[Window wizard]

I have seen these for sale has anyone seen them or got one, I have been looking the reviews look good but still worrying as it’s around £150 and thought it would be more
Thanks in advance
Icarsoft VAWS V2.0 icvaw2

 

[TommiT]

Spend the money and buy the one and only VCDS from Ross Tech.

 

[TommiT]

UK supplier

Ross-Tech VCDS (VAG-COM) Packages :: Gendan Automotive Products

Car diagnostic tools for professionals, enthusiasts and hobbyists.

m.gendan.co.uk

 

[Brendanm]

Get vcds.

 

[Window wizard]

Thank you all I shall get the Ross tech

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

Vagcom.

 

[Yeti]

Ross Tech, there is no substitute!

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[Oz Dude]

Depends on which model you have and the options on the vehicle.

Case in point - Australia got the 7P series with air suspension and North America did not. Ross Tech can't assist on matters to do with air suspension on this series, rather only "best guess" what might be going on. I will defend Ross Tech here quite stringently though because in the absence of having a vehicle to work with to ensure the software was sending the right code to the vehicle, they've had to assume certain parameters / information, and it isn't quite right - close but not right.

When you go into adaptations in the module for the air suspension, it looks totally different to anything you can find on the web and trying to adjust the suspension is truly a hit and miss affair.

The measurements that come up don't equate to what the actual measurements are on the vehicle. Putting in changes can result in the car going up or down a large amount and/or even adjusting in the wrong direction (eg putting in a higher measurement should lower the suspension but it goes up and vica versa). That's when you start to really crap your daks that you're not going to get it working again.

The mechanical faults that come up have hysterically different mileage readings compared to actual, and in one case we saw a date of the 26th month 2016. And we double checked, it wasn't the 26th day of a month, it was the 26th month... Oh, and there's the whole 2016 thing too....

It then becomes a game of chance as to what the suspension will or won't do until the compressor overheats and you have to wait several hours and pick up where you left off. In all it took us approx 6 hours of actual log time to get a minor change correct.

Conversely, @Window wizard has shown a tool which I have seen a video demonstration of working perfectly well with a Cayenne of similar vintage to the 7P Touareg. Ok, it's not a Touareg but I strongly doubt the language is different between the 2 vehicles of the same year with the same suspension, and how the unit worked with data input seemed very straight forward.

In all, I don't know how good (or not) the Icarsoft unit is overall but to just say "get the VCDS" without knowing what the Icarsoft can do, or what model of Touareg the OP has, or what he wants to do/change is not sound advice.

I would suggest contacting the supplier for a demonstration on the vehicle itself and decide from there if it's worthwhile...

Just my $0.02.

Oz

 

[capese21]

Depends on which model you have and the options on the vehicle.

Case in point - Australia got the 7P series with air suspension and North America did not. Ross Tech can't assist on matters to do with air suspension on this series, rather only "best guess" what might be going on. I will defend Ross Tech here quite stringently though because in the absence of having a vehicle to work with to ensure the software was sending the right code to the vehicle, they've had to assume certain parameters / information, and it isn't quite right - close but not right.

When you go into adaptations in the module for the air suspension, it looks totally different to anything you can find on the web and trying to adjust the suspension is truly a hit and miss affair.

The measurements that come up don't equate to what the actual measurements are on the vehicle. Putting in changes can result in the car going up or down a large amount and/or even adjusting in the wrong direction (eg putting in a higher measurement should lower the suspension but it goes up and vica versa). That's when you start to really crap your daks that you're not going to get it working again.

The mechanical faults that come up have hysterically different mileage readings compared to actual, and in one case we saw a date of the 26th month 2016. And we double checked, it wasn't the 26th day of a month, it was the 26th month... Oh, and there's the whole 2016 thing too....

It then becomes a game of chance as to what the suspension will or won't do until the compressor overheats and you have to wait several hours and pick up where you left off. In all it took us approx 6 hours of actual log time to get a minor change correct.

Conversely, @Window wizard has shown a tool which I have seen a video demonstration of working perfectly well with a Cayenne of similar vintage to the 7P Touareg. Ok, it's not a Touareg but I strongly doubt the language is different between the 2 vehicles of the same year with the same suspension, and how the unit worked with data input seemed very straight forward.

In all, I don't know how good (or not) the Icarsoft unit is overall but to just say "get the VCDS" without knowing what the Icarsoft can do, or what model of Touareg the OP has, or what he wants to do/change is not sound advice.

I would suggest contacting the supplier for a demonstration on the vehicle itself and decide from there if it's worthwhile...

