I can search and find some 4 year old recommendations of where to buy TechStream. I wondered if anyone has a current recommendation of a trusted seller for cable/connection and software. Thanks, John
Hi John, I bought mine in 2018 on Amazon. I searched and the listing I used to buy it is no longer up. This isn't surprising since this is not an "official" channel for this software. It's hacked. The current listings on Amazon - such as the one you find by searching "mini VCI ketofa" (PriusChat would not let me post a link) look fairly good. Installation on my laptop was a little bit of a hassle - the seller had to send me a link for some files which need to be replaced to hack the program. And had to send me a key for the same purpose. But they did this in a couple of days. Of course you don't/can't install "updates" or connect with Toyota. But the price is right, and it works great, and the capabilities are worth the money and hassle. I figured at that price if I had to buy from two different sellers until I got a working copy I'd be fine.
Key takeaway is that the one genuinely trusted Techstream is the one you download from TIS, which will work whenever your TIS diagnostic subscription is paid up. A Techstream from anywhere else is going to be bootleg, and generally 'modified' in some way around the subscription check. As usual, a possibility with such 'modified' software is it could be multitasking ... it might do a fine job doing what you want it to do, while also doing whatever the person who 'modified' it wants it to do. That could explain why so many folks on PriusChat talk about using it on a beater laptop that they segregate from anything else.
I went with that Amazon choice. Thanks. We'll see how it goes. I have pulled out an old 2014 Laptop and verified that it will still power up. It is Win7 which seems to be a requirement. I'll factory reset the computer before going down this route. Wish me luck. Background: I now have bought 6 Gen2s and still have 5. That 5th one just arrived yesterday. It's an '08 bought for $500 (and still has the cat.) I chronical this ownership over in the Forum of GrassRootsMortorsports
I've brought back to the road 3 Salvaged Prius. Just this week bought my first "non-runner" that I could have driven home if I really wanted to. I had it running with just a simple jump pack
Good for you!! I'm amazed you've been able to do this without Techstream. If you run into any problems installing Techstream or getting it going, just let me know. Despite all the warnings I installed and use it on my primary Windows 10 laptop. Some Chinese guy probably knows all about me!!
Works fine with windows 7. When you get it up and running, I've put a Techstream manual in the File section at the bottom of the forum.
