The ThinkCar ThinkDiag TKD01 is among the largest Bluetooth-based OBD-II automotive diagnostic scanners. It's the diagnostic scanner to get if you have an '80s or early-'90s car. With a list price of nearly $200, the Bosch OBD 1300 may seem expensive until you see how many cars it can work with. It can check the anti-lock brakes and air bags on most cars released from 1996 to 2013, monitor the charging system and battery and run a pre-inspection emissions test. You'll need to get the instruction manual from Bosch's website. The scanner's database holds details on 26 million repair suggestions. Instead, it uses AA batteries or your car's cigarette lighter to power its large color screen, which shows graphing data clearly. Unlike many handheld diagnostic scanners, the Bosch OBD 1300 doesn't get power from your car's OBD-II port. It can get heavy once the 6-foot extension cable is attached, but the OBD 1300's small size hides its powerful range of abilities. The Bosch OBD 1300 diagnostic scanner stands out by including cables to connect with pre-1996 Chrysler, Ford, GM and Toyota cars. The best OBD-II scanners is no longer an unaffordable luxury, but something you need to have in your car. Whichever type you choose, there are several high-performance OBD-II scanners that cost less than $200.

There are two general types of devices, handhelds and wireless scanners, with fairly self-explanatory names. Not all the best OBD-II scanners are created equal. (Here's how to find your car's OBD-II port (opens in new tab) on North American cars, and here's how to find your OBD-II/EOBD port worldwide (opens in new tab).) OBD-II/EOBD scanners work on almost all passenger vehicles sold in the United States since 1996, in Canada since 1998, in the European Union since 2004, and in Australia, Mexico and New Zealand since 2006. Saving you unnecessary trips to a mechanic, and stopping unscrupulous types from taking you for a ride. A good scanner can identify if your problem is trivial matter that takes a few minutes to fix, or if it's more serious. On-board diagnostic (OBD) scanners plug directly into your car's access port, and give you a glimpse at what's going on in your car's computer.

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