Carista OBD2 Reviews

Purchased with the ability to read the codes from the device. Making programming changes was extra after the trial period.
Two years later the device is useless unless you purchase their subscription. This is not what was advertised when I purchased the device. I should be able to read the codes. Now just get Oxxxx. Doesn’t seem right that they would remove the available features (codes) you paid for after the purchase of the unit and require you to purchase what was available previously for free.

I bought the dongle and never got my month of free service. Further more there is no option to buy anything in CaristaOBD2 .

~~Please add more buying features to CaristaOBD2 in the menu!~~

You Carista devs don’t seem to realize that you would get more consumers if you made an option for some features available with one single purchase. Like one car company only with single purchase. The monthly payment shouldn’t be the only option. And paying monthly just to be able to adjust my seatbelt light flashing is downright ridiculous!! ONE STAR until CaristaOBD2 is overhauled. There are many better apps out that offer the same stuff but cheaper or free.

As a (former) retail software developer, I understand why devs are moving toward subscription models. But $40/year is too expensive for what is generally an infrequently-used, casual-use app. None of the other apps I subscribe to, like RoboKiller and Overcast to name just two, cost anywhere near as much and I use them *far more often*. Overcast could quadruple its subscription and I’d still pay it because I use it heavily – hours per week. Its use:cost ratio is very favorable. But Carista, not so much. I’d probably use this a few times per year, that’s all. Very unfavorable use:cost ratio.

Carista, as I understand, already discourages commercial use and “oversharing” by limiting the number of vehicles (by VIN) that can be tweaked. I’m fine with that. I just want to tweak our two cars, that’s all. But I want to revisit my tweaks occasionally.

Offer a $10 or $15(tops) per year sub and I’m pretty sure the developer will see many more annual subs. I would sub for that. $40 is a lot for a seldom-used app. $10 or $15 isn’t. And I will not pay $10 for one week, either. That math is even worse.

First of all, I wanted to say that I was doing my homework before buying an OBD device to use with CaristaOBD2. I’ve almost decided against it. If a user wants the advanced features, there is a subscription fee that practically charges $10/month, $20/3 months, or $50/12 months. To be fair, I asked them if CaristaOBD2 was based on cloud servers to perform its function, but they said it was to maintain and improve CaristaOBD2 . Well, I have several other apps that serve various functions like for my thermostat, but they don’t charge a recurring fee. And considering that most users aren’t going to use CaristaOBD2 very often at all, it’s ridiculous to charge a subscription. I was told that I could cancel every month if I don’t use it often, but then if I want to use it again, that’s another $10. Really ???
If there was a reasonable one-time fee, I would be much more willing to bite. A lot of feedback in the reviews about the subscription fees.

I downloaded CaristaOBD2 because I needed to register my new car battery. It didn’t work with the OBD II device I already had (Kiwi 3), so I spent the money on one of their own Carista BT OBD II adapters. I receive it, plug it in and cannot connect to the device. It doesn’t show up in my BT devices, and wont even connect through their app. I have sent multiple messages for assistance, and any response really. The customer service wont respond anymore, and closed my first ticket with no resolution or even a message back. Their refund policy is impossible to find, and they will not answer any email I’ve sent. Do not waste your time.

The subscription model makes absolutely no sense for this product. This is something most people will use once every few months or less. I used it to make a few changes to my Toyota, and now it’s no longer used. If I need a scan tool, there are plenty of options that don’t require a subscription. The adapter and app are both great, but there’s just little to no value in the subscription. A one time fee per VIN would make much more sense.

First, it works perfectly. For customization, though, while there are probably a hundred different options I can customize, most are options I could already customize right from the car’s menus. They also include a lot of useless options that nobody would ever care or want to change. That said, I bought it to fix two issues and it was able to solve one beautifully. I used it to shut off the engine auto-off when stopped at a stoplight. For that alone, it was worth the price of the module (and I accomplished that with the free trial, so no cost for CaristaOBD2 ). The other issue I was hoping it would fix was the unreasonably loud and long warning dings when I open the car door with the car running. Sadly, turning that off (or even adjusting the volume) isn’t an option. Either way, it was worth the cost for the one problem it solved, so I can’t complain. It may be great for the diagnostic tools, but I have no need for that, so I can’t comment.

40 bucks for this is unreal, CaristaOBD2 it self is okay. But for the price we should have more options instead windows/lights and door to be reprogrammed.
My Audi A3 could be reprogrammed on how I want to lock and unlock, windows, lights (which was cool) but it doesn’t justifies the price!
It does reads hidden codes (which is cool) but again 40 bucks nahhh
I’d say for 9,99 it’s okay, and they do have this price but for a week lol (see they think that this thing worth like gold). Nice try, I took advantage of the free week that they gave me and could do everything I wanted during this time. Even after finished I said ... okay I’ll buy it cause it was cool, then 40 bucks lol (nope) 9,99 per year and I’ll be here buying and also giving the 5 stars.

