this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2025
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Chapotraphouse
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I think the problem is you need expensive scan tools to diagnose modern cars and even just do basic maintenance.
The scanners aren't nearly as expensive as they used to be. You can get bluetooth OBD2 scan dongles for about $30. Sure those don't have all the features of the pro scan tools, but they'll read codes and that's all most people need.
Can the cheap OBD2 tools reset maintenance intervals, TPMS, etc? My perception was you had to spend a lot more to get scantools that would do that stuff. Newest car I've owned is a 2001, newest bike a 2009 and it was still carbureted, so I've never dealt with the modern stuff personally.
edit: and just to vent, I work on a family member's car pretty often and it's a 2014 - it has no dipsticks. You have to work through a bunch of menus and idle the car until warm before the dash will give you an actual oil level reading. I hate modern cars.
I'm not sure if they can reset the maintenance intervals. All the cars I've owned or worked on, those are reset through menus or other means.
Also 100% agree on modern cars. One of my dads vehicles needed a special factory tool to change the sparkplugs. It's complete bullshit.
That's wild, but it's a problem with specific models/manufacturers, not the entire industry. i have a 2018 car and a 2022 motorcycle and both are pretty maintenance friendly.
Don’t you typically reset the dash lights through codes in the cab? Like, my maintenance light resets by doing something like turning the key five times and pushing a button, I can’t remember because it’s been a few years.
At the very least, it will prevent you from needing to pay the $35 OBDII fee that most mechanics have. They'll still use it because they never believe you when you say what codes yours spit out, but they won't be able to charge you for something you specifically mentioned when you bring your car in.
I have one and I make sure they can see it when I drop my car off.