Car Scanner ELM OBD2 Reviews

by D33psix

I really like CarScannerELMOBD2. It’s very useful. There are some things I would rather be different. I would like to change the search engine that looks up codes. I don’t use Google for anything at all and it’s very important to me that I avoid it whenever I can. Also, there are extra settings/sensors and such that show up that aren’t part of my vehicle’s system. In other words, if my particular vehicle wasn’t even available as a turbo, why would that be listed on sensors and such? I wish it was a little more specific and showed when things are out of parameters. I must say though, for what it is it’s awesome. Short of buying a multi-thousand dollar computer it’s about as good as it gets. The ELM OBD2 device I got for like $12 on clearance somewhere (Micro Mechanic).

by Phoneposter

This device works great for my FJ. I have access to fuel consumption m data, and more senators than I can count. My only issue is that I have to manually connect each time, it does auto connect for a short time, running in to the gas station then coming back to drive within a couple of minutes or so for example, however for daily drivers getting in to the car I gave to manually connect each time with my iPhone. Is there a way to set it to automatically connect to my ODB-II device like my phone does with my stereo? It’s the only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars. Nevertheless I absolutely recommend CarScannerELMOBD2 for your vehicle. Totally worth the forever price.

by Rnmurdoc

I have a fully restored 89 Land Cruiser with a GM LS swap (toyotafj62_texas) on IG and needless to say can be tricky pulling good data that hasn’t been influenced by bad data. Combining 2 worlds can be a challenge. CarScannerELMOBD2 traveled with me on 3 recent trips to very remote locations often above 10,000 feet elevation, needless to say the old goat needed to be monitored. CarScannerELMOBD2 worked flawlessly. Additionally was accurate enough that I was able to trend negative info and predicted issues well before they happened. Last trip saw it coming, called ahead to a maintenance shop hours before arrival, mechanic ask very specific details and I sent him screenshot, upon arrival no q&a, swapped parts and off I went. Last ecu tune and dyno the computer tech saw me using CarScannerELMOBD2 and played it down, until he saw me trending the same data he was with accuracy. Later he asked if he could use my iPhone and try the program. Certainly not what I expected with a guy using a $5000 programming tool. Great work and thank you for saving my life. Your hard work providing me with data I need to keep moving saved me from unfortunate events. Knowledge is power…

by Dgoodstuff

It’s cool how many different parameters you can add or modify, I would love to know how I can set up like a Mach dyno within CarScannerELMOBD2 . I’m sure there’s a way but I just don’t know how to access or create it. I’d love to be able to see I’m just plain number how many horses I’m pushing and how many for ft/lbs of torque I’m making at every speed and rpm… maybe I’ll contact support to find out, otherwise great app, I paid the 6.99 for the full edition, I’ve spent more money on dumber stuff but this was totally worth it. Hopefully tech support reads this and gets back to me lol. BOTTOM LINE: Great app, easy to use, even the free version is great!

by Superherorockstar

Tried out on a couple of cars and it worked great with my veepeak dongle so I decided to support the developer with a purchase. I’m happy that I could use the same dongle that I purchased to use with the beemercode app. Because I tried a few other apps that required a specific branded dongle. And being that I already had another dongle for my galaxy note that’s incompatible with the iPhone X I really wasn’t looking to purchase another one! And the best thing about CarScannerELMOBD2 is that it lets you try most of the features for free why not support the dev with a purchase especially being that’s it’s still half the cost of its most comparable competitor.

by Angelo Kraus

CarScannerELMOBD2 is amazing and well rounded for all types of users from professional mechanics to your regular vehicle owner. It is easy to use and offers tons of useful stuff for your everyday person such as fuel consumption, DTC Codes, emissions tests, etc.. While also offering in depth diagnostic tools such as a full list of sensor readings and live performance monitoring. It also gives a brief summary in understanding the interface of the different tools offered. I am not a professional mechanic by any means, yet it was very easy to understand and navigate through the different tools despite my lack of in-depth knowledge in automotive mechanics. I purchased the highest in app purchase for CarScannerELMOBD2 without hesitation due to the high quality design and ease of use even though for a regular fix it myself guy, the free version was more than adequate. The people who created CarScannerELMOBD2 have done an amazing job and I was more than happy to purchase the access to all the features in support of the team who created such a well built, well maintained tool.

