Gooloo DS600 Car Scanner Review: The £220 Scanner That Talked to a Bentley

A Forgotten Service Light and the Gooloo DS600 to the Rescue

A particular kind of irritation is reserved for the motorist who collects his car from a service, settles the invoice with good grace, and then discovers on the drive home that the dashboard still insists the car is due a service (not an Audi Garage, but an independent, mea culpa). So it was with my Audi A3 Cabriolet. The oil was fresh, the filters were new, the paperwork was duly stamped, and yet a small amber spanner continued to glare at me like a maître d’ who has mislaid your reservation. I could have driven back, queued at the service desk and endured the vending machine coffee. Instead I plugged in the Gooloo DS600, tapped through a few menus and watched the warning vanish in less time than it takes to fold the roof. C’est la vie, as they say in Ingolstadt (they don’t, but they should).

That small victory sent me down a rabbit hole. Over the following weeks the DS600 went into the diagnostic ports of three rather different cars: the faithful A3, the latest Bentley Continental GT S in Spark Blue, and a Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider. It read all three without a sulk. What follows is what this compact tablet can genuinely do, what it cannot, and whether it deserves a place in the glovebox of a car that costs a hundred times as much.

What Is the Gooloo DS600 OBD2 Diagnostic Scanner

Gooloo is better known in Britain for its jump starters, those brick-sized lithium saviours that live in the boot and rescue you on frosty January mornings. The DS600, which the company also markets as the DeepScan DS600, is its move into serious diagnostics. It is a handheld tablet with a 5-inch touchscreen running Android 11, wrapped in a rugged rubberised shell with physical buttons alongside the touchscreen. That last detail matters more than it sounds when your fingertips are coated in brake dust.

It connects to the car by cable, not Bluetooth, and draws its power from the car’s OBD2 port, the standardised socket found under the dashboard of practically every car sold in Europe this century. There is no app to download and no phone to pair. Plug it in, and it wakes up, reads the vehicle identification number on its own and gets to work. Software updates arrive over Wi-Fi with a single tap.

Gooloo DS600 UK Price and Value for Money

At its UK launch in the summer of 2026, the DS600 was priced at £219.99 through Gooloo’s own UK site, against a recommended retail price of £289.99, with Amazon UK availability following in August. Prices on these things wander about like a spaniel off the lead, so expect to pay somewhere around the £220 mark with a little patience.

The headline here is the absence of a subscription for the core functions. Many rival scanners are sold cheaply and then quietly hold your car’s data hostage after twelve months, rather like a hotel minibar that charges for looking at the Toblerone. Gooloo promises lifetime free use and updates for the full OBD2 functions, the four main system diagnostics and the nine reset services. For roughly what a franchised dealer may charge to plug in its own machine and confirm what you already suspected, you own the thing outright.

Full OBD2 Functions and Four System Diagnostics Included Free

The free toolkit covers the complete set of generic OBD2 functions. You can read and clear fault codes, with plain English explanations rather than cryptic alphanumerics. You can check I/M readiness, which tells you whether the car’s emissions monitors have completed their self-tests, a sensible precaution before an MOT. You get freeze frame data (a snapshot of the engine’s vital signs at the moment a fault was logged), oxygen sensor monitoring, on-board monitor test results, component tests and vehicle information.

Live data is displayed in four formats: text, graph, waveform or a combined view. Watching coolant temperature, engine speed and battery voltage scroll across the screen in real time has a certain hypnotic quality, the automotive equivalent of watching a soufflé rise through the oven door.

Beyond generic OBD2, the DS600 offers full diagnostics on the four main systems that matter most when a warning light appears: engine, transmission, ABS and SRS (the airbags). The AutoScan function sweeps the car’s modules the moment you connect and produces a health report within seconds.

The Nine Free Reset Services Explained

Here the DS600 earns its keep. Reading codes is a party trick that a £15 Bluetooth dongle can manage. Telling the car’s computers that you have done the work is what saves real money. The nine free resets are as follows.

