MINI VCI TECHSTREAM from Amazon has trojan virus, counterfeit software

You serious? Counterfeit? for $25.....I'm going to have to tell those guys at Toyota that sells this thing for $2000+ that there's a counterfeit out there!

 

Many of us buy a cheap computer on craigslist and run the program. Don't do anything else with the computer.

 

doh

 

Virus -- could be. The one I ordered from Amazon -- they neglected to send the software disc so all I got was the "tool" -- no matter, I found "another source" from a car forum.

Before install -- on a laptop that I basically use for nothing else, I scanned the program with AVAST, Malwarebytes and Kapersky and they found nothing.

The thing is, you do have my sympathy -- on the other hand, if you had done due diligence before buying, you would have seen tons of recommendations about being VERY careful before installing any of these things....

And, no, just because they have YOUR info, it does not carve a path to everyone's...

 

In a decade or two, maybe some legal eagle will call them on this. Say: if you're going to lumber a car with computers, the owners of those cars have a right to reasonably priced access to them.

 

Too much power given to owners can be a bad thing, liability wise

 

Ok, just for the record, if you want no malware and a clear conscience, you need any J2534 dongle (Mini VCI ain't bad hardware for $25, just skip the pirateware that may come with it) and any time you need a two-day official Techstream activation it's $55 at techinfo.toyota.com. Not chump change, but probably no worse than what you'd pay for code reading at the dealer (and a lot better if you figure in your time and hassle to schedule an appointment and get the car there) and it sure ain't $2000+.

I'm not saying I'm fully satisfied with the arrangement. The go-online-and-pay-for-an-activation model still strikes me as a big impairment to usability, because if I'm in the middle of a trip and some lights come on and I have the necessary hardware with me, I want to be using it to diagnose the car, not having to jump through administrative hoops first, which might even be really hard if I'm not where there's good data coverage. That just doesn't fit the way people work, or want to work.

I paid about $200+ for my manuals (back when dead-tree versions were the thing) and have never regretted it, that's among the best auto-related dollars I've spent. Now that $15 opens them up on techinfo, trying to do any serious work without them is just penny-wise and pound-bonkers. Likewise, I would pay something reasonable for a Techstream license but I'd prefer one that doesn't go ding at the end of some arbitrary time. There's not a lot of software sold that way any more, as they might notice if they took a look around. I really think the stupid PID lists ought to be as downloadable as the manuals. If you didn't want all the all-singing, all-dancing glitz of Techstream, you'd still know what PIDs to plug into some generic ELM327 tool if you needed some info on the side of the road.

I had a moment of pleasure at the news that the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers had finally decided to fall in line behind the Massachusetts Right-to-Repair law rather than waiting to see what other states might come up with. It was a short moment of pleasure because the MA law doesn't really seem to require much beyond what Toyota already has with techinfo. And of course the trade groups will now use the deal to resist more meaningful initiatives in other states. So ... there's still work to be done on right-to-repair ....

-Chap

 

Techstream lite is $1345, if you want the official cheaper version.

 

The $1345 offer you're looking at is a combination of 3 things:

• $495 for a J2534 dongle (yours to keep). If you prefer the Toyota tested/endorsed one from Drew Technologies, that's what it costs. Others, like the Mini VCI for ~ $25, can be less.
• $1095 for a techinfo subscription that permits you to use the software as long as your subscription is in force.
• -$245 introductory discount on that first subscription year.

If I ran a shop, the $1095 yearly techinfo subscription might make sense. As a DIYer that's not the choice that I would be able to economically justify, considering I would spend most of the year not using it, so the $55 two-day subscription is the one that matters in my situation (and, I assume, the situations of other PriusChatters except the ones who run shops). Those are the prices for a "professional" techinfo subscription, which is the minimum level to get an activation key for the Techstream software. If all you want is service manual and TSB downloads, etc., $15 per two days will do that.

A possible minor annoyance if using the two day subscription option only when needed is that each new subscription produces a different activation key you need to stuff into the software.

The differences between the "cheaper" Techstream Lite and the "Full Techstream 2.0" are that the latter includes a dongle with several older vehicle connectors besides the DLC3 style used in our Prii, and it comes preinstalled on an official branded ruggedized laptop in a giant dorky-looking rubbery hardcase with bumpers and handles on all sides, probably made from 100% recycled $640 toilet seats.

You could, of course, buy ten or twenty laptops on craigslist for the price and throw away the first nineteen as you happen to spill brake fluid on them. But then you have to deal with regenerating your registration key every time you need to move the software to the next laptop. That's the kind of nonsense that annoys me in the software world.

-Chap

 

This post is such a farce. Let's give you the benefit of the doubt and say you're right, and the version of software delivered was addled with malware. So post a link to the seller. You can't just extrapolate that all the techstream for sale on Amazon is malware.