by Whitzbobbyjr

Your app works really good on my car's but I’m not trying to write anything bad on my review but I don’t understand why you have so many updates. I also use 2 different apps and I never have updates on the other apps I understand you are making your app to run and work better then other vendors . But on all your updates I see no difference on the way it runs and I also check the status with all three apps I run, thank you very much for your time and if you have to keep running updates on your app that tells me you are very proud of your app, thank you, Bobby White Jr.
Owner of: Whitetop WiZard research & reviews

by Terry536

I’ve used CarScannerELMOBD2 on a few cars and for each one I get really good reads with universal error codes. I had been using it for a while on a 1999 Avalon and when I put it on a new car I could not believe so many things it checked. Can clear the codes also to get rid of check engine light.
I have a 2008 now and recently a rat chewed through a few wires. CarScannerELMOBD2 told me the exact cause and made it very easy to find the chewed wire. I think the time CarScannerELMOBD2 has saved me is well worth the few dollars I paid. I purchased the lifetime subscription as it is worth it to support the designers of a great program; thank you.

by VulgarDemise

I’ve tried my fair share of ELM327 compatible OBD2 apps over the past 6 years ago, and this one is surprisingly comprehensive. A lot of other scanning apps on CarScannerELMOBD2 Store are fairly limited in their feature set, clunky when it comes to parameter graphing, or force you to use an expensive poorly supported custom OBD dongle to access their scanning app. All in all, CarScannerELMOBD2 is worth giving a shot!

Keep up the good work DEVS!! Maybe one day you can even give us some of the hidden vehicle/manufacturer specific CANBUS features available on some newer vehicles (climate control setting, radio setting, window up/down control from CarScannerELMOBD2 )!!!

by Telen1

I am using this up with the "MicroMagic as seen on TV"device that I purchased at half price from a local pharmacy about $10 and it works flawlessly as far as communication with each other.
One thing I would like added would be the ability to turn the car off and have it automatically disconnected from my phone so the two don't communicate with each other when I get close to the vehicle after I am done driving a car and walking in and out of Bluetooth range. Make sure you disconnect through CarScannerELMOBD2 first then remove your adapter from OBD2 port.
If you don't remove the adapter you could end up with a dead battery.

by Rmg2768

I came back to this after months, and was surprised to discover some awesome parameters to give me a live display of energy usage specific to my Prius.

i configured one screen to show gauges for ICE, electric motors MG1 and MG2, HV battery, and both regen and friction brakes, all in the same units (hp). Low update rate of 2hz but still useful live data. Another screen has same parameters in strip chart format

Another screen shows gauges with fuel consumption in several ways. This is more of a live dashboard display (10hz or more) and looks great on an old iPad mini (iOS 9) mounted on center console. A big green gauge shows my instant MPG!

NOTE: the slowest rate sensor on the screen will limit updates of all gauges on screen. I believe this is an OBD limitation, not CarScannerELMOBD2

Some small requests would make this even better:
- allow some gauges to scale backwards - e.g. range +100 to -100. This makes sense when trying to show battery recharge status
- more layouts for iPad (6, 8, 10 up)
- allow LED font for gauge labels
- repositionable values for gauges

Great app - thanks!

by Pro200X

The level of diagnostic abilities with CarScannerELMOBD2 is only limited to your experience with the system in your vehicle. There isn’t much CarScannerELMOBD2 can’t do as an elm obd2 scan tool. Honestly I’d be willing to call this a diagnostic tool over scanner. CarScannerELMOBD2 can monitor PID information that most people don’t even know exist. Likely a lot of mechanics out there that don’t know about as well. I have never found a better obd2 app. I really have tried them all. When I don’t want to drag out the big beast (snap on) this is a very close second for live data. The price is very low for something with the insane amount of capabilities and constant updates. This dev works hard to keep this up to date.

by Tazaholic4life

I tried atleast 10 apps, for a Generic ELM 327-wifi dongle, which was the cheapest I could find. CarScannerELMOBD2, had the options that most apps had (standard) and then quite a few more. Apps ranged in ease, of Setup. But CarScannerELMOBD2, was Simple, and was able to fund my cheap reader on it’s own. Without doing anything besides selecting it on my iPhones wifi. Which was something you do with all apps, until phone auto connects after first setup. Love the amount of stuff you can change with custom dashboard gauges. More then most the apps. Buy it. And I recommend buying an OBD reference app, that is make specific to your vehicle to go with whichever app you choose. Even store bought expensive scanners, are vague as hell when you look up the erroe codes. Fixed my car, and saved alot of mechanic guessing.

by JTalbert

I do a lot of driving and wanted a HUD for my car. The ones avail seem to be hit or miss. So I bought a Bluetooth ODB2 adapter. I paid $10 for an app that was highly rated. Worked well. But customization was limited and confusing. Downloaded this. Free. Having so much fun with CarScannerELMOBD2. Easy to use and customization is so easy. Wish there were more dashboard templates or CarScannerELMOBD2 will let you customize the template layout or make new ones.

