SFD codes

[Bretterson]

If you can get more than $50 for it, then that is a reasonable assumption; otherwise, you're right back at square one since a 3-VIN HEX-V2 costs $199 and (assuming I read correctly) you spent $150 on your used cable + $99 to re-register it = $250. Here's the math as I understand it:

150 [used cable]
+ 99 [registration fee]
=249 [total cost before SFD access]

vs $199 for a 3-VIN cable outright with no extra registration cost (before SFD access). That means, to come out on top, you need to recover at least $50 from your used cable to make purchasing a new 3-VIN cable worth your while.

249 [used cable & re-registration fee]
- 50 [minimum margin for sale of used cable]
=199 [new 3-VIN cable cost]

Sorry, I'm confused about your logic/math in the second part, can you clarify? The way I see it... if I spend $199 on a new cable then I need to get $150 (I think that's what I paid) for the one I have now for things to be a wash. If I only get $50 for the cable I have and go buy a new one for $199 then I'd be out $299 ($199 + ($150-$50)).

All the ones with two VINs remaining that have sold recently on eBay went for least $150, so I should have no problem recovering what I spent. (No need to mention fees since I probably won't use eBay, it was just for reference.)

That's a bit like buying 2 cars from a used-car dealer, several years apart.

"I bought a service plan on the first car, so I don't need to buy another one for the newer car do I?"
"But you want the service done on the new car, not the old one, sir...."

That was actually an honest question because I found a line in the instructions unclear: the SFD beta thread states, "You must be a Verified User in this forum. If you're not, then please Get Verified first!"
Since it just says you have to be a verified user, not that the cable needs to be registered to you I figured it might mean as long as you were verified in general (potentially from a previous cable) then you were set. Personally, I think it would be clearer to say, "You must be using a cable that is registered to you. If it isn't, then please Get Verified first!"

Really ?

Yes.

 

[davisev5225]

Sorry, I'm confused about your logic/math in the second part, can you clarify? The way I see it... if I spend $199 on a new cable then I need to get $150 (I think that's what I paid) for the one I have now for things to be a wash. If I only get $50 for the cable I have and go buy a new one for $199 then I'd be out $299 ($199 + ($150-$50)).

The math is based on where you're at right now, with the assumption that you paid $150 for your used cable. Your total investment will either be $249 ($150 cable + $99 registration fee), or you need to recoup enough money to equal the cost of a new 3-VIN cable purchase. Basically, the math says that you're only going to be $49 over the cost of a new cable from Ross-Tech if you pay the re-registration fee, so that's all you need to recover if you choose to sell your existing used cable in order to break even. More is obviously better so you come out ahead, I was just giving you minimums.

EDIT: If you're approaching this from a total expenditure perspective, then yeah, you need to sell your cable for the full $150 that you originally paid for it so you start at net-zero cost. There's no other answer if you want to only spend the absolute bare minimum.

I still think it's a better idea to pay the $99 registration fee. You already have the sunk cost of $150 on the cable with zero guarantee you can recover any of it, let alone all of it, so crossing the finish line by registering it in your name makes more sense.

 

[davisev5225]

That was actually an honest question because I found a line in the instructions unclear: the SFD beta thread states, "You must be a Verified User in this forum. If you're not, then please Get Verified first!"
Since it just says you have to be a verified user, not that the cable needs to be registered to you I figured it might mean as long as you were verified in general (potentially from a previous cable) then you were set. Personally, I think it would be clearer to say, "You must be using a cable that is registered to you. If it isn't, then please Get Verified first!"

Did you read the instructions at that link? The cable has to be registered in your name as a prerequisite to be verified on the forum.

3) You bought a second-hand system and aren't eligible for support. You can still post in the New User section of the forum, but you won't get posting access to most of the rest of the forum unless/until you elect to transfer ownership of that system into your name. You can do that here at a cost of $99.

 

[TTT]

It's maybe time to cool this off? As it is now more or less done and dusted?

 

[Dr Sheldon]

It's maybe time to cool this off? As it is now more or less done and dusted?

It's been emotional !

 

[Bretterson]

The math is based on where you're at right now, with the assumption that you paid $150 for your used cable. Your total investment will either be $249 ($150 cable + $99 registration fee), or you need to recoup enough money to equal the cost of a new 3-VIN cable purchase. Basically, the math says that you're only going to be $49 over the cost of a new cable from Ross-Tech if you pay the re-registration fee, so that's all you need to recover if you choose to sell your existing used cable in order to break even. More is obviously better so you come out ahead, I was just giving you minimums.