The oil and service reset is the one that rescued my A3, and on its own it justifies the purchase for anyone whose garage has a habit of forgetting. The electronic parking brake reset winds back the rear calipers so pads can be changed, a job that is otherwise impossible on most modern cars without dealer software. Steering angle sensor reset recalibrates after alignment or suspension work. Battery management system registration tells the car you have fitted a new battery, so the charging system treats it properly rather than cooking it slowly as though it were the old, tired one.

Throttle body relearn sorts out a lumpy idle after cleaning. TPMS reset clears the tyre pressure warning. ABS bleeding cycles the hydraulic pump while you bleed the brakes, though you still need the spanner, the tube and a patient friend on the pedal. Injector coding registers new injectors (chiefly a diesel affair), and DPF regeneration commands a cleaning burn of a clogged diesel particulate filter.

Real World Test on the Audi A3 Cabriolet

The A3 was the first and most practical test. After the service reset, I ran a full AutoScan out of sheer curiosity. The DS600 identified the car by its VIN without being asked, mapped the available modules and reported a clean bill of health, with a couple of historic codes that had been logged and long since resolved. Cleared, bien sûr. The entire process took less time than finding a parking space at the dealership.

Real World Test on the Bentley Continental GT S and Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider

There is something faintly absurd about connecting a £220 gadget to a car whose options list alone would buy a small fleet of them. It feels like serving a 1982 Pétrus in a tooth mug. Yet the DS600 approached the Bentley with admirable sang-froid. It connected, identified the car, scanned and analysed it without complaint, and presented the live data as cheerfully as it had for the Audi.

The 12Cilindri Spider was the true examination, and here a little candour is required. Ferrari, like most of its supercar brethren, does not appear on Gooloo’s list of supported marques. The DS600 is built for the mainstream manufacturers, the Audis and Fords and Volkswagens of this world, not for the rarefied air of Maranello. Yet because every car sold in Europe must speak the universal OBD2 language, the DS600 connected to the Ferrari, scanned it and analysed what it found without a murmur. That is more than can be said for some of the people I have seen approach that car. Think of it as a well-travelled Englishman in Paris: he cannot follow every subtlety of the conversation, but he can certainly order dinner and find out what is wrong with the plumbing.

The distinction matters. On a supported make, the DS600 digs deep into the individual systems and offers its full menu of resets. On a supercar outside its official coverage, expect generic engine and emissions diagnostics rather than marque-specific depth. Anything requiring factory coding, software flashing or the manufacturer’s own dealer equipment remains firmly with the people in red overalls, and nor would I want it otherwise. Similarly, the newest Volkswagen Group cars (Audi and Bentley among them) carry their own security layer protecting deeper write functions, and Gooloo makes no specific claim to unlock it. Reading and diagnosing is one thing; reprogramming is quite another.

CAN FD and Secure Gateway Support for Modern Vehicles

Two pieces of technical small print deserve explanation. Newer cars increasingly use CAN FD, a faster version of the network that carries data between the car’s computers. Older scanners simply cannot speak it and return a blank screen. The DS600 supports CAN FD natively, which goes a long way to future-proofing the purchase.

It also supports FCA AutoAuth. Since around 2018, cars from the former Fiat Chrysler stable (Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Maserati among them) have a secure gateway module that blocks aftermarket tools from clearing codes or running resets. AutoAuth is the officially sanctioned route through it: the scanner logs into a registered account over Wi-Fi, and the car grants temporary access. You will need to register that account yourself, so check the current terms before you assume the gateway swings open for free. For Maserati owners in particular, this is a genuine boon.

What the Gooloo DS600 Cannot Do

Every review needs its moment of honesty, and here is mine. The DS600 is not a professional workshop tablet, and it would be unfair to judge it as one.

Do not buy it expecting full bidirectional control, the ability to command individual components to operate from the screen (cycling the windows, firing the cooling fan, clicking the injectors in turn). Gooloo gives that billing to its larger sibling, the DS900, which costs considerably more. Nor will it code modules, program keys or flash software as part of the free package.

