Scangauge II on sale, $139.95 at Amazon

Watching the coolant temp can head off potential problems before engine damage can occur. So it's not really about the MPG's.

 

The best use is to read the Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) when the check engine light appear and do you own minor repairs (e.g. coolant temp. sensor)

 

I actually want this for my 2007 Honda Fit since it has ZERO data besides RPM. My Prius already has all the info I need so I wouldn't use it for that car on a steady basis. I'd maybe use it a couple times just to see how the RPM's and coolant temperatures fluctuate under normal driving.

 

Well, my philosophy is this:

There are some that seeks to drive - blissfully unaware of the inner workings, and then there are some that seeks to gain a faint understanding about the car. The choice is yours, as long as you don't cause an accident.

In my opinion, the prius has barely any information on the dash. No coolant temp, no rpm, and depending on your car, you may have also had an oil temp gauge, oil pressure gauge, boost pressure, 12v battery voltage, and perhaps a fuel ratio meter... A scangauge simply adds a few of those gauges in. I don't see people with "normal" cars getting into an accident just because they took a glance at the speedometer or the coolant temp. Once you get used to it, the scangauge is as un-distracting as one of the normal gauges on a normal car.

 

How does one view surplus items at Amazon? I assume they're at discount prices?

 

I don't get 45-55 mpg because of my now very short drives, mostly in the city. When I lived in CA, I achieved a tank above 50 mpg only w/my regular commute only by keeping my speed below 70 mph for the entire tank. Never gotten even that up here in WA.

By "almost zero emission", sure, emissions of what the EPA considered pollutants (e.g. carbon monoxide, particulate matter, etc.) is low but carbon based fuel is burned and thus every gallon of gasoline burned results in 19.4 pounds of CO2 (Emission Facts: Average Carbon Dioxide Emissions Resulting from Gasoline and Diesel Fuel | US EPA). The EPA didn't consider CO2 a pollutant, until recently but that doesn't figure in to the emission ratings (Tier 2 Bin x, ULEV, SULEV, AT-PZEV, etc.) Per Side-by-Side Comparison, and gen Prius would emit 4.1 tons of CO2/year given the driving profile listed there.

People have different reasons for it, like wanting to understand what's going on in their car, wanting to drive in SHM, wanting to prevent the ICE from unnecessarily running to provide cabin heat while it's cold [me], ensuring that we don't overheat if we block our grilles [me], etc.

I definitely don't stare at or try to do things like SHM while in heavy traffic. It's far too dangerous. Drivers just need to use some common sense.

 

I'd like to have a Scan II for diagnostics on all four of my vehicles. As far as using it to monitor ongoing operations while driving, I'd sooner just drive and concentrate on the road and traffic. I've found that getting all anal buys me another 1 or 2 MPG, at the cost of driving enjoyment and attentiveness. If I just drive it like any other car I get about 50 MPG. My old minivan got around 19 or 20 MPG, so I'm plenty happy with that. I'll admit though, at 6" 2", I'll be glad when my new seat extenders arrive!

 

... which is why we got our Scangauge prior to our cross country road trip with four persons, roof rack and all the camping gear. Coolant temperature was not a problem, but it was nice to know that all was well.

PA P

 

Re: Scangauge II on sale, $144.46 at Amazon

Not quite as cheap as when this thread was started. I got notification thanks to camelcamelcamel.com.

 

Re: Scangauge II on sale, $121.40 at Amazon

I just got an alert thanks to camelcamelcamel.com. It's down to $121.40 now!

 

Now down to $118.85!

 

Just got it for $118 not tax/free shipping from Amazon (seller name: Trend Marketing).

 

I bought one on December 10th from Amazon at $121.40. As of today (December 16th) they are $122.45. So it seems to be drifting up and down a little. For those who don't know you can put something in your Amazon cart and then click Save for Later, then every time you open your Amazon cart you get notified of any price changes for anything in your cart. At any one moment I normally have a bunch of stuff in my Amazon cart and usually check it every day. Some things stay in my cart for several months until the price finally drops. There are other websites that track prices for you but if you mainly buy from Amazon this is an easy way to do it.

Also I'm wondering if the recent price drop on the ScanGauge II is because they have something new in the works?

 

I just got an alert that it's back down to $124.99 at Amazon. From camelcamelcamel, it looks like it was $159.95 prior to this.

 

^^ Thanks for the alert. I passed it on to an interested friend.

 

Yes scangauge II is useful and very informative. Yet per wolfie52 said,it's good to enjoy the ride and scenery when your baby is doing good. And those 'towards excellency' Prius owners are still doing their best to improve. It's up to all of us. But must pay attention during our driving. Enjoy.

 

I bought mine used on ebay in September for $70 and free shipping, used it for a month, got sick of the wire hanging all over the place, put it back on ebay and got $120 for it! Wish all my ebay auctions went that way....

So yeah, dont rule out used SG2's. Check your craigslist & ebay listings.

 

Wow! Good deal. I didn't buy mine used. I just tied up the excess wire w/a twist tie. It's not hanging all over the place.

Problem is the risk w/Ebay. I used to sell stuff on Ebay and have bought a few things. I'd been ripped off 2x by sellers (non-delivery of the item and no response after I'd paid). Once I got no $ back from Ebay/Paypal. It wasn't a huge loss (<$30). I am puzzled as that seller seemed to have sold lots of stuff and had a good rep.

The other they did get all the $ back, luckily as it was ~$500. The fraudster suddenly ended the auction early. I didn't expect to "win", but I never received the item.

Ebay doesn't seem to do squat other than make them "not a registered user".

 

Amazon.com: ScanGauge II Ultra Compact 3-in-1 Automotive Computer with Customizable Real-Time Fuel Economy Digital Gauges: Automotive back down to $139.99. Ok price, but not great.

You can get an idea of their prices at ScanGauge II Ultra Compact 3-in-1 Automotive Computer with Customizable Real-Time Fuel Economy Digital Gauges | Amazon price tracker / tracking, Amazon price history charts, Amazon price watches, Amazon price drop alerts | camelcamelcamel.com. There was a Gold Box deal long ago (Amazon Gold box deal on ScanGauge II | PriusChat) that was better than anything listed at camelcamelcamel.

 

Meh.