UPDATE:
Carista informed me that my 2nd Gen Prius is not fully supported due to hardware limitations. They only have basic OBDll diagnostics for that Generation. This information came directly to my inbox. That is great customer service! I know Prius’ need Techstream to do a proper diagnostic but was hoping for a Miracle and find an app for my NEXXUS tool. One day maybe 😊

I am using a new Nexxus OBDll/EOBD Diagnostic Interface Bluetooth tool. Unfortunately it is unable to connect to my 2007 Prius. When scanning ECU codes it states it can not complete connect. I have tried running the program with Prius in ON as well as Started (foot on brake). I can use Dr Prius but was hoping for a more thorough diagnostic check.

To be 100% honest I was thinking that this is going to be a little more of a customizability as well as the diagnostics, and while it does both amazingly well, I just kind of felt like it fell a little short when it comes to customizing. I have a 2013 CC, And I’d say probably 75-85% of the options were available In one of the many menus on the dashboard, And now I know this isn’t the case with some cars, but I sort of felt that they’re needed to be more to justify a $40 a year price tag on-going

CaristaOBD2 has been great for me as an Audi owner. Many customizations duplicate what can be done with the MMI, but access to the instrument cluster needle sweep and window/sunroof customizations are worth the price.

The real value comes from the ability to read OBD II codes and engine faults. It let me know whether the engine light indicated something serious, and saved me an expensive trip to the auto repair shop for a diagnosis.

As an infrequent user, there’s no need to subscribe for a year and I don’t know why people complain about the price. I pay for one month when I need the paid features. Easy!

Many of the VW/Audi defaults are incredibly annoying. CaristaOBD2 will let you customize the behaviors of all the automated BS to be the way YOU want it to be. I probably would have sold my car without CaristaOBD2.

New cars are AWFUL with all the computerized "features" constantly beeping and flashing at me, turning things on and off when I don't want them too, etc.

CaristaOBD2 and the genuine Carista adapter have been worth every penny, and then some. I also use the adapter with other apps to dig performance info out of the car's brain, check and reset fault codes, etc.

I’ve been updating control modules on my vehicles for years with Ford and Mopar vehicles and always had to use the wired OBD adapter plugged in to my laptop. I’ve always been an Apple guy so in order to use the software I had to either run bootcamp or virtual windows on my MacBook. It’s been a necessary evil to accomplish the changes I wanted to make.

Carista absolutely blows that away. I never knew this type of setup existed and thought it was too good to be true when I stumbled across it on a forum. Coming from how I’ve always had to do things in the past I’m extremely happy with this product.

Lots of customization options and based on the current beta they have plenty more customizable options coming soon!

This is the first review I’ve ever written in here but I need to tell everyone how incredible they are here at Carista. I have been using their app since it came out and it really works well. I recently emailed them asking if they can add a customization that I wanted. I wanted to be able to add the ability to add paddle shifters to my Audi A7. They created a beta version with that in it and sent it to me in less then a week to try. It worked great. They followed up with me to see if I was happy. Now that’s customer service. Thanks guys.

Love CaristaOBD2 and love the Carista OBD2 adapter as well. It cleared 12 codes I didn’t even know I had as well as unlock features of both my R56 itself and my key fob. The dealer charges an arm and a leg to unlock these features that are already there and to program a key fob not to mention the price to diagnose and clear codes. If I do have to bring it in to the shop I’ll feel much more confident knowing what the issue is even before I arrive. This thing will probably end up saving me so much time, money, and hassle.

Got CaristaOBD2 to disable the intolerable seat belt chime on my 2019 Toyota Camry. I had tried solutions I found on the internet but nothing worked. I was able to accomplish my objective plus discovered many more customizations which I can’t access through the car’s own menus.

My only issue is I don’t know if the monthly subscription fee is recurring. I can’t find a place to cancel.

One of top 3 VAG tools to own. Not only for the dollar value, but the quality of the programs within the tool and the expertise behind them which = less problems for the user, no hidden issues when making adjustments (another obd has a bad problem in their system that makes unknown "tweaks" within your vehicle. You find out down the road when something has randomly changed), as well as a truly dedicated customer service that cares & that responds!
Thanks Carista for keeping it easy, intuitive, and affordable.

CaristaOBD2 seems to work nicely for turning off the seatbelt chime which is what I purchased it for, I do wish they would make it clearer on the initial page of CaristaOBD2 which service plan you're supposed to choose - it's supposed to give you a month free but they need to make it clearer within the design of CaristaOBD2 which one you're supposed to choose to get the month free (which is probably the option most people want to choose so put it up at the top and say choose this one) - otherwise very good, device is easy to install, app is very navigable and easy to use, would definitely recommend

This is a MUST HAVE for a newer Toyota! So many options to customize. My favorite is seat belt beep off and keys left in the car off. It was literally beeping at me as soon as I turned off car! This is an amazing, easy to use app and it works flawlessly on every car I’ve used it on. Many thanks

We own a 2020 AWD-e XLE Prius. There are some annoying features with the car: backup beeping, overly sensitive and too loud parking sonar sensors, and front parking sensor that keeps beeping when you’re going through an automatic car wash.

Bought Carista and was able to easily fix all these issues. You do have to subscribe for at least a month to make the changes. But you only need to subscribe to make new changes — once made, they stick. So in theory you just need to do a one time, one month subscription. Totally worth it.