One suggestion is for dashboard backups. Would like an export option to let you airdrop it to another phone as I have CarScannerELMOBD2 on 2 phones right now. I exported backup file using iTunes and imported it and it worked. But would make it so much easier to share dashboards.

I paid for the upgrade. Worth more then it costs. Try it. It’s free. Then buy it. Because it’s worth it.

by Nate79dawg

When I started using CarScannerELMOBD2, I really liked the customizable dashboard, as I currently use it in place of several gauges. The developer has since added quite a few more sensors that CarScannerELMOBD2 can read and display values for. Where I previously really liked CarScannerELMOBD2 , I now love it. I’ve setup a shortcut so that CarScannerELMOBD2 launches, connects to OBDII Bluetooth scanner, and then displays my dashboard when I connect my iPhone to my car via CarPlay. The only thing I would wish for is for the possibility utilizing a shortcut, so when I disconnect my phone from CarPlay it saves my data log automagically. This is such a small gripe, that I don’t care if it gets addressed, because the updates keep adding other features that are more important to me right now.

by IOS_dude

CarScannerELMOBD2 is free to try out and has the most features for a free OBD II tool, so it is worth trying out as there is no risk. It is very robust and flexible/customizable and works with various manufacturer devices. It works with the new VEEPEAK ODBCheck BLE+ (note the plus) reader I use on my Toyota Celica GTS. It lists all sensors on one page. The user interface may be simple (no fancy colors and icons and borders) but the program is solid and simple to use. You have to have the unit connected to customize dashboards which is not convenient but the customization level is amazing. This said, I ended up paying the developer the maximum optional in-app payment for CarScannerELMOBD2 . I can see a lot of thought and hard work was put into CarScannerELMOBD2, but most importantly, I see it is constantly updated. This is very impressive and important to me. Keep up the good work!

by LivingLBC

I usually don’t do reviews, but with CarScannerELMOBD2 I had to. So many features on the free version that I can’t imagine with the paid version has, but I want to buy it just to donate to the developer(s). I have 7 different scanners I’ve compiled over the past 20+ years I’ve been working on cars and CarScannerELMOBD2 combined with a quality (Veepeak BLE+ 4.0 OBD reader) is the best OBD scanner I have ever used, period… Blows away the best $600 scanner they have at Autozone and gives the same information as my brother in laws Snap-On scanner, but I think this is quicker. You can tell the developer works on cars and really put some time and thought into this project. The dedicated help website has all the answers you could think of and guides to walk you through everything on this amazing highly featured app. All I can say is WoW!! Bravo Car Scanner

by Macxlab

Wow, great product! It is so configurable where it should be! CarScannerELMOBD2 obviously started from the ground up for usability and user experience, and it shows. This is NOT the typical big company offering that promises a lot and doesn’t deliver. I really like the sliding cost scale too (I paid the most because CarScannerELMOBD2 is so awesome.)

- The adjustable size moving graphs of parameters on the dashboard is brilliant.

- As a mechanic, every professional scan tool I’ve used for over 20 years offers an automatic listing of all sensors/PIDs, but until now I have not seen this basic functionality in any of the other apps I have tried; CarScannerELMOBD2 offers a live feed of ALL sensors in one list view and I am confident I am actually seeing all of the sensors. That is the most important feature for being able to set up and scan, without first getting bogged down in configuration and guessing how to set up a dashboard.

I’d like to see 2 things added to this wonderful app:

- The ability to see MAP and pressure readings in inHg. This is what I have gotten used to in the USA for vacuum readings.

- A dashboard template that offered a list mode... many parameters on one screen, text based, title on the left, value on the right, just like the All Sensors view.

Note to developer: the contact email on your website is the default WordPress email, and does not get to you. I am unsure where to contact you for any issues/comments.

by A Real Wrecker Company

Lots of options, relatively safe, developer does an outstanding job keeping up with updates. I use a micro mechanic Bluetooth dongle and even though the dev advises against this adapter, it’s all I had and it hasn’t missed a beat. That said, there are much better alternatives to a micro mechanic, I suggest you look for one. The hardware will fail (solder joints) sooner then later. This can cause very detrimental problems especially if your using it to monitor sensors while perhaps driving eccentrically and your adapter fails and shorts out your ecu. Hypothetically.... But CarScannerELMOBD2 is awesome, endless options, customizations, etc. great job dev and it’s totally worth the one time purchase fee. Most comparable apps want you to subscribe monthly. And if you don’t want or can’t afford to buy CarScannerELMOBD2, it’s basically he same as a free app. Ads are tolerable, and only minor things are unlocked when you purchase but I really do recommend you buy it. This dev obviously put a lot of time into CarScannerELMOBD2 and continues to pushing updates regularly...

