Review on Autel MaxiCOM MK808: 2021 Newest OBD2 Car Diagnostic Scanner with 25+ Maintenance Functions and All System Diagnosis by Aaron Webb

ODB2 scanner options are plentiful these days and are becoming more affordable for the average consumer. These computers/machines used to cost thousands upon thousands of dollars, and often for a specific make/car, forcing you to invest thousands if you were a DIY enthusiast, or even more if you were a professional auto mechanic/technician . The Autel MK808 is a mid-range tool for the professional auto mechanic or an advanced tool for the DIY enthusiast. It includes all the diagnostic tools available for virtually every GAS vehicle on the US market (including the often tricky Germans - BMW, Audi, Mercedes and other often picky brands like Land Rover). This means that you will be able to diagnose 99% of the vehicles that drive on American roads, excluding exotic cars/makes and the like, and frankly if you care, you shouldn't be a vehicle with view several vehicles Electronic instruments or considerations for saving in favor of the best value for money. It has 25 of the most common service functions (TPMS, EBS, SAS, SRS.), however they do not work on every supported vehicle. This is common with these tools as some models require a special tool and some features such as immobilizer are of limited use. I've used it successfully on a 2007 Toyota Camry to disable the immo and reprogram the key but it didn't work on a 2016 Kia Sorento but my Launch Diagun recoded the car for Kia (Launch Diagun last year cost $799). compared to $450 - with coupon - for the Autel MK808). AutoVIN technology makes things easier, not that it's difficult to select a car based on make, trim model and transmission, but AutoVIN makes it even easier, picking up the correct vehicle every time I plug it into the ODB2 connector connect. Live data is a great tool, and its depth is probably what separates these scanners from the cheap budget options that spit out the code you're looking for and determine what's wrong with the car, and definitely goes 'deeper' than the more advanced ones Options Bluetooth ODB2 (like ODB Fusion which has saved my skin a couple of times) when it comes to transmission, injector, airbag/SRS scan and features. The interface is extremely simple. use and requires no training to operate. The hardware itself is top notch. The hard case is made of durable plastic and can withstand bumps, falls and spills. The device runs on Android, is easy to use and comes with a pre-installed screen protector. The ODB2 cable is thick and the pins worked on vehicles I had to shake the Launch Diagun bluetooth adapter to work, not sure if it's the thicker pins or just the diagan pins worn out (inclined at first ), but this cable worked for me. The other ODB adapter didn't work without extra wiggling. The screen on the unit is bright and easy to read/operate, the unit was built for a body shop to withstand reasonable use and abuse, the stand was a nice addition that my more expensive Diagun doesn't have. Something I don't like about these scanners. Autel and Launch are the most common, aside from the exorbitantly expensive Bosch/SnapOn, and both Autel and Launch will charge you an additional fee of around $200/year to update the firmware on the scanner so that the clock works from the day of the scanner scanner is activated. Of course, if you're a full-time or part-time auto technician, you'll get that money back right away on day one, but that's what Autel "does better" than Launch, technically you can still use the scanner and all of its properties. Features after this year, it just won't support 'new features' and that's another issue of mine, 'new features' is nothing more than a subscription and something dark is going on, my last autel scanner has started behaving when subscription expired but as soon as i paid everything worked. No new options, no new features, just like before with the "firmware update". But at least Autel will let you use it, Launch WILL NOT, the scanner will stop working until you shell out a subwoofer. In summary, it's a solid sweet spot for the novice professional, performing most service functions with ease and generating reports with ease, speed, and accuracy. If you do household chores, this is probably all you will ever need. If you're making a lot of immobilizers/switches I'd look elsewhere as this unit is pretty limited in that regard, but other than that it's a great choice and probably the best value for the amount of features and depth information you have receive the vehicle's control unit.