EDIT: If you're approaching this from a total expenditure perspective, then yeah, you need to sell your cable for the full $150 that you originally paid for it so you start at net-zero cost. There's no other answer if you want to only spend the absolute bare minimum.

I still think it's a better idea to pay the $99 registration fee. You already have the sunk cost of $150 on the cable with zero guarantee you can recover any of it, let alone all of it, so crossing the finish line by registering it in your name makes more sense.

Ah, I follow now. Thanks for explaining.

Did you read the instructions at that link? The cable has to be registered in your name as a prerequisite to be verified on the forum.

Yep, I did. But you could be registered on an older cable, then buy a current one secondhand that you are not registered on and you would still be verified on the forum. I know this is probably a pretty rare scenario but I felt it could be clearer.

It's maybe time to cool this off? As it is now more or less done and dusted?

YES. I'm sorry this became such a huge distraction from the SFD news.

 

[Uwe]

But you could be registered on an older cable, then buy a current one secondhand that you are not registered on and you would still be verified on the forum.

Correct, that's entirely possible. Heck there are even a few second-hand owners that are Verified members here, who have not paid to register their pre-owned interfaces; instead they "paid" via a history of helpful contributions to the forum.

However, being a Verified member of the forum is not sufficient to get SFD service for a second-hand cable. You see, each individual cable has unique, immutable serial numbers and encryption keys and this is one of the authentication factors we are using to meet VW's security requirements. This means people don't have to play 2FA games with their phones to do SFD with VCDS. But it also means that the cable has to be registered to the person who has the SFD Service account.

-Uwe-

 

[welshkaiboy]

So just to second what Uwe has said, I have a 2nd hand cable. I wanted to add some contribution to the forum as a friend from another forum and I worked out how to code folding mirrors off the fob for a VW UK Tiguan MK1 so he verified me. His approval was very clear, it was discretionary and I have zero support etc as you would expect as I hadn't paid the transfer of ownership.

Now SFD is here then I decided it was time to pay up due to new 2026 UK Tiguan on order, small fee to pay to be able pay pack Uwe's initial kindness and keep my cable current. Only choice matter going forward will be the annual subscription but here in the UK I am not sure how many people will have SFD enabled cables so as a niche I may get some cash back for being able to code 2026 vehicles but that's not my day job so always happy to help for a few beer tokens.

You have a choice however Uwe and his team do not have a choice in terms of SFD, strict VW rules, lots of licensing cash and contracts plus the lawyers to put this package together all cost money and RT have a business to run and to be fair there costs are fair and balanced.

As others have said think about every time you use it and the costs saved from main dealer or even an indy garage.

 

[Uwe]

You have a choice however Uwe and his team do not have a choice in terms of SFD, strict VW rules, lots of licensing cash and contracts plus the lawyers to put this package together all cost money and RT have a business to run and to be fair there costs are fair and balanced.

To expound on this a bit: The reason that there will be a subscription fee for SFD Service with VCDS is that we don't want to raise our prices for everyone to cover our costs for making this service available. Many (most?) VCDS users do not need or have a use for SFD Service because they are still working on cars that don't have SFD. We do not want those customers to have to pay more. Charging everyone more would effectively mean everyone is subsidizing users who do need SFD Service. I believe the fairest approach that only customers who need SFD Service should be the ones who cover our quite substantial costs for it.

-Uwe-

 

[stefdds]

I would worry first about whether the units you bought second hand are genuine.

Bretterson: I'm confident they're genuine.

Have you ever posted a complete Auto-Scan here on the forum?

 

[Bretterson]

Correct, that's entirely possible. Heck there are even a few second-hand owners that are Verified members here, who have not paid to register their pre-owned interfaces; instead they "paid" via a history of helpful contributions to the forum.

However, being a Verified member of the forum is not sufficient to get SFD service for a second-hand cable. You see, each individual cable has unique, immutable serial numbers and encryption keys and this is one of the authentication factors we are using to meet VW's security requirements. This means people don't have to play 2FA games with their phones to do SFD with VCDS. But it also means that the cable has to be registered to the person who has the SFD Service account.

-Uwe-

I understand now, but hopefully you can also see why I found "You must be a Verified User in this forum. If you're not, then please Get Verified first!" a little unclear.

To expound on this a bit: The reason that there will be a subscription fee for SFD Service with VCDS is that we don't want to raise our prices for everyone to cover our costs for making this service available. Many (most?) VCDS users do not need or have a use for SFD Service because they are still working on cars that don't have SFD. We do not want those customers to have to pay more. Charging everyone more would effectively mean everyone is subsidizing users who do need SFD Service. I believe the fairest approach that only customers who need SFD Service should be the ones who cover our quite substantial costs for it.

