wonderful community you have here. just a little about myself, i have been involved in diagnostic for quite some time with my father. Even though i am not qualified, i am currently doing my course and finding it a breeze to get through

currently using carmanscan VG+ (scan/4 ch scope) and the G-scan for a year now.

g'day nobbyclrk, Sydney is home for me

like you i too was getting frustrated with the VG+, i originally had the first VG and upgraded to the VG+ hoping the new display and processor in them would improve things. it did speed things up but the vehicle software updates they put out came with more bugs, and sometimes you have to revert back to the older versions and is just time consuming when u just want to get in there and the darn thing doesn't communicate with the ecu, so there u are checking if its your scanner that has the problem or the car. the VG has a 40GB Hard drive but really all the important software is on a 32MB internal memory yes 32MB!  and its sad to say that it now can not save all the manufacturers in there at one time. I'm sure you know what to do in that case. if u look at the Nex-tek website they now release a VG+ 64 which i'm assuming is a 64MB version. my update for the VG is due for renewal but i don't think i will be needing it since i got the Gscan.

the only thing i like about the VG+ is the scope and simul-scan, being able to send a voltage, pulse through the sensor signal wire and reading it in the live data to confirm wiring is fine instead of removing/back probing the ecu and checking the pins.

another thing about the VG+, what ever you do, never use the service reset feature for a VX commodore as it will stuff up the instrument cluster speedo, and the speed sensor pulse would need to be reprogrammed for correct calibration or get a new instrument cluster so do it manually. ASS will never admit that it is the scanners fault, but it is. i'm not sure if they have speedo correction added yet (hardly use VG now), but the gscan can do it.

now about the Gscan, its one fast unit. you will notice this as soon as you turn it on unlike the carmanscan when loading. you have a simple menu layout, and when doing diagnosis on the same car its very handy to have the previous vehicle button instead of going through all the drop down menus again. i would have to say this is the best for asian cars including those imports that show up. as for KIA and Hyundai the software is OE same as dealer so the user interface is different from the rest of the manufacturers, not hard to follow once you use it a few times.

its also great for holdens, as now you can link second hand ecu for the VZ onwards. i recently change the ecu for a 2002 nissan N16 pulsar, brand new unit would cost $2000, picked one up from the wreckers for $100, the fella wanted to sell me the whole thing with keys and immobiliser warning me its not going to work without it. we did the job with the pin number shown for programming mode whereas the VG would have made you get it from the dealer

you can do a system scan to check the different modules that are present and number of DTC in there.

so to sum up, the only time i bring out the carman VG is when i need to use the scope to look at ignition, sensor patterns or simulate a sensor. but the Gscan is the first tool i would pull out when doing any diagnosis or programming. i haven't had any bad experience with it yet so hope that helps.

yes its very frustrating because the new updates need bigger internal memory, so what they did was break up the files

australian and usa
asian 1
asian 2
european 1
european 2
korean hyundai
korean kia

you can only save about 4 or 5 of the 7 up there at one time. then u gotta figure which asian or european is in what pack. delete the old pack from the internal memory to make room and load the new. this could take 5-10 minutes if your computer savy, i think the older mechanics would be pissed of if they don't know how to do it.

as for the internal hard drive it has, i use it to save webpages, some articles and repair manual so i can access them on the vg with out internet connection.

once you use the gscan, you'll forget that you ever had a carman VG.

like brad said, nextek did at one time had a good name and product but not any longer

in sydney Peter Crump of mount auto equip is the guy you would want to speak to. yes hes a salesman, but also former tafe teacher and will provide you with the best support for the tool and any diagnostic help. known him close to 10 years now.

yes that is correct, the former petroject now automotive service solutions (ASS:D). i bought the first VG from him and upgraded to the VG+ after he left but still he provided the support i needed with the scanner. he even conducted the training in korea for all the other carmanscan users.

on friday we picked up a hanatech smoke leak detector from him and he did the recent gscan patch update for me while he was here. you would have recieved an email about it today:D

paul109 wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2011 at 2:58am:



yes indeed there was coolant in the idle motor, idle motor burnt out, keeps blowing the 15amp ignition coil fuse.

throttle body and new idle motor was replaced but still didn't get any signal to one of the pins. crack open the ecu and there was a burnt out IC.

symptons noted was idle stuck at 1500rpm,
when driving and coming to a stop the transmission downshifts hard.

paul109 wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2011 at 3:24am:


hah customer mentioned the burning smell after we showed them the ecu and everything was fixed

with all the euro gadgets , about 7 all up

Refer to your 'Repco Trade Solutions'. This months special page 9. For $6995 or $42 per week you too can own your very own G-scan and they will throw in a 'Carbon Zapp fuel system tester'.

Looking at the same flyer over here and its $8495 for the G scan or $9850 with the Zapp flow fuel tester.

Exchange rate wouldn't be helping either.

sidmann wrote on Oct 7^th, 2011 at 10:59pm:


No mate, thinking about sourcing something to help "known good" screen captures being saved to my w/shop pc though.

and yeah, it does pay to deal direct!