How much for an ECU diagnostic scan?

[alexmerlin1]

Hi guys, was just wondering what a reasonable cost for an ECU diagnostic scan would be? My car's check engine light flashes occasionally and I need to get it checked out, however most places I've called have huge price differences. Some places I called charged up to $100 for a (what I gather, a very easy simple job) scan and this isn't even fixing my car yet. The lowest price I managed to get was $70.


Also, if anyone knows of a good mechanic in Melbourne, preferably in the West, who won't charge an arm and a leg for servicing, feel free to let me know

 

[bertieg]

I'd recommend buying yourself a scanner off eBay. Can be had for as little as £10 over here and are usually pretty reliable

 

[Chrisgti6]

You aren't just paying to get the fault codes read though, you are paying for that persons expertise. Fault code reading is ony one part of diagnosing the problem, as the faults that appear on the ECU aren't always guaranteed to be the actual issue. They may well need to do further diagnostics to correctly diagnose the issue.

That said, as above a cheap fault code reader would probably give you a good idea where to start looking.