-Uwe-

I totally agree and I never took issue with that side of things. I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that they're charging you a six-figure annual fee on top of all the other obstacles they made you cross to get here, no one should expect you to eat that.

I might as well ask since we're here... have you given any consideration to subscribing a month at a time? I'm not sure whether it's something I would actually do, but I've been a pretty light user of VCDS in the past and it may make more sense for me to pay for a month as-needed. (I'm not trying to suggest $50/year is too much, it seems fair, just that it might be overkill for some.)

Bretterson: I'm confident they're genuine.

Have you ever posted a complete Auto-Scan here on the forum?

No, but I haven't actually needed to use the Micro-CAN in a year or two and no longer have a car I can use it with. All I can tell you is... I've had it for 10+ years and never had to do any weird workarounds to use VCDS or download it from a site other than Ross-Tech's. When I tried to use it to get verified on here (related to my original confusion) I was told it's already registered to someone. I've also worked in tech for 20+ years and feel I'm pretty good at identifying counterfeit products (though some knockoffs have become incredibly convincing).

I'm not going to post a scan from the HEX-V2 because I haven't used it yet and don't want to burn another VIN if I'm going to sell it, but VCDS shows a serial number and states it to be "Valid / Activated -- VIN(s) Used: 1/3". It also has the name of the registered user and "Seattle, US".

 

[stefdds]

Just so you are aware, Auto-Scans do not register against your VIN count. (yet another RT benefit, so you could scan friends or relatives vehicles) If any windows pop-up and ask you if you would like to register "this VIN" , click "no". In general, VIN numbers only count against the interface if you actually make some changes / coding to the vehicle ; I believe resets also.

Sticky - VIN-Limited Interface FAQ

Why sell VIN-Limited interfaces? Because it allows us to charge for the product in a manner that's somewhat commensurate with how the product is used. A professional workshop that's in and out of several vehicles a day with their VCDS gets considerably more value from the product than a...

forums.ross-tech.com

 

[Uwe]

I might as well ask since we're here... have you given any consideration to subscribing a month at a time?

Nope, because there's also a cost to processing orders for this stuff, and given all the verification we have to do, SFD Service orders are considerably more tedious to process than others. So it simply isn't economically feasible for us to (for example) offer one month of SFD Service for an enthusiast interface for commensurately less than $50.

-Uwe-

 

[Bretterson]

Just so you are aware, Auto-Scans do not register against your VIN count. (yet another RT benefit, so you could scan friends or relatives vehicles) If any windows pop-up and ask you if you would like to register "this VIN" , click "no". In general, VIN numbers only count against the interface if you actually make some changes / coding to the vehicle ; I believe resets also.

Sticky - VIN-Limited Interface FAQ

Why sell VIN-Limited interfaces? Because it allows us to charge for the product in a manner that's somewhat commensurate with how the product is used. A professional workshop that's in and out of several vehicles a day with their VCDS gets considerably more value from the product than a...

forums.ross-tech.com

I thought that might be the case but couldn't remember for sure and didn't want to assume. I can post one within the next few days.

Nope, because there's also a cost to processing orders for this stuff, and given all the verification we have to do, SFD Service orders are considerably more tedious to process than others. So it simply isn't economically feasible for us to (for example) offer one month of SFD Service for an enthusiast interface for commensurately less than $50.

-Uwe-

Copy that. Thanks.

 

[Bretterson]

@stefdds Auto-Scan here: https://forums.ross-tech.com/index.php?threads/54734/

Yes, I know the software is a couple years behind but for some reason it failed to download the current version (both in the software and in a browser). I don't feel like figuring out what the issue is or downloading it on another machine and transferring it since I'm about to replace that computer anyway.

Also, I was impressed how much faster the scan ran compared to a Micro-CAN cable. I knew it was quicker, but didn't expect it to be that significant.

 

[RGH0]

mmm old software that will not update ???

 

[Bretterson]

mmm old software that will not update ???

Sigh, I knew someone would comment on that. VCDS is literally one of the only reasons I even own a Windows computer (I'm a Mac user at home). That computer is probably 10+ years old and the onboard Wi-Fi interface stopped working recently so I'm using a USB receiver. It's pretty strange Firefox wouldn't download the EXE from the Ross-Tech site, but I have a another computer waiting to replace it so I don't care to invest more time to resolve it. I can post a new scan when I get around to switching to the replacement, it isn't high on my list though.