Redd

I know Ross is the gold standard, but these folks are selling the EKTA 7.4 2013.12 software, which I'd like to have as a reference.

Whether their VAG COM package is any good, to read or write to the modules, is a whole other question.

Anyone dealt with them at all?

jakematic

That VAS 5054 looks like a reverse engineered knockoff of an Audi dealer tool and uses ODIS: https://erwin.audiusa.com/erwin/usa/..._Equipment.pdf
I have ODIS and it's really kludgy compared to the Ross-Tech interface.

The ETKA you reference, and all copies on the internet, are cracked versions.

In my opinion you'd be better served using erWin and partslink24 to supplement genuine VCDS.
Additional information available here.

A couple trips to the dealership can more than make up the cost of the tools.

Redd

Thanks Jake. I have always purchased a gen-you-whine printed shop manual on the same day I pick up a new car, but since Audi refuses to sell one, I have to look at options. This is the first I've heard that a genuine Audi (ERWIN) subscription exists but frankly...at over a thousand dollars per year, every year?

Wow.

And considering that even a one-shot access at $35 isn't likely to be long enough to resolve a typical issue...Wow again.

Partslink looks like a good find though, thanks for that. Do you know if orders through partslink get any automatic discount from MSRP? Or does that still have to be negotiated through each dealership?

jakematic

Well..... I usually get 24 hour access for $35 and download all the PDFs I need.
Ongoing TSB updates and such, yeah that's a different story.

Then again I just do this for mine, family and good friends, and am not really in the repair business.


I haven't setup my partslink account so I'm not sure.
When I need parts I order from AudiWorld sponsors AudiUSAparts or ECS Tuning.

Redd

This is also personal, just for my car, for me. I didn't see any suggestion that you could do a raid, i.e. download a mass of PDF files as opposed to thousands of separate web pages or screen shots. Can you give me a better idea of what's up there, how it is organized? Is that like the printed chapters in a conventional service manual? Or..?

jakematic

Agreed.
I wouldn't suggest anyone game the system, re-distribute, or try to mass download everything.
When I moved from D3 to D4 I paid and downloaded the latest documents since the $299 Bentley manual doesn't cover newer models.

It's been a while so I plan to pay again and refresh some of them and check TSBs.
Was helping a friend with a C5 do some diagnosis so I paid the $35 and got the section we needed for that vehicle.

Per their subscription pricing:
Every Audi every made that there is service information on is available for that price.
These are the actual manuals the dealerships use too...
Even the one day price includes printing rights, so I chose to download instead of generating a ream of printed paper.

It's organized very similar to the Bentley if you've ever used that - all by group or category.
Some documents are 10 or less pages, some in the many hundreds.
This is what I got for my Audi:

Redd

Not trying to game the system, only saying that if I need to find out how to access one component (i.e. how to remove the roof antenna, how to access anything that's not immediately obvious if you don't just want to pry and tear) I shouldn't need to pay $35 for the day to answer a simple question. I'd rather download everything, have it on hand, and $35 is not unreasonable for an individual customer for one non-oriented "book". Considering a paper book can be $50-100, with 1/3 of that going to printing and distribution costs, 1/3 of that going to dealer parts counter, and just the last 1/3 ($33?) being what the manufacturer is happy enough to get in the first place.

At $35 with "some assembly required" I think all parties could be happy enough. At $1000...oink oink, that's not going to work except for business users.

jakematic

Apologies - didn't mean to imply you were.
Can see how others might want to try though....

The way I see it the downloads are in lieu of the included printing rights, so I downloaded those applicable to my vehicle.


Yep.
If I win the lottery I'll buy a whole year, otherwise it's pay per view in my book.