Dropped $400 on a high-end scan tool and it saved me 3 hours on a single diagnosis today

I was chasing a no-crank on a 2018 F-150 and that bidirectional test let me isolate the starter relay in under 10 minutes, has anyone else found a tool that paid for itself on one job like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

iris5746d ago

Oh man, I actually just read a forum post the other day where a guy was saying almost the same thing about his Autel scanner. He swore it paid for itself after he found a bad CAN bus module on a BMW in like 20 minutes instead of chasing wires all day. But I get what people are saying too - it really depends on what you see rolling in. If you're mostly doing brake jobs and oil changes, yeah, a $400 tool might sit there. But if even one weird electrical job shows up a month, that thing could save your butt. I'd say it's less about the price tag and more about knowing what jobs you actually deal with on the regular.

the_kevin6d ago

Hold on man, I gotta push back a little here. A $400 tool that paid for itself in one job sounds good on paper, but that's only if you work on these newer trucks all the time. Most of us don't have a 2018 F-150 show up every day. I've seen guys drop that kind of cash on a fancy scan tool and then let it collect dust for six months because they mostly work on old Hondas and Chevys. You gotta ask yourself how often you'll actually use bidirectional control before you throw that kind of money at something.