Don’t waste money on Carly OBD: Read review first
Unlike many other blogs, I ordered Carly OBD myself. I tested it on several real cars, compared it to more than 100 Bluetooth tools, and I also made a viral video exposing Carly. After everything, I can say this clearly:
I don’t recommend Carly to anyone.
Affiliate Disclosure: iamcarhacker.com is an Amazon and other affiliate programs Associate. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Full Affiliate disclosure.
Carly – my quick Rating
Carly OBD
This might be literally the worst scanner I experienced out of all I tested. Everything from ordering, sipping, and actually trying to use the scanner was a bad experience.
Ordering was bad.
Shipping was slow.
Functionality was weak.
Support was confusing.
And the website hides that you are actually buying a yearly subscription, not a one-time tool.
NEW 2025/2026 UPDATED CARLY TEST
VIDEO: Carly is a waste of money!
This video exploded, and the comment section confirms everything in this review.
Hundreds of people wrote the same story:
- hidden subscription
- auto-renew without warning
- refunds denied
- weak functions
- bank blocks their payments
- “influencer scam” marketing everywhere
Who tested product & wrote this review?
Tester & Editor for this review: Juraj Lukacko
Hello, I am Juraj (Yuri) and I tested this product to help you decide if it is something you would want to buy, and if yes, show you how to use it.
I make honest reviews based on personal testing in my own garage and If I see the product is bad, I will make it very clear in review.
Read more about how I do reviews on Iamcarhacker.com in my review policy.
Carly vs. same-priced scanner comparison
I compared Carly to Thinkdiag2, because the first-year cost is similar. After that, Thinkdiag2 becomes cheaper and gives around 10× more functions.
Winner: Thinkdiag2
| Feature | Thinkdiag2 ($95/year) | Carly ($150/year) |
|---|---|---|
| Full Scan | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Full Live Data | ✔️ | ❌ |
| All OBD Modes | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Service Procedures | 15+ | 1-2 |
| Bi-Directional | ✔️ | ❌ |
| ECU Coding | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| OEM Features | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Wide Vehicle Coverage | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Live Data Graphs | ✔️ | ❌ |
Carly is Dishonest!
Shipping was slow.
Then I found something worse.
On the Carly website, the buying page shows a simple price.
Nothing tells you clearly this is paid every year.
Only a tiny line at the bottom says “Carly licenses are an annual subscription”.
Most buyers never see it.
I didn’t see it either in 2022 when I bought my first Carly.
And when you try to refund it, they say:
• “The adapter is free.”
• “Software is digital, so it is non-refundable.”
So they charge you for the subscription, give you a “free” adapter, and block refunds.
This is not an accident.
This is a business model.
Carly also pays big YouTubers aggressive sponsorship fees.
That’s why you see Carly everywhere.
Not because it’s a good tool — but because the payouts are high.
They don’t build loyal customers.
They just need a constant stream of new people to sign up and get trapped.
Forget Carly. Choose something else.
Carly OBD is not worth buying.
For the same money, you can get tools that actually work.
For less money, you can get tools that still outperform Carly.
Examples:
• Veepeak + Car Scanner App (cheap, simple, reliable)
• Thinkdiag2 (full-system, coding, bi-directional)
• OBDeleven for VAG/BMW
• Multi-brand tablets (Kingbolen K7, Mucar VO7, Thinkcar)
All of them give more value than Carly.
Carly Used Car Check does NOT work
You can watch it in the YouTube Video I made.
I tested this feature on a car with a real odometer rollback.
Other scanners (OBDeleven, Thinkdiag2, and several more) could see the true mileage in ECU data.
Carly reported:
“No manipulation detected.”
Carly’s mileage check only works if someone else used Carly on the same car before the rollback.
That makes this feature useless for real-world buying.
Popular OBD2 guides
See all guides
Best OBD2 scanners in 2025
I constantly test new OBD-II scanners to give you the best options possible. Here is a full list of the best tools in all categories currently.
I agree with this blog. Carly is indeed is useless piece of shit. It cannot be used with other softwares and has a monthly subscription paid yearly on auto renewal basis. If you want to be happy and do more with less problems chose some other OBD2 scanner. FORGET CARLY. THIS IS MY HONEST ADVISE.
Yes, I wouldn’t mind paying the subscription if it was worth it, but Carly is too expensive. I probably wouldn’t recommend it even without a subscription; it can code some stuff, but is useless for problem diagnosing.
Everything I try to code with carly
I get message back .
Unfortunately coding as faild
Yes, I had this issue on some cars also. Which vehicle did you try to code?
