03'55AMG

I have been tossing around the idea of getting european coverage for my scanner (snap on solus ultra) for a while now, but my truck driver gave me a steal for it, so I finally picked it up. I was wondering how much more STAR offers than snap on can give. I haven't actually hooked it up to the car yet, but by the looks of it, it is quite extensive in its coverage. Here's just the categories. What options it has after you select a category, I don't know yet. But I hear its quite in depth. Any opinions? If the Solus can do what STAR can, then who wants to buy an in new condition STAR setup? I would rather use one tool and simple cable then a whole laptop with a multiplexer and bulky cords.

green1212

how much would you be asking for the diagnostic system and will it require any "upgrades" as the years pass by??? never own any system of that type. thanks!

3BNick

I have a snap on Verdict and even with its decent coverage I still need to go to OEM tools for programing and replacement of control units. I haven't compared it to star yet as I don't own one, but usually there is always something the manufacturers system does more/better than an outside machine.

stockC43

Star, plain and simple. Don't waist your money on anything else. They will never come close to what a star can do on a MB product. Trust me, I've tried them.

03'55AMG

Is the euro coverage even worth buying for MB then? It may not be able to program modules and such, but it would be a hell of an easy tool for diagnosing the car rather than with a laptop that has to boot up and such versus my scanners 8 second boot and favorite vehicle selection. So as far as the coverage goes after diagnosing and code retrieval, I will most likely use STAR, unless Snap on can do it too. I will play around with it and see.

justinwrock

A friend has a solus scanner, and it's a pretty good unit.

After playing with an SDS and a Solus, the SDS wins...

The SDS was able to tell me which cylinder was misfiring, and which plug of the two was misfiring. The Solus just told me which cylinder it was. Made fixing it a whole lot easier in the end!

3BNick

Buying the euro package is worth it if you work in the repair industry and you are using it frequently. If you only have this machine for yourself or as a hobbyist, you will find out it's a little overkill. I will tell you, I have an Autel Maxidas DS708 ($1600 new with one free year of updates) and a Snap on Verdict ($8,000 not including yearly software bundle purchases of around $1000 each) and the Autel does almost as much as the Verdict. I can only justify keeping the Verdict as I need a lab scope and the Autel does not have that feature. I am still looking to add an SDS with developer mode to my arsenal if I plan on keeping my car for much longer.