OBD 2 & OBD 1 compliant - 1982 to present...

Currently the Equus 3130 engine scan tool is one of the best-selling OBD II tools on the market, however that may be due to the 63% discount rather than the Equus 3130 selling on merit.

We want to find out if this OBDII scanner from Innova lives up to the high level of quality, features and user-friendliness that the company is known for with its other diagnostic scanners. The Equus 3100, 3030 and 3160 all lived up to expectations so let’s see if the Equus 3130 does too. We look at whose opinions matter the most to find this out – actual users and reviewers of the Equus 3130 scan tool. Let’s see what they had to say…

Skip the Equus 3130 review and save 63% – click here…

Innova Equus 3130

Generally the 3130 fared well. The device scored and average of 4.2 out of 5 stars from a total of 145 customers at the time of writing. Of those 84 people awarded the full 5 stars and a further 37 gave a 4 star rating. This means the Equus 3130 has an overall satisfaction score of 84.3%! The remaining ratings were given with 11 people scoring 3 stars, 2 people giving 2 stars and 11 people 1 star.

The main reason people bought the Equus 3130 is that the scanner not only gives diagnostic readings for OBD II but also for OBD I which is for vehicles from 1982 to 1995, including Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

Judging by the reviewers as a whole, they seem to be in agreement that the Equus 3130 offers possibly the best features to value ratio of any OBDII scan tool. This is especially true of those who managed to get the 63% discount!

“Best bang for the buck…”

“This scanner has amazing abilities considering the price…”

However, among the majority 5 star reviewers, it was the ease-of-use and speed at which the scanner picked up fault codes that seemed to impress the most…

“This unit out performed a commercial unit that notably was several years old but had recently been software up dated (to the tune of over $1,000)…”

“I work at a dealership and use this scanner frequently. It is super fast at retrieving and clearing dtc’s which is important when you work in the industry…”

“I’ve now used it on 3 different vehicles and ive gotta tell you, this is probably the best scan tool i’ve used with the exception of professional grade tools from snap-on or mac that can cost 10 thousand or more…”

Of course not all reviewers were so happy with their purchase as those above, some people expected faster update times for example:

“Mode-01 Live data is very slow to update. Sometimes when you choose Live data mode by pressing button, unit does not respond immediately to command and often hangs while getting initial PID download from ECU-PCM…”

This person scored lower as they wanted more features…

“This tool was capable of an additional level of communication that $20-$50 scanners couldn’t do, but it didn’t have the full reach of $1,000 commercial products…”

Another user found the Equus 3130 maybe a little too complicated for his tastes:

“The user interface could be a lot more easier to navigate. If you buy one, plan on reading the manual…”

It should also be noted that the Equus 3103 does not come with a USB socket for connecting to a PC, you will need a serial adapter which can be found for a few dollars quite easily online.

“You will need to buy a serial (RS-232) to USB converter and hope the driver is included…”

With the negative points above included, the Equus 3130 OBD II scanner still scored well with overall ratings. It seems we have still not found the perfect OBD II engine code reader, however by judging the user reviews, the 84% satisfaction rating and the 63% discount – it seems the 3130 is the perfect choice for many auto enthusiasts, mechanics and DIY’ers.

Customer Rating:

4.2 out of 5 stars – See the latest rating, user reviews and save 63% here…

Equus 3130 Features

- Retrieves diagnostic trouble codes and definitions (in English, Spanish, or French) from your vehicle’s computer to help diagnose problems.
- Reads check engine light warnings on 1996 and newer vehicles through any OBDII protocol, including CAN (Controller Area Network).
- Views, records, and plays back live data as well as freeze frame data.
- Features built-in memory to store codes, even when reader is unplugged.
- Unique patented all-in-one screen display and LED display.

[The quotes used above are from real users of the Equus 3130 engine diagnostic code reader - Source]

Worth the money?

Though the Equus 3100 engine reader is one of the most popular models currently for OBDII and CAN diagnostics, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s one of the best. Here we aim to see if the devices popularity is warranted and that this OBD II scan tool is actually worth the money. The Innova Equus 3100 is in the mid-price range so we expect a solid performance and good feature set compared to the entry level devices such as the Elmscan 5 or even the 3100′s little brother, the Equus 3030.

Our review roundup below looks at actual Equus 3100 custmomer reviews to see if real auto enthusiasts, mechanics and motorists are won over by the Equus 3100 auto scanner. A quick glance at the overall rating for the Equus 3100 shows that they are…

Skip this and save 56% on the Equus 3100 or see full specs…

Equus 3100 Innova

From a total of 189 user reviews (at the time of writing) the Innova Equus 3100 has an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars. 120 of these awarded the top 5 star rating while another 45 gave 4 stars. This equals 87% of users giving above 4 stars which is impressive for any device and signals a high level of customer satisfaction. It seems Innova are onto a good product here so let’s see what the reviewers had to say.

