Attack of the clones
You may already be aware the number of fake consumer goods being produced in China and other manufacturing countries. The problem seems to be amplified by the huge range of automotive diagnostic tools. When a new genuine diagnostic tool has been developed and is offered to the market, it can take a very short time before we see fake or clones popping up.
Even though the genuine suppliers make every attempt to block this, it is nearly impossible to stop. Higher end tools will have a serial number and registration process for updates. However, there is a huge range of the top diagnostic tools which are cloned. The most common cloned/fake brand is Launch.
So welcome to the world of clones, fake, copy, poor workmanship and poor quality. This problem crosses all electronic equipment categories, and there are consequences with purchasing these non-genuine machines.
We have been the distributors for Launch for many years now, and have seen many of the tricks and stories going around. So we thought we would help you out and reassure you that you are buying from a company that takes responsibility as the NZ distributor seriously. During the last several years we have seen many variations of fake/ copy/cloned units around. This is a HUGE hidden danger.
Diagnostic tools have the potential to cause irreversible and serious damage to your vehicle’s onboard electronic modules. Some of the workmanship inside fake/cloned units is very poor. It really is a massive risk connecting some of these scanners into the vehicle’s diagnostic port; replacing an ECU, or reprogramming back at the dealers, is not a cheap fix. There is a volume quota of so many units per day, and that means quality is no priority at all. Poor soldering, or a wire put in the wrong place, is all it can take to say goodbye to your customer’s ECU.
We’ve seen it all. A popular way to sell Launch scanners is to sell off a range of Chinese websites, and all boasting to be the official launch dealer. In some cases this is true in China. The Chinese domestic Launch is completely different in software and hardware. These companies selling them have rewritten, stolen or copied English software to satisfy the bargain hunter.
As the official Launch distributors we guarantee that all the Launch diagnostic scanners we sell are direct from Launch head office. We make sure they are the best option for diagnostic scanning on 97 percent of vehicles on New Zealand roads. It is false economy buying from overseas and from a parts company that sells overseas region scanners.
The last thing you want to do is buy a tool which either fails to work as described, or find it’s a clone and cannot be registered, repaired
By Vince Ainsworth, sales manager LaunchTech. or supported. As with all electronic equipment, failures can happen. Here at LaunchNZ we are only a phone call away. We don’t hide in a faraway country and ignore you.
After the successful market release of the Launch X431 PAD II and the 24V Truck package. Launch has added various new functions free for all existing and new launch PAD II users. Launch has now included the following automatic reset functions on the PAD II: Service reset. Brake Pad Reset. Steering Angle Reset. DPF Burn off reset. Throttle Relearn Reset. Battery Reset. Brake Bleeding.
Call us for a chat.