Hi,
I've searched for at least two hours today and cannot find any answer, even vague. Aside from the possibility of buying a piece of junk on eBay, I need to know if there any loss of functionality if I purchase a new DICE with VIDA 2014A or 2014D for use on a 2003 Volvo? So many of the ebay auctions and amazon say 2009+, but nowhere can I find out if any particular versions work for a 2003 or any year of mention prior to 2009. I can imagine the most likely issue would be the VIDA specifications/repair procedures not available for pre 2009, but accept that possibly the newer DiCE units could be incompatible with older models (though this would be quite perplexing if so). Can you comment so I can purchase with confidence? Also, what might be the difference between VIDA 2014A and 2014D? Also, I found one recommended by a recent buyer who said it is of good quality, but it is 2013D. I imagine the 2013D isn't compatible with 2014+ Volvo models from a specifications/repair procedure standpoint, but beyond that, should it work with 2013 and prior (all the way to 1996????) Volvo models? Someone school me please!!!

Thanks

Erik

 

A quick search of eBay for VIDA DICE came up with ads and checking several of them they all gave year ranges of compatibility. They seem to go down to 1999.
D is a newer version than A.

You do need to look at the operating system that the VIDA is supposed to run on. It will not run a system that is not up to spec.

 

You will be fine with pretty much any version of VIDA. The repair information for a 2003 has not changed, so it should be the same on all of those. Functionality also doesn't change on an old model with a newer version of VIDA. I can do the same things with a 2003 model year car with the current VIDA as I could 5 years ago.

 

ssicarman, yes I saw the 2009 listing, but OBDII goes back to 1996, and it would seem odd that Volvo would choose not to support models older than 2009, unless say, their module didn't have enough memory and wasn't upgradable, resulting in the decision to remove older model support. It would seem an odd decision with modern computer and data storage technology, but not completely out of the question. I understand operating system requirements, that's the easy part here. Thanks for offering your input.

ES6T, I certainly like your answer more! Thanks for chiming in.


This is what I got from a user on Swedespeed.

["Yes" and "no" you must ask buyer what microprocessor it has inside. If it same as original one then you will have no problems with VIDA 2014 and car 2003. I'm not sure about year I think volvo introduced DICE with MSA15.8 year mid 1997. I have used my dice with 2014D for cars 1998-2014 and had no problems. Basic rule do not buy with blue board does not matter blue LED or multicolor they are rubbish. Ask what board they have and what microprocessor they use. I saw tools from china with custom boards and hacked vida it was rubbish. Result was unpredictable. You do not need to look for 2003 vida. Better look for newest one because it works faster and has bugs fixed.]

It seems not only reliable, but also functionally useful advice as I need to vet one DiCE unit from the multitude on eBay.

 

VIDA and DiCE came out in 2004, not 1997. The first models the DiCE will communicate with are 1999 model year.

However, VIDA does have service information for older cars.

 

In my first reply I said 1999 not 2009.

I have a 2008 and my cloned eBay system works fine on it.

 

The VIDA software supports Volvo models from 1999 to newer 2014 (2014D version). My DiCE unit comes with 2014D vida software can be loaded on Win7 without issue. It is a clone, but works just fine.

 

Can someone explain the benefits of Vida Dice over an OBD 11? Is it more for programming keys/ecm etc needing software downloads from Volvo

Not trying to knock Vida in any way, I just found my OBD 11 to be all I really need.

What will I gain with Vida?

TIA

 

VIDA also includes repair information. It can also read codes in every module. Most cheap generic code readers cannot. Programming is pretty limited for the eBay clones.

 

So I guess using the Internet with an OBD 11 that works well is just as good, obviously not for a repair shop, but for most people. The price on subscriptions forces the dealers hand as it is not economical for most people.

And just reread your second sentence, it pinpoints problems more accurately as well. (modules)

 

The clones don't need a subscription. An OBDII one works for many codes, but if you had an ABS light or SRS light it likely won't read codes.