Save Your Wallet With an OBD-II Reader
A tiny piece of technology can save you hundreds in headaches.
It’s been said that paying for good oil and making sure you change it regularly is the cheapest warranty program you can buy for a car. Well, we would like to add that buying an OBD-II reader is the second best and second cheapest option. This is especially true when dealing with something as advanced as a Mercedes-Benz. With dozens of complex electronic systems on board, it can be easy for one thing to go wrong and cause a lot of problems.
With a simple OBD-II reader, you can keep track of most of the deeper systems inside the car and stop small problems before they become major hassles. The quick Mercedessource video above gives us a quick example of how a cheap OBD-II reader saved potentially hundreds of dollars in repairs on the host’s Smart Four-Two when his check-engine light came on.
CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About the OBD-II Reader
One quick look at the reader told him there was an issue with injector 1. Pop the hood and boom: exposed, damaged wires. A little bit of time to strip and splice the wires, and everything is fixed. Potentially these wires could have shorted out, and maybe burned out the electronic coil in the injector. The cost to pay for that problem to be diagnosed, and then repaired, could have easily been a few hundred dollars.
There are now some incredibly good OBD-II readers that run off of Bluetooth direct to your smart phone to help you monitor and diagnose problem codes quickly and easily. The BlueDriver OBD-II reader we keep in our tool box is a little expensive at $99, but you can find great models for less than $30 on Amazon. Pick one up, and use it every time your car starts acting a little funny. Even if you don’t get an error light, you can use the real-time data from an OBD-II to spot issues like air-fuel ratio problems.
Your Mercedes is equipped with the best technology to help keep you safe and comfortable. Why don’t you go pick up a piece of technology to help your Mercedes stay running its best?