by OBDliterate70'

Everyone that owns an OBD-2 platform vehicle & an IPhone. Whether Mac/PC !, the 10-15$ on a vehicle Diagnostics plug-in will help regardless of your experience levels. Cost is around 1/10’th that of bringing it to a dealer.
There's no real excuse not to have one, and learning more about your vehicle.M
simple yet potent devices rival that of the 60K$ scanners brought in to the Dealerships for OBD-2 vehicles enroute.
Similar to all Computerized platforms, the c is limited to the Software that runs it. This Software works very well & uses lingo all can understand quite easily.
I’ve had no issues with the Software, I’ve 7 ScanTools; are > 4K$, down to 50$ & now one of these (12$). Verify your vehicle is an OBD-2 platform (Many-95+, Ford-96+.). Look in your manual. Will not work with OBD-1 Computers, only OBD-2.

by Sean402

I bought this and the plug in to read “Ethanol Fuel %” as it’s in the “Demi feature”. But it’s not a “Sensor” that’s available in the normal app or the “pro” app. It’s bait and switch. Get you to download it, think of I guess I have to pay to get that feature... Then you pay and it’s not there. The rest of CarScannerELMOBD2 looks good. But not what I need it for. Would like my money back or the demo features added...

I see they responded with a BS answer. But I can’t reply to tel them they are wrong? Helpful...

I can buy a $300 plug and play gauge that will read Ethanol Fuel % in the 2017 Camaro SS.... So obviously it’s not my car, but his app.... His app doesn’t even have the option out of demo mode, but it has others my car won’t read available... Why can I see them, but not the one I want. It’s bait and switch.... Just refund my money.

by SeekerJones

Followed the developers advice and purchased one of the ELM327 Compatible OBD-II Scanners recommended by the developer (VeePeak). Followed the instructions to ensure iPhone and Scanner connected via Bluetooth and was able to monitor everything in realtime. Car Scanner is very good app and the free version worked without a hitch, so I upgraded to the Premium Version so that I can save all data from the different times I use CarScannerELMOBD2 .

My only request of the developer, which he's probably already doing this, but would be to include more of the specific Make and Model profiles that can be loaded in the Settings portion of CarScannerELMOBD2 .

by Paulpsps

Finally a complete sensor dashboard I can customize and use to record live data.
My car has 597,000 miles now. The idiot “check engine light” is too non specific. I need to know if it’s on because my inverted pump failed or because the coolant valve is in the wrong position. I don’t want to be told my $1900 catalytic converter needs replacing when it’s really The ECM sending a false codes.
This is my second one, I gifted my first one to a friend and may do it again if Veepeak can find an improvement to make!

by Tdog Da Man

Simple interface. And I was able to use it with my Carista. Tried it free for about a month. Loved everything but the ads, so I happily bought it.

Months later, I love it even more. If you get creative, you can get some interesting results. I have a shift light and I was able to set the color and rpm for each light. I’m still discovering new ways to use CarScannerELMOBD2.

Developers: I would LOVE to able to see my current gear. I’d also be thrilled if I could monitor tire pressure. Add those two things and I’d say this is a 10 star app!

by Jack In 2018

Even as free version, CarScannerELMOBD2 had excellent range of connections to the car's built-in sensors. Specifically my Mitsubishi Lancer auto transmission fluid temperature appears in CarScannerELMOBD2; didn't appear in 3 other apps I tried.
2 weeks in, I opted to pay for the Pro version as a way to compensate the developer for job well done. That's your choice; you could just continue using the free version. But if you like something, I think it is good manner to pay for it, especially after having tried it for free and decided to keep using it.

by Mcheseter

I was able to connect to the Dr. meter ODBII with no problem. I did get an error when setting it up the first time an option popped up to send to developer, which I did. Sv was quick to respond. Once I started the car I was able to set it up with no further errors. I sent an email to the developer asking if there was away to have more than one car set up for things like fuel tanks size, # engine cylinders, engine size e.t.c. Something like a profile. Again he as quick to respond and said it would be added in a later update.

by PnoenixPedro

I purchased a cheapo car scanner off Instagram that shipped from China and couldn’t find the link to install their app, so I got this one. I liked it so much I paid for the full version as a way of saying “Thanx!” to the developer. I have an ‘o7 Jeep Wrangler and if you’ve ever had a Jeep you know you’ll need to turn off your CEL often. Fast and easy to use with explanations of everything so save a trip to AutoZone, they won’t shut off your light anyways. This will :-)