New Used Vantage and I got questions

[woefman]

Hello Gang,

I just bought a used Vantage.

I own one of the older ones as well, but screen crapped out and snapon wont fix even at my expense. So i bought a new Used Vantage Pro.

Being paranoid(by being screwed by snapon products in past), I only have 7 days to return this to the ebay seller.

It seems like the Screen is going bad.
I see shadows at times (depending on menu I am in)
and it seems like the screen is crawling or I see lines another words that are
not real obvious. When I say Crawling I mean the lines or shadows seem to be moving like some cathode tube is burning out or floresant light in your garage
for example.

I played with screen menu colors schemes and some are worse than others. ((( Again i'm not real sure if it is normal or not )))

What typically goes out on the screens?

and How much to fix roughly?

Here is the deal...

I got this cheap enough for me to buy the new update.

I don't want to update a machine that will go out on me, for the updates are
locked into one tool( cant be transferred)

I'm wondering if I am better off sending it back ( despite being crushed I been looking for one reasonably priced forever).

Or should i buy a more updated unit and take my chances on that unit being fine.

p.s. The battery was junk and seller agreed to buy or refund me price on new battery. Which in a way even sweetens the pot more.

I cant make up my mind and looking for honest opinions and insight
hopefully without sarcasm.

Pardon my negativity towards snapon, it has nothing to do with their products persay, I just cant afford to rebuy stuff all the time

My mt2500 is outdated now too so looking for a scanner as well.

Im an older Tech and a good tech but back in the day no one or rarley bought there own equipment, but I did, and it frustrates me when it gets outdated before I own it that long or breaks and I cant even pay to get fixed , or reasonably fixed cheap.

[Bob's Garage]

Return it before it's too late


I would return it immediately.
Think of all the benefits of an new Vantage Pro.
Warranty, latest update, new battery and charger.
Think of all the downsides of the unit you just purchased.
Bad battery, bad screen, no warranty, cost to update.
The guy on e-bay was just trying to get rid of the piece of garbage he replaced.

Another idea, since you need a scanner, how about a Modis? It has a 4 channel scope and is a great scanner.

[SnapOnKid]

I would return it. The screen may be the first of many issues with that equipment.

The old vantage's can't be fixed because they no longer have the parts to support the repairs.

The last few updates for the Vantage Pro have added a ton of usefull info. If your dead set on buying a used one try and find something thats not that old and was taken care of. Although electronics can fail there is usually something else behind it that helps it go out. Such as leaving it on for long periods of time with out activly useing it or being rough with the equipment.

I have seen all types of scanners that were less then a year old that were completely destroyed. I think owners are tired of buying equipment that tech's dont take care of. At a local dealership I herd that the owner got tired of buying and repairing broken scanners so often that he said "This is it. I am replaceing this stuff for the last time. If you guys can't take care of this stuff
You can buy your own or Pay to have them fixed when you break them."

They still had 1 or 2 working units so He had 2 units refurbished and bought 2 new ones. With in less then a week one of the brand new units was broken. In side of 6 months all but 1 of the scanners were damaged and needed repair. The only reason the 1 scanner survived is because one of the lead Diagnostic techs and the Service Manager took it and held possesion of it. If you were one of the people that ever damaged a scanner for what ever reason you could not touch it period end of story. The rest either had to buy there own or pay to have the dealer units fixed or replaced.

When it comes to the indepent shops, I Think its a lack of knowledege when it comes to diagnostic equipment and they typically feel most repairs can be done by just reading the fault code and replaceing the parts related. Which as we all know can get you into trouble real quick on some cars. Some times a fault code is just the secondary condition to another problem. VW and Nissan come to mind with those...

[woefman]

Yeah I decided to send it back

I bought a Verus though for cheap Fully Updated.

We shall see how that goes.