I've been interested in an OBD2 reader for some time - I'd like to check how much power is actually needed to shift my trailer, how warm the transmission gets, exact fuel consumption, that kind of thing. And yes, I am also a geek who likes toys.
The reader of choice appear to the the Scangauge II, but that's
$250 - a lot of money for a non-essential toy and well above the discretionary spending limit that my wife and I have agreed upon (we talk about all purchases over $150). Also, I didn't like the 1980's monochrome screen and very basic operating system.
Enter this:
Torque Pro, a $5 Android app with all sorts of cool gizmos built in, including error code reading and resetting. $5 vs $250 seemed a no-brainer, but now of course there was the question of how to get the data from the car into the phone.
Enter, the bluetooth enabled OBD2 reader. The app developer recommends readers that cost around $100 (yikes again) but a quick trawl around ebay found this: A
bluetooth reader for just over $10.00.
The app developer warns that these cheap readers sometimes don't work, but I figured that I could gamble ten bucks. The reader arrived yesterday, I plugged it in this morning and had my Nexus 4 phone connected a minute later - the reader instantly showed as a bluetooth device and started delivering data to the phone.
Really excited to have a working solution for less than 20 bucks. I have no affiliation with any of the sellers linked to, just very happy with their products. If you've thought about getting an OBD2 reader but have been held back by the cost, this works for me.