Techstream cable

Originally, before the cheap Chinese knock offs you had to pay close to a thousand dollars for what they called a Mongoose cable, which came with Toyota Techstream license... So maybe something like this might work: Mangoose Pro GM II Cable Supports GDS2 for Global Vehicle Diagnostics Of course that's still a cheap knock off, but maybe better than the $25 ones?

 

You can still definitely get the Mongoose Pro, which is the dongle Toyota actually tests Techstream with and recommends. It's not a thousand bucks, more like $495 last time I checked. Sometimes it was offered in a package deal with a year of Techstream, around $1300 for the package, but if you're not a shop, it probably makes more sense to just have the dongle, and do Techstream two days at a time.

The Mangoose is just a counterfeit Mongoose, not much different from buying a counterfeit XHorse MVCI. (As far as I know, youcan't buy a real XHorse MVCI anymore, unless you get it from a collector; people going hog-wild for the counterfeits meant the actual XHorse people couldn't keep making the real ones.)

I've had decent results with the Tactrix Openport 2.0 (California company, still making it last I checked), which even has some handy extra features like onboard datalogging. Beware: they also face a counterfeiting problem. You know you're getting a real one if you order from their site ($169 last I checked) ... cheap ones you find elsewhere are fakes. Please don't buy fakes of those, since that company is one of the last around still able to make their own product, and we'd rather not lose them. If you don't want to spend $169, please buy somebody else's different cheaper product, not a counterfeit of that one.

There's a VxDiag Nano, I think around $80, that I think good things have been reported about.

They'll pretty much all come with their own driver DLLs. The XHorse one will only work with the XHorse dongles (or counterfeit XHorse dongles), and so on. Techstream won't care which one you're using, as long as the matching driver is loaded.

 

... and you do not need to mess with Techstream (uninstall, reinstall, etc), except to change the VIM using the Setup Menu option.



After you have installed the cable driver DLL, it should show up in the menu as an option to be selected.

 

The Tacttix site doesn't mention Toyota or Prius - did they used to and get threatened with a lawsuit?
Tactrix Openport 2.0

Also, You mention using Techstream "2 days at a time" - is there a Trial Version that allows that for free?

Thanks

 

They don't have to mention Toyota or Prius; their product is a vehicle interface conforming to the SAE standard J2534, which is what Toyota's Techstream software requires. I think the history of the Tactrix is just that the makers originally came out of the Subaru enthusiast community.

Toyota's two-day and yearly TIS rates can be seen here. The "professional diagnostic" level is the one that unlocks Techstream.

 

Mechanic says he'd also need one of these between the Tactrix and his PC - is that correct?

Multi-Diag Access J2534 Pass-Thru OBD2 Device

 

That appears to do approximately the same thing as the Tactrix. I don't understand how you would use two such devices in series, so I think your mechanic is mistaken. He would use one or the other, but not both.

Mark me as another Tactrix fan, I bought one 8 years ago for my Subaru and it still comes in handy even though that car is gone.