Just my $0.02.

Oz

Air suspension was not standard on UK spec but was offered as a very expensive option so not many have it. Can the OP confirm? The Icarsoft VAWS V2.0 icvaw2 looks more like a fault code reset tool. Have you seen it used for air suspension adjustments?

 

[TurboABA]

Everything depends on budget and what your expectations of the tool is. From a value point, there's nothing on the market that has the same capability, popularity with enthusiasts and/or wrenchers, or support in the same price range.

Are there better, more powerful options? Sure! Especially when you talk about other markets/brand support. Look up what an equivalent Porsche tool costs.

Let's face it, most VCDS owners/users barely scratch the surface of this very powerful and capable tool. Most just run a scan and blow the codes away hoping that they will never come back. Very few even read the existing documentation or support and rarely do they get into the other features (logs, tests, adaptations, etc).

Furthermore, how many users who have experienced a "flaw" under a specific platform/model have captured/logged the data and supplied it to the manufacturer in order to try to address it, or to develop correct label files for it, etc.

I will use myself as an example. In decades of using this tool, I've never once taken the time or made the effort to contact them to address any missing label file, or incorrect date stamp reported by a controller during a scan, or provided them with any sort of helpful information in an attempt to collaborate on improving the tool and its capability/success.

Now imagine if we all just collaborated with them on solutions instead of barking about the "lack" of whatever?

For me, the ROI is almost instant as I find it pays for itself the first time you need to troubleshoot a dead sensor or issue in these modern, complex system, and simply not having to go pay a dealer an hour rate for a 5 min scan each time quickly adds up.

Just my opinion.

 

[Blownvette]

Porsche and VW use a different protocol at the current time. A Porsche dedicated tool won’t work on a VW. I own a Cayenne GTS (standard with air) so I have investigated.

 

[crazynorweegian]

lol you gotta work on your thread titles.

 

[Oz Dude]

I couldn't find the video I saw when I first responded but just stumbled across it again. The unit I saw was the Autel MK808 and not the Icarsoft so apologies on that. The Autel unit is multi-vehicle compatible, including Porsche, Audi, and Volkswagen. A bit more than the Icarsoft unit that Window wizard was looking at though.

@TurboABA - agree with you totally with regard to reporting issues. They can't fix what they don't know is broken. In the example I gave however they have responses on their website to others with the same issue (7P Air) and state that they can only guess what might be wrong as they never had a vehicle to test on.

Oz

 

[TurboABA]

@TurboABA - agree with you totally with regard to reporting issues. They can't fix what they don't know is broken. In the example I gave however they have responses on their website to others with the same issue (7P Air) and state that they can only guess what might be wrong as they never had a vehicle to test on.

Oz

Think of open source coding/software and/or machine learning and AI.... Why are the approaches so successful? Because you throw "all kinds of resources" at the problem and because of collaboration.

Leaving a problem to just a small group to sort out will yield results in a super long time and it's typically not financially feasible or sustainable.

If all you guys with air and problems over on that side of the pond got on their support forum and started posting all the issues and supporting logs, coding, etc. I'd be willing to bet that you would get these unicorns sorted out in a relatively short period of time.

 

[Oz Dude]

I just find it odd that they didn't reach out to someone that could do some remote coding for them. Considering the rest of the world got the option of Air Suspension on the 7P I'd think it would be a given to make certain the software was compatible. for all models, not just those in North America.

Oz

 

[TurboABA]

I would guess that not many "potential" customers have reached out to them to disclose the fact that they bought an Autel (or whatever other tool) instead of a VCDS due to the lack of this market specific feature.

If you were them, would you rather loose out on selling an extra 50 cables (or however many people you know of who've experienced this limitation) or incur an additional $500k of R&D costs to close the gap and ensure you retain those customers?

 

[Oz Dude]

I think it's equally about reputation amd future viability. Everyone says "oh, get the VCDS because it's the best". But if you fall behind your competitors because you're only supporting increasingly outdated products and/or local products in a global market that your product works in, then you can expect sooner or later to find yourself outdated and unwanted.

I'm certain there are a lot of 7P Touaregs sold around the remainder of the planet that have air suspension and other features that the VCDS can't properly communicate with so if you're going to be the 'guys to go to' and your product becomes increasingly outdated around the world then I guess they're 'the guys to go to for old models' and if you're in North America.