The main things that people liked most about the Equus 3100 were a combination of the ease of use, the number of features that the device contains including the LED display and the fact that it finds engine trouble quickly (some OBDII scan tools are known to be a little slow). This is summed up well by this Equus 3100 customer:

“I am a professional Technician. This little handy dandy tool is fast, easy, and gets to the point of the problem with little to no issues…”

As the number of 5 star ratings suggest, the quote above is one of many singing this engine reader’s praises…

“Paid for itself on first use…”

“Equus 3100 – Must have and easy to use! I am very pleased to give this unit five stars…”

“Fantastic Product – Saved me money…”

“Comprehensive and convenient OBD2 code reader…”

“Awesome tool…”

We could go on and on listing review quotes like the above as there are so many of them, however there were a few customer that were not so impressed by their Innova 3100. One person was a little underwhelmed and maybe had too high expectations for the Equus 3100…

“It gives the codes, but if you want a freeze frame or a PC printout, you will need to register at the company’s website…”

Another user that rated a lower score was not particularly happy with the quality of the case:

“Reader good, case is not – I like to protect the equipment I get but the case is just an empty plastic box…”

However one thing we noticed with the Equus 3100 review roundup was that negative comments were not often negative towards the product itself and people that rated below 4 stars typically summed the 3100 up like these below…

“Good Product – better choices available…”

“Does what it’s supposed to…”

“This product works fine to read vehicle trouble codes. It will not read trouble codes for the ABS brake system…”

Overall the Equus 3100 is rated highly for use with OBDII engine light trouble and CAN diagnostics, the reviews give a majority thumbs up for the speed and ease of the device however very few products are perfect and the Equus 3100 is marked down for the low quality storage case and lack of storing engine parameters.

To see more Equus 3100 reviews, click the link below.

Customer Rating:

4.4 out of 5 stars – See up-to-date rating, full user reviews plus save $107 on the Equus 3100 OBDII scanner…

Equus 3100 Features

- This powerful OBD2 tool quickly reveals the cause of “Check Engine” light warnings on any foreign or domestic 1996 and newer car, light truck or SUV.
- Features a patented all-in-one screen and LED display for quick State Emissions readiness check and drive cycle verification.
- Automatically refreshes data every 30 seconds when connected to the vehicle, making it easy to verify repair completion.
- Battery backup memory provides off-car review and analysis.
- Comes with access to innova.com RepairSolutions which gives trouble code definitions, a full diagnostic report, probable causes, most likely fixes, and more.

[The quotes used above are from real users of the Equus 3100 scanner - Source]

Simple but effective!

The Elmscan 5 compact OBD II scanner has become the most popular in it’s price range with exception to the Maxiscan MS300. Like the Autel MS300, this engine diagnostic tool and software is aimed at the cost-conscious buyer and is currently priced at only $38.95.

Considering one scan at your local auto garage can set you back over $100 the Elmscan 5 seems pretty good value right? Let’s take a look at what other users thought of their purchase with the Elmscan 5 Compact in our review roundup below. You can also check the main features of this CAN, OBD-II, EOBD and JOBD auto scanner below too.

Go straight to the ElmScan 5 product page to save 35%…

ElmScan 5 Compact

At the time of writing, 86 Elmscan 5 customers had reviewed the product giving it an average of 4 out of 5 stars. 37 people gave 5 stars, 24 gave 4 stars and the rest 3 or below.

Overall people seemed happy with the Elmscan 5′s performance and ability to be able to read and reset most engine check lights in vehicles made from 1996 onwards. Not only that but the general consensus was that it is easy to use but quite basic – a ‘no frills’ OBD II scanner basically.

“Great Deal For The Money…”

“Simple and easy to use OBD Scanner…”

“Very effective scan tool – great value…”

“Works great – no need to buy an expensive tool…”

The comments above are typical of the majority of user reviews for the Elmscan 5, however some people were not impressed with how slow the product was in reading engine trouble…

“Slow. The refresh rate is at best 1-3 updates per second when reading OBD2 values…”

Another negative with the auto scanner is not very accurate fuel mileage calculations as this person testified…

“Fuel mileage calculations with included software is woefully optimistic…”

Negative points like the above are certainly in the minority in people’s reviews of the Elmscan 5. Customer satisfactions seems high with thanks to the features and ability of the scanner to read and clear over 7000 codes as well as view, freeze frame and turn off engine lights potentially saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars to motorists.

Customer Rating:

4.0 out of 5 stars – See complete ratings and all user reviews here…

ElmScan 5 Features

Software stats...

- Works with all 1996+ model year cars and light trucks.
- Supports all OBD protocols and systems, including CAN, OBD-II, EOBD and JOBD.
- Easy to install and use. Installation CD contains drivers, diagnostic software, user documentation, and videos.
- No need to buy separate software! OBDwiz diagnostic software ($30 value) is included in price. Read and clear trouble codes (database has over 7000 trouble codes), turn off Check Engine light, view Freeze Frame. Display, record, and graph 90+ real-time parameters. Calculate MPG (fuel mileage).

[The quotes used above are from real users of the ElmScan 5 code reader - Source]