Ok...I'm posting this for selfish reasons. 1.) The nearest Land Rover dealership is 90 + miles away and theclosest Saab place is 113 miles on the dot. 2.) I can't take the time nor am willing to pay the money each time I need a code read(other than OBD engine codes, that is)or something reset 3.) I don't have $5000 to drop on one.

It occurred to to me, then, that perhaps a serious and well respected group of folks could pool resources and pick up a used unit to share amongst themselves?

Yes, the costs are high and there are issues with sharing it across many users in different places who need it at perhaps the same time. There's also liability concerns such as what happens when it goes missing or breaks?

But assuming those can be addressed, I'm curious to seea discussion aboutexploring the possibility of an outright buy, a pay per use scheme, or perhaps short term rental option for a diagnostic system like this?

http://www.roverparts.com/Omitec/Omi...iTesterPro.cfm

If not, is there a business out there that does something similar (stealership aside)?

 

I'd look for an indy shop with a Testbook first. The amount of money that thing costs plus training/firmware updates, shipping it to multiple people (who need to know how to operate it too) would be cost prohibitive. Buy an OBDII reader (for less than $100), no reason to go to the dealer for those codes. How often do you think you'll need the Testbook? Diagnosing the 3 amigos probably sees the most use and is only needed a few times (read the code and then clear it after the fix). That thing alone costs 2-3 times as much as just fixing the 3 amigos.

 

Good idea, but as an example, a new Test Book runs around $34,000. Yes there are others that are less, but still a lot of money.

 

For many of us in the flyover, there's no local access to anything beyond a Snap On Solus. Since that doesn't delve too much into anything not made on US shores, then we're at the mercy of the dealership. Given that it might be several hours away, it's not always feasible or desirable to miss a day of work plus bemonetarily rapedat the service counter.

I don't think there's a need to be able to manipulate every parameter of a Disco, just pulling *all* codes (not just OBDII) and resetting them would be enough. After all, the goal here is to troubleshoot and see where the problem (s)is/are.

Ideally, a non-mechanic like me could pull the codes and research what they are and then investigate possible fixes. I don't see the need to, say, remap the ECU of my Saab to grab 30 more ponies.

The reason for the Tech 4/Omiscan and not TestBook is that it's cheaper and compatible with more than one manufacturer. If youcan diagnose Saabs, Volvos, BMWs and the like then you open up a larger pool of contributing people. The more people you have the cheaper the cost per user. It also means more squabling over who gets it when...but that's a headache for another day.


I suppose that it would need to stored with one "supermember" and that person would be shipping it as needed and be the overall point of contact. Shipping could be managed via Fed Ex or UPS with a return shipping label enclosed. The user would pay shipping, of course. Perhaps on top of paying for their contribution, they could also put some funds in escrow or pay a deposit to gurantee that it will make it back to the supermember.

Personally, I'd throw in $100 to see what might be causing a 3 Amigos condition or somesuch. One trip to the dealership andthis quasi "time share"would pay for itself. Uses beyond that are a bonus. Get 50 people to agree to pony up the same and you have your test tool. Money beyond that goes into a pool to purchase upgrades or towards a second unit.

Anyway, I just wanted to toss around the idea. It might not even be suitable for a message board arrangement. However, it might work with some of the well to do regional clubs that have significant face time and an executive group alreadyin place.

If nothing else, it might be a workable business idea for some retired, enterprising Land Rover Service Manager