I believe the J2534 adapters are the future of car diagnostic tools for home mechanics as they can give you professional OBD-II functionality for a cheap entry price. I bought and compared 5 of them, ranking them from best to worst in the following table.
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1. Thinkdiag2
My favorite Bluetooth scanner. It has full professional features like ECU coding, full vehicle scan, or service procedures. It is Bi-Directional + has the largest vehicle coverage I’ve seen in Bluetooth ones.
Thinkdiag2 Review
2. xTool A30
xTool A30 is the best choice for home mechanics as you get the functionality of a professional scan tool packed in an easy-to-use app with free lifetime updates!
xTool A30 Review
3. Topdon Topscan
Topscan is currently the cheapest way that I know of, how you can add a Bi-Directional scan tool to your tool set.
Topscan Review
4. Mucar Driverscan
Mucar uses the same software as Thinkdiag2 and if you don’t need ECU coding, you can buy it for half of the price.
Mucar Driverscan review
Adapters comparison
Let’s compare these scanners’ features to help you make decisions based on key parameters.
| xTool A30 | Thinkdiag2 | Driverscan | Topscan Lite | |
| Full scan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Full live data + graphs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data logging | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (+ photos) |
| Diagnostic report | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bi-Directional | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Service procedures | 8 (cheapest version) | 15 | 15 | 8 |
| ECU coding | – | Yes | – | – |
| Subscription price (year) | FREE | $95 | $50 | $50 |
| Adapter price | https://amzn.to/4eIO3IE | https://amzn.to/4eIO3IE | https://amzn.to/4eIO3IE | https://amzn.to/4eIO3IE |
I test OBD-II scanners and make DIY Engine diagnostics guides to help you solve your car problems without having to depend on the mechanic. A lot of them will try to scam you or are just no help at all. About Juraj Lukacko