Hi Bud, what would you recommend? I’m a home mechanic doing repairs on cars I buy from co-part, my budget is £1200, Iv been looking at Autel MS906 Pro
Hello, the mentioned Autel will be fine for all you need to do. You could also look into Launch 431 if you want to save some money: https://amzn.to/44LvH5m
I agree. Don’t forget, they don’t have a cancel subscription button and forces you to open a ticket. I sent emails to cancel and they still charged me and would not give me a refund. They are committing fraud.
They cancel mine after first ticket, but I heard that lot of people couldn’t get them to cancel plan even in tickets.
You can easily cancel the subscription through the Apple app. Cancel anytime; you can still access the subscription until the expiry date. I didn’t realize I needed the subscription either until I tried to run diagnostics. So, yeah: shady.
I bought this because the guy who installed CarPlay in my BMW 128i recommended it. It was useful for turning off the incredibly loud and obnoxious door ping but it has been less useful for diagnostics. I had an engine light on; the OBD gave me a list of power-related codes (CID, CON and K-CAN, DME). Took it to the dealer and their diagnostics didn’t flag any of these issues but DID find a bad drive belt tensioner, worn out serpentine belt, clogged air filter, and worn seal on my gas cap— Carly found none of these.
TLDR: Don’t recommend.
I use Carly on BMWs it satisfies my need.
Good then, at least someone is happy with it.
Very shady practice. I agree with everyone’s experience. Not sure if run by conmen or what. There are similar tools out there w/o any subscription. Also if you read the fine print if you opt for the premium which they try to make it sound like a good deal a REFUND is not possible!
Why? Because they send you the scanner for ‘FREE” but charge you for the software.
Software is NOT refundable so you can still ship them back the scanner but you won;t get any refund.
Very dishonest company!
I agree with these reviews of Carly. This company is really shady and has really poor customer service. After I submitted 2 support requests, they responded by scolding me for submitting “so many support requests” as asked me to stop. Really?
I could go on for every about the bad experience with this worthless device sold by a shady company, but if anyone is considering purchasing, DON’T bother.
Do not waste your money on this poor device sold by an extremely shady company.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY IS THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE, HEED THE WARNINGS. I have a similar issue with Carly. I purchased the premium package last Friday 13/10/23. I was sent a message thanking me for my purchase, with a link to download the required app to enable me to use the Carly scanner. I don’t open links from emails, so went to the App Store and looked up the app. After reading the reviews I decided to investigate further by speaking to a few people who had personal experience with this product. Focusing on the brand of vehicles I have. I reviews and feedback were not good. I emailed Carly to cancel my purchase on the Saturday 14/10/23. Just over 24 hours later I got what seemed like a generic message back saying I could not cancel or get a refund, as the scanner was free and since the order had been processed I couldn’t cancel as once the software had been downloaded the sale was final. They did offer to cancel my auto renewal option though. What I wasn’t aware that I had an auto renewal on this purchase. And since my question had been successfully answered they had closed my case for a refund. I was fuming. Once again I informed them that I had not downloaded any of their software and that they should check to confirm. Even if I did download the software, it was indeed useless without the scanner and my previous request for a refund stands. Again I get the same generic response from Carly. I informed them that I will open a dispute through PayPal if I didn’t get a full refund. Once again the same generic response from Carly. I got another email on Wednesday 18/10/23 saying that they greatly appreciated my purchase, unfortunately my order has not yet been processed and they apologised for the delay and assured me it will be processed shortly. I opened yet another ticket and explained the problem and that I wanted to cancel my purchase and since it hasn’t been processed (email attached showing not processed) I should get a full refund. I informed them that I would not except the parcel and that it will be returned by the courier DHL. I got yet another generic response but this time linked with my other tickets and informed that the case was now closed. Next day I get another email stating my order has been successfully processed and another link to track the package and thanked me once again. I had had enough now and opened a dispute with PayPal, who informed me that since I used the credit feature of my account, any dispute would show up on my credit report. Despite this I continued with the dispute and am awaiting Carly’s response to the case. This morning Saturday 21/10/23 I received yet another email from Carly saying thank you for my purchase and could I take a few moments to rate my experience with them. WHAT! This is clearly a company that doesn’t communicate with their other departments (if they have any) the more I delve into this company the more I am convinced that it is run by one or two people trying to give the impression that it is a large company. They are registered in Germany and as such you would think that it is a good company to deal with. I believe that it was set up by one or two people from an Eastern European country and left to run day to day by a lowly employee with little or no experience in how to run a business. I am awaiting the outcome from PayPal as I am writing this. I just hope that other people will read this and the other reviews on this site and stay away from this company. The initial concept for the product is a good one but the software and customer service is terrible and not fit for purpose.
I have very bad experience .firs Carly doesn’t do nothing for coding my Porsche 997 and also they automatically get another membership for year . They don’t refund found stupid excuses.Send fake documents to PayPal so I don’t get my money. Stay away from them.
