This section of AutoServiceTech will share with you some of our favorite tools.  And you can add them to your collection, by clicking on the tool name and visiting our good friends at AES!  Your purchase will also support the AutoServiceTech site, and is much appreciated...

This tool is by far the best for TPMS work.  It activates and reads sensors quickly, stores the information, and makes fast work of TPMS diagnosis.  On some models, it can even communicate directly through the DLC (Diagnostic Link Connector), allowing you to read stored sensor registrations or download those stored in the tool. 

The Bartech 300 and 300 Plus are more affordable versions of this tool, without the DLC capability. 

Check it out:  Bartech TPMS Tool

The PowerProbe 3 is like having the positive end of a Digital Voltmeter in your hand at all times.  The tool has a meter face built in, and leads long enough to allow you to reach nearly anywhere on the car.  This makes basic circuit diagnosis much easier.

The lights on the front of the tool make life in dark places less of a hassle.  No more holding a flashlight while trying to hold the probe leads at the same time.

The probe sounds high when measured voltage at the test point is within 0.50 volts of the battery, and a low tone when the measured voltage is less than 0.50 volts.  A quick toggle of the rocker switch allows you to apply battery voltage or ground to the test probe's end. 

It's the first tool I grab for most electrical checks.

The LineSpi is a pass through breakout box you can plug into any OBDII Diagnostic Link Connector.  It makes testing loss of communications issues easier, and prevents damage to the female pins of the DLC itself.  Since it is a pass through, you can connect your scan tool to it and view data while  you monitor the bus lines via the LED indicators.  The jacks allow easy connection to a scope for pattern viewing, and you can even test the voltage drop on the chassis/signal pins by plugging in your scan tool and turning it on to load the circuit.  Then use your voltmeter, one lead to battery ground and the other to pins 4 and 5.  Add it to your toolbox today!

Let me say right from the start that there is no one perfect scan tool.  But no matter if you're a do-it-yourselfer or a professional technician, it's hard to beat this one.  

The Ross-Tech VCDS is a near factory equivalent to Volkswagen's VAG-COM tool.  If you own, or work on, VW/Audi products, you'd be hard pressed to find a scan tool more capable than the VCDS.  Add in the product and technical support and this is a hard tool NOT to add to your toolbox!