Buy It And Try It: CarMD

We asked a certified mechanic to help us try it out.

His name is Lee Burkhouse, the owner of Sacramento Carburetor - And Electrical Specialist.

He and his team are A.S.E. certified. In other words They know their stuff.

This truck has a problem.

"The vehicle was brought in to us because it had a check engine light that was on," said Lee.

Lee's already run his own diagnostics using a $3,000 computer and this F-150, has a vacuum leak. So let's see if the CarMD we found online can get the same diagnosis.

"Well the unit says it will diagnose '96 and newer cars," said Lee.

It also says you can discover why your check engine light's on, double-check what your mechanic is telling you and give your engine a check-up before a trip.

"I don't know if that would really be useful because if a check engine's light is not on, this machine's not going to pick up any codes anyway," said Lee.

Inside the box we find computer software, the unit and a computer cable.

How well built is it?

"Can't really answer that," says Lee.

Lre reads the directions and goes to work plugging it in under the dash.

"It say to plug it in but do not start the vehicle; ignition must be turned on in 10 seconds," says Lee. "this time it came up error, so we'll give it another try."

So we'll plug it in, and we'll make sure to turn the ignition on within 10 seconds.

"These are the same codes our diagnostic machine recorded," said Lee.

The conclusion is the machine does work as it is supposed to.

But wait.

"The codes that are in these units are nothing more than a starting point for us," said Lee.

If you load the special software and log on to the CarMD website to upload your data you're supposed to get a detailed analysis.

It seems like a lot of work to access the website to get your diagnosis.

After a half hour Lee gave up. We never did get a diagnosis from the CarMD.

His opinion?

"I personally would say save your $90," said Lee.

I bought it online, and paid about a $100, including shipping. You may have better luck than we did getting the software and website to work.