Case in point - the CR Touareg - does everyone who buys one now just shrug and say "It's a shame that the VCDS won't work properly on my car because NAR didn't get it."? Or do VCDS now start to spend some time O/S (or outsource) to do some coding to stay current. It's ironic that VW doesn't sell the Atlas anywhere but North America (ok Mexica, Russia and China get the Teramont which is a different badge / same vehicle dealio - the Middle East and Africa get it too but I bet sales are non-existent) so going forward the VCDS will support a vehicle that nobody else gets...nobody.

All in all, probably a few more than an extra 50 cables.

Oz

 

[TurboABA]

Case in point - the CR Touareg - does everyone who buys one now just shrug and say "It's a shame that the VCDS won't work properly on my car because NAR didn't get it."? Or do VCDS now start to spend some time O/S (or outsource) to do some coding to stay current.

See this

Everything depends on budget and what your expectations of the tool is........

Let's face it, most VCDS owners/users barely scratch the surface of this very powerful and capable tool. Most just run a scan and blow the codes away hoping that they will never come back. Very few even read the existing documentation or support and rarely do they get into the other features (logs, tests, adaptations, etc).

I'm not saying that the equipment isn't out there in ROW, but very few customers dive into the actual systems to even notice that this functionality is not supported. How many of the VCDS owners on your side of the pond have gone to a more expensive tool option because of this extra functionality which they might never use because they aren't comfortable messing with such a system? I stand by my earlier statement..... most people barely scratch the surface and only use this "tool" to disable their DRLs or a seatbelt chime or something.

 

[Landpanther]

Depends on which model you have and the options on the vehicle.

Case in point - Australia got the 7P series with air suspension and North America did not. Ross Tech can't assist on matters to do with air suspension on this series, rather only "best guess" what might be going on. I will defend Ross Tech here quite stringently though because in the absence of having a vehicle to work with to ensure the software was sending the right code to the vehicle, they've had to assume certain parameters / information, and it isn't quite right - close but not right.

When you go into adaptations in the module for the air suspension, it looks totally different to anything you can find on the web and trying to adjust the suspension is truly a hit and miss affair.

The measurements that come up don't equate to what the actual measurements are on the vehicle. Putting in changes can result in the car going up or down a large amount and/or even adjusting in the wrong direction (eg putting in a higher measurement should lower the suspension but it goes up and vica versa). That's when you start to really crap your daks that you're not going to get it working again.

The mechanical faults that come up have hysterically different mileage readings compared to actual, and in one case we saw a date of the 26th month 2016. And we double checked, it wasn't the 26th day of a month, it was the 26th month... Oh, and there's the whole 2016 thing too....

It then becomes a game of chance as to what the suspension will or won't do until the compressor overheats and you have to wait several hours and pick up where you left off. In all it took us approx 6 hours of actual log time to get a minor change correct.

Conversely, @Window wizard has shown a tool which I have seen a video demonstration of working perfectly well with a Cayenne of similar vintage to the 7P Touareg. Ok, it's not a Touareg but I strongly doubt the language is different between the 2 vehicles of the same year with the same suspension, and how the unit worked with data input seemed very straight forward.

In all, I don't know how good (or not) the Icarsoft unit is overall but to just say "get the VCDS" without knowing what the Icarsoft can do, or what model of Touareg the OP has, or what he wants to do/change is not sound advice.

I would suggest contacting the supplier for a demonstration on the vehicle itself and decide from there if it's worthwhile...

Just my $0.02.

Oz

OZ.. this is REALLY good advise... I made the mistake of buying the first diagnostic tool that came across my computer screen (OBDeleven) and only after I'd owned it for several months,(having never tried it until the return period was up.. shame on ME !!). I found out this particular model ONLY works on Android Phones.. not my iPhones..

I trying to do some research as to which diagnostic tool to buy from OBDeleven.. They would not swap it our., (okay I get that).. but OBDeleven was absolutely NO help in helping me figure out what to order from them next.. So I asked a Mercedes Mechanic friend and he suggested I get a "Launch" brand diagnostic tool... the one I was looking at was either going to cost $50 US or $150 US depending on which model I bought....

I took the Treg to another mechanic this week to fix something else on it and he and I were discussing the check engine light issue that I was originally going to buy the diagnostic tool for and he said he had a really good tool specific to VW's.. and he would run it and see exactly what part or parts we needed to replace... LESSON... sometimes it's better to let the trained mechanic with the right tools diagnose and fix the problems...rather than doing it myself / buying several parts, installing them.. only to find that the problem still exists !!!

Before reading your reply It never occurred to me that difference cars with different issues may not be reliably diagnosed with a "one size fits all" diagnostic tool..
so THANK YOU so much for your thoughtful reply..

 

[Deli Llama]

What was the VW tool that the mechanic had?