Carly - anyone using it?

[mikewilson]

https://www.mycarly.com/

Seems to be very reasonably priced for the full version.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Just looks like an OBD2 scanner to me, you can get them for about £10 from eBay and then google the fault codes

[brianh]

Looks like it does the basic obd2 and a fair amount more to me. Coding isn't something thats widely available for a lot of vehicles without some cost, looks like theres also some sort of vehicle info lookup built into it as well so its certainly more than a basic obd2 tool.

That said, for the money it costs Forscan is quite capable for the mk3 Ford Galaxy etc, just needs a suitable lead, the license for it seemed very reasonable to me for what it could do. Depends what you need to do really.

[mikewilson]

It seems a b it more convenient than Forscan, with working as an app on your phone rather than having to have a laptop running in the car to collect live data.

However.... I have just noticed that the price quoted is not a purchase price but an annual rental.  You get the scanner for free.  Very well hidden, in small print.  So they can go fornicate themselves.  If they had been upfront about it, I would have still considered it but being deceitful like that makes me wonder what else is being hidden.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Yeah, somehow I think this thing would be disappointing. It wouldn't surprise me if it just recalls the obd2 code then gives you loads of info about it from their standard codes database.

If you could use it to do stuff like program the car to fold the wing mirrors in automatically and go honk honk when you lock it, then maybe it would be good. But I'm just not convinced.

Also the prices should say "per annum". Phooey.

[brianh]

I've found a bluetooth dongle and the Torque pro Android app works quite well, gives you the code and definition and the dongle is small enough to keep in the door pocket just in case you want it. Thats good enough for engine codes, with Forscan as a backup for more jobs if needed (as you say, needs a laptop for that really).

[mikewilson]

It attracted me precisely because it could do all that stuff.  Plus, it's not much bigger than the OBD plug on other kit.  I still think it's probably a good piece of kit but I intensely dislike the whole rental model that everyone is pushing these days.  They are only doing so for one reason and it's not to provide you with the best service money can buy.

[Mirez]

Likewise, I refuse to buy anything that is on rental. OURA ring have just lost me as a customer for exactly that reason!!

Personally I use Launch diagnostic kit, they do various options from cheap to damn expensive. I went with the expensive option because I wanted to scan a Porsche and there are virtually no suitable alternatives.  Jury is out of longevity but for a Chinese product its actually well made, unlimited VINs (look out for that as another way of ripping you off) and although you do need to pay for updates, realistically unless you are working on brand new stuff that's unlikely to be an issue.

[johnnyroper]

I have had Carly for bmw for many years I got it pre annual subscription so mine was a one off payment. It's a good piece of kit in fairness and gives a whole lot of information and scans all modules along with live data. It isn't just OBD codes but the bmw specific ones aswell.

Bmw are quite coding friendly so it also does coding on a fair amount of stuff,DRL,folding mirrors all that sort of stuff also stores the previous coding data in the app so you can roll back easily.
Resets all service indicators and registers batteries.

Whether it's as good for other marques I do not know.