Tech sells software and hardware packages that allow you to connect to the On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) port to talk to your car. Why would you want to do this?

Scenario: You're driving along, minding your own business, when you notice the "Check Engine" light is flashing.

You cringe. Last time this happened, you took the car to the dealership for service, and came out $80 poorer. The problem? A loose gas cap was causing the emissions system to freak out. Ouch. This time, you plug in you laptop and adaptor cable, fire up the Vag-Com software, and see why the car's not happy. The fault code shows you that a sensor is not operating. Off to the dealership or parts store, change the part, clear the fault code, and you're done. Or, if you prefer, just get your favorite mechanic to change the part. Either way, you saved yourself the cost of the trouble-shooting session. Plus, the geek factor is way up there.

SUBMITTED BY: Mike "D" DeJong of Nelson, British Columbia, Canada

07 February 2003  |   permalink