I'm using a Tactrix Openport clone with Techstream, which is the tool Toyota dealers used before they switched to a fully online system. Cost about $20. Techstream is usually sold with a 'mini VCI' cable which is a knockoff of the XHorse Mini VCI cable. Trouble is the hardware isn't very stable and the hacked drivers cause problems. With Tactrix (who have stopped selling genuine cables so only the clones remain) there are good and bad clones: https://blog.obdii365.com/2022/03/23/how-to-choose-the-right-clone-tactrix-openport-2-0-j2534/ (that's a Chinese seller of OBD stuff, the articles are plagiarized from various forum posts across the internet. Also the HTTPS certificate has expired. Don't buy anything from there but the article is still useful. I bought mine secondhand on eBay but there are plenty of new clones on AliExpress in the $20 ballpark) I set up a dedicated old laptop running Windows 7 32-bit, although Windows 10 works fine and I think XP does too. It needs to be 32 bit as the J2534 API for apps to talk to the driver is only specified for 32 bit Windows. I disabled networking on this laptop to avoid any update troubles and copied all files via USB stick. I installed the Tactrix drivers, then a fresh copy of Techstream (various sites offer it for download, I'm using v18 which is the last offline version from ~2023), which needed an activation code. I found a way to generate those (message me if you want details). You also need to select the Tactrix J2534 driver in settings. You can get a pre-installed pre-activated virtual machine with Techstream: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/how-to-techstream-in-5-minutes.1034923/ which might be easier - just add the Tactrix drivers. You also don't need a dedicated machine - any modern system should be able to run it. That's fine for reading and clearing trouble codes, but as I'm doing more complicated procedures I wanted it to be running natively. Now it's set up it's running very well.

Hi, a recent battery swap has the engine and VSC lights on. (2011 2,4L) lots on the net about this as a common fault on a swap. I have tried the disconnect negative battery lead trick = no good I have tried wheels left / right /straight on trick = no good I tried my launch crp123x despite having a sub menu with an Alphard reset - that didnt work. So I need a better diag' tool and pondering which one, tempted with an " icarsoft jp v3" or maybe up the anti to a "cr max " to maybe deal with the kids cars just in case in the future! Any advise would be appreciated

Welcome, if you post up your vehicle pics here we can have a gander...

Hi I’m Adi from West Norfolk Just put a deposit down on our first Alphard. It’s a 2.4L petrol from Andy’s Imports. Should have it in a week or two and will no doubt be scouring these pages for info. All the best

This came up in my saved searches feed: https://www.i-bidder.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/anglia-car-auctions/catalogue-id-anglia1-10091/lot-8940b52d-996c-4956-a4e3-b4a600fe3efa Anglia Car Auctions are usually more of a 'budget' car auction (I'd guess average age about 10 years old) and imports don't tend to come up very often, so perhaps the usual dealers won't be interested? Recently there was an Estima that went through for £2800 which was good value, so this could be a bargain for someone?

I can't comment on this dealer, but I found a similar vibe from a northern 'car supermarket' type place. The business model seems to be that they buy a lot of stock from Japanese auction, stick it on the boat, then do almost no prep when they reach the UK. They clean the cars and put them in their giant car park showroom where they... sit. Then when people buy them they find the issues that were there all along, and the dealer brushes them off fixing them (even though they are legally obliged to address them). They were even convicted of this in court. It seems like this one has sat for a year (if the odometer on the ad is km, when converted to miles it's 200 higher than the April 2025 mileage on the MOT), which not good especially for the hybrid. It might have been fresh off the boat when the advert was written, but it's more of a stale import now. There may also be some reason why it's not sold - seems plausible that a few people test drove it and walked away. Always do a CarVX before you go to inspect the car and get Google to translate the auction sheet. I use autoref.eu to convert number plates to VINs/frame numbers (5 free searches on a free account) which you can then feed to CarVX. I'd be especially checking the grade on the auction sheet and the odometer records as it's quite low for something at this price point. Maybe it's good stock that's been sitting around and reduced to clear or... maybe there's something we don't know about it.