Carly are scammers, plain and simple. They’ve charged me two subscriptions concurrently because they ‘re-sent’ another adapter when the first one didn’t arrive. NZD$232.82 take from my account without warning, even though through apple it’s $98.99, which was easily cancelled within a week of owning it. They refuse to refund, make out like I’m the one confused, not to mention their product is trash, I only used it once, and it’s rubbish.
Let’s sue Carly. I bought this product for my BMW and they said you cannot use it without a subscription and no refund? I think that is not legal and someone needs some time in jail with fines. What do you all think?
Carly is dodgy I agree. But if I want a bluetooth OBD2 app which can read errors and also do coding, which would be the cheapest option? also can we use the carly scanner with other apps?
For me the best choice seems to be Veepeak adapter ($15 Android / $20 iPhone), with Car Scanner App ($5). That is best OBD2 app for ELM adapter for diagnosing and for some models there is even coding. And you can also buy 1-month of Carista ($10), and do all the codings you need, then cancel.
Carly is a genuine waste of money, a YouTuber I used to watch was plugging it at the time my car was running a little ruff and thought why not, big mistake. It looks okay but doesn’t connect first time and only lets you in my experience view faults not reset them. I ended up forgetting to cancel the auto renewal £200 down for something I used twice. The customer support is useless.
I am looking forward to a class action lawsuit. The article is 100% correct. I “bought a scanner” (which actually means “susbscribed”, apparently) under the understanding that I could return it. When I tried to return it (defective unit) for a refund, Carly support sent screen shots of their return policy with a nice note full of smiley faces. (not sure how opening the box on my “free” scanner that arrived after a month constitutes “acquiring the features”).
Their business practices and customer service are reprehensible. It is absolutely not a company you want to deal with. Never mind that the tool itself is not as good as a decent $300 scanner. (I have a Topdon that I like very much)
In the meantime, dispute filed with my credit card and I am warning others away from this dumpster fire of a company.
“I am sorry to inform you that we cannot refund you the scanner, since in the Premium Package the scanner comes for free with the Carly Features in the app. Basically, you have unlocked the Carly Features for an annual price and received the scanner for free (please check your invoice).
A refund for the Carly Features (app license) is no longer possible either, since the cancelation right is lost as soon as Carly Features have been acquired.
This regulation had been informed to you in the checkout before you ordered the app. Please check the screenshots you agreed to attached to this email.”
As everyone says, please stay away from this scam company. I bought the premium package and thought it was a one time cost. After realising this was not the case I tried to cancel my order but that wasnt possible cause the scanner is free and software is not refundable. I have tried to explain to them that they need to show all the costs to me as a customer prior to purchase which they havent done, so I have no idea what the subcription fee will be next time. Whit this in mind I am convinced that I have legal right to return the product. I have raised a return ticket at Carly and will just send the package back after receiving it, if I ever receive it (over one week since I placed the order and still not shipped). They will probably send it back to me again but its worth a shot. Anyone here that have tried this option out?
What a joke. I’m glad it wasn’t my last hundred bucks. The device doesn’t work. My 2023 M2 Beemer doen’t like it at all. After reading the above comments, I won’t even try.
This looks like a fake review to sell you another tool
Well I mean it’s review with my orignal photos and my original video and I also have a receipt proving I bought it. It is overpriced and that’s why I recommend better tools since you can get 10x more value for money if you go with different tool instead of Carly.
Also comment section is full of people complaining about Carly, but if you want just buy it and let me know after few months how satisfied are you with it.
It did work BUT – expensive auto pay subscription, had serious issues trying to cancel. I ended up having to cancel my credit card, to stop the charges.
The features did work for me on several vehicles, but with many others it failed to assist / link up. Auto renew $$$, years later sucks
I totally agree, DO NOT PURCHASE CARLY.
First off it didn’t really provide anything more useful than auto-parts store scanners.
And THEN that recurring >$100 USD yearly charge…
Totally NOT WORTH IT!
I bought the Carly box and immediately regretted my choice when I connected it to my car. Quite simply, according to the box, my car didn’t have an ECU! I asked for the product to be returned and I’m still waiting for my money back, at the time of writing.
In the meantime, I bought a Launch CRP123i v2 diagnostic kit. The diagnostics are limited for an old car, but at least I have the basic information: engine, ABS, safety module checks (airbag, seatbelt pretensioner, etc.).
I wanted to test it myself with Carly and I immediately regretted it…
So, instead of buying Carly, buy the CRP123i from Launch. All said and done.
True Carly is crap. Hope they will give you refund
Thanks for sharing with us about carly obd review.
car diagnostics service in west midlands