Hardware guide
AutoScan is software. It reaches your car through an ELM327 adapter that costs very little and is sold everywhere. We no longer sell them, so here is exactly what to look for — and what sends people back to the returns desk.
The short answer
AutoScan does not care whose name is on the adapter. If it is an ELM327 and your computer can see it, AutoScan can use it. These are the three you will meet — the first one is what we supplied for years and what most people should buy.
Buy this one
Black case, orange-and-blue label, OBD2 plug at one end and a USB plug at the other. Plug it into the car and into a Windows laptop and you are connected. Nothing to pair, nothing to charge, nothing to drop out mid-reading.
Ford, Mazda, Lincoln, Mercury
Physically the same interface, with a small silver metal toggle sticking out of the side of the case, right where the cable leaves it. The toggle re-routes which pins of the OBD2 socket the adapter listens on, so one cable can reach more than one of the car’s internal networks.
For PLUS and above
A small dongle with no cable that stays in the OBD2 port and pairs with a phone, tablet or laptop. The right choice when you need to watch live data while the car is being driven rather than sitting on the drive.
The question everyone asks
For AutoScan itself, the plain cable and the toggle cable do exactly the same job. AutoScan reads the car over the high-speed CAN bus, which is where the engine, transmission, ABS and emissions data live — and that is the toggle’s default position anyway. Buy the plain one and nothing is missing.
The toggle earns its money on Ford, Mazda, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, and only if you also intend to run the free Ford-specific tools such as FORScan. Those cars put a second network, the medium-speed CAN bus, on different pins of the same socket, and a plain adapter is wired only to the first one. Flick the toggle and the same cable reaches the modules on that second network:
In short: one car and AutoScan, buy the plain cable. A Ford or Mazda you also plan to configure with FORScan, spend the extra few pounds on the toggle — it is the same adapter and it costs almost nothing more. Either way, set the toggle to the default position before running AutoScan; in the switched position the software will not find the engine.
Product images are illustrations of the type of adapter to look for. Exact styling varies by seller — the case colour and label wording are what identify it.
Buying well
Almost every listing says “v1.5” or “v2.1”, and the number on the sticker rarely tells you anything about the chip inside. Do not pay extra for a higher number. Judge the seller by their feedback instead.
These are cheap mass-produced devices and a small share of them are simply faulty. A seller who accepts returns turns that from a loss into an inconvenience. This matters far more than the brand.
Adapters with switches, extra LEDs or bundled discs add nothing AutoScan uses. A plain ELM327 cable with a moulded plug is the least likely to disappoint.
A USB adapter must appear in Windows Device Manager as a COM port. Most are recognised automatically; if yours is not, the seller should supply the driver. This is the single most common setup problem.
Listings promising full manufacturer-level access on every make for £9 are overstating it. An ELM327 speaks the standard OBD2 protocols, which is what AutoScan needs and what your car actually publishes.
You do not need a USB cable and a Bluetooth dongle. Pick the one that matches how you will work. You can always add the other later.
Where to buy
ELM327 adapters are stocked by every major marketplace and most motor factors. We have no affiliation with any seller and earn nothing from your choice — these are simply searches that return the right kind of product.
Links open eBay UK search results in a new tab. Buy wherever you prefer — Amazon, Halfords and local motor factors all stock the same thing.
Use it. If you have bought an ELM327 for any other app — Torque, Car Scanner, FORScan — the same adapter works with AutoScan. There is nothing to buy again.
For ECU work
An ELM327 reads and clears what the vehicle publishes. It cannot write to a module.
If you are doing module-level work — reading and writing ECUs, cloning, immobiliser or EEPROM work — you need a programming interface appropriate to the vehicle and module, in addition to a diagnostic adapter. AutoScan ULTRA, ULTIMATE and the ECU Tuning Pack supply the software, the libraries and the reference material; they do not include a programming interface, and no single interface covers every vehicle.
No. You can install AutoScan and look around the software without one. You will need the adapter before it can read anything from a vehicle.
No. Every edition is software and a licence key. We stopped selling hardware so we could concentrate on the software, and because an ELM327 is cheaper and faster to buy locally than to have posted from us.
Nine times out of ten, Windows has not assigned it a COM port, or AutoScan is pointed at the wrong one. The second tutorial video covers this in about two minutes.
If that does not fix it, email autoscanhelp@gmail.com with the adapter you bought and your Windows version.
A standard ELM327 reads the diagnostic port and cannot write to a module, so the risk is very low. Do not leave a Bluetooth dongle plugged in permanently on a car that is parked for long periods — some draw enough current to flatten a battery over weeks.
Download the trial and read a real code off your own car before you spend anything on software.