Then there are the 21 additional paid functions. These include immobiliser and key programming, gearbox relearn, suspension calibration, sunroof and window calibration, adaptive headlight reset, EGR adaptation, coolant bleeding, seat calibration, stop/start reset, NOx sensor reset and AdBlue reset. They require unlocking through a third-party subscription, which could cost you roughly £40 a year. For most owners, none of these will ever be needed, but you should know the menu à la carte exists before you sit down to dine.

It is also a 12V tool only. It covers petrol and diesel cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks, but not 24V heavy goods vehicles. In Europe, compatibility runs from around 2000 onwards, so your 1970s Citroën DS (the other DS) will remain gloriously, stubbornly analogue.

Owners of the more exotic metal should also temper their expectations. The supported brand list covers the standard manufacturers, and supercar marques such as Ferrari are not on it. Generic OBD2 functions will still work on them, as my own test showed, but the brand-specific system diagnostics and resets are reserved for the mainstream makes. If your garage holds nothing but Italian thoroughbreds, the DS600 is a useful first opinion rather than a full consultation.

Finally, and this applies to every scanner ever made, the DS600 tells you what the car’s computers can see. A fault code saying a sensor is reading oddly does not prove the sensor has failed; the wiring or the component it monitors may be the true culprit. The scanner is a superb detective’s notebook, not the detective.

Build Quality Screen and Everyday Usability

The rubberised casing feels properly robust, the sort of thing that survives being dropped onto a garage floor (I tested this involuntarily). The 5-inch screen is crisp and responsive, though readers of a certain vintage, and I count myself among them, may find themselves reaching for their reading glasses during long live data sessions. The menus are logical and the whole experience feels considered rather than cobbled together.

Because it is wired and draws power from the car, there is nothing to charge and nothing to pair. For a tool that may spend months in a glovebox between uses, that simplicity counts for a great deal. You will simply find it there, ready, like a good butler.

Gooloo DS600 Versus the DS200 and DS900

Within Gooloo’s own range, the DS200 is a Bluetooth dongle that works through your smartphone. It offers bidirectional tests and eight resets for very little money, but the full feature set is only free for the first year. The DS900 is the full-fat tablet with bidirectional control and broader capability, at a considerably higher price.

The DS600 sits neatly between them. It offers a dedicated screen and no phone faff, along with the most useful resets and no ongoing fees for the features most owners will use. For the enthusiast who maintains a car or two at home and simply wants to stop paying someone else to switch off a warning light, it is the sweet spot of the range.

Verdict: Is the Gooloo DS600 Worth Buying

The DS600 will not turn you into a master technician, and nor does it pretend to. What it does is restore a little of the independence that modern cars have quietly taken from their owners. It reads fault codes in plain English, monitors the car’s vital signs in real time, and performs the nine maintenance resets that matter most, all without a subscription. It is entirely at ease with an Audi or a Bentley, and on a Ferrari it still manages a respectable generic check.

Its limitations are real but clearly signposted: no full bidirectional control, no coding, no official support for the supercar marques, and a paid tier for the more esoteric functions. For £220 or thereabouts, that is a perfectly honest bargain.

One small grievance remains, and it is the sort that gnaws. The DS600 frequently asks you to verify your login by sending a security code to your email, which means abandoning the car, fishing out your phone, finding the message (invariably lurking in the junk folder between a Nigerian prince and a discount on garden furniture) and typing the digits back in. Security is admirable in principle, but when you are crouched in the footwell with the ignition on and the battery quietly draining, it feels less like protection and more like bureaucracy. A little more trust between scanner and owner would not go amiss. Plus ça change.

Still, my A3 no longer believes it needs a service it has already had, the Bentley and the Ferrari submitted to examination with good grace, and my local dealership has lost one small but satisfying excuse to see me. Chapeau, Gooloo.

Gooloo DS600 FAQ

What Is the Gooloo DS600?
The Gooloo DS600 (also sold as the DeepScan DS600) is a wired handheld OBD2 diagnostic scanner with a 5-inch touchscreen running Android 11. It reads and clears fault codes, displays live data, and performs nine maintenance resets with no subscription fees for its core features.

How Much Does the Gooloo DS600 Cost in the UK?
The Gooloo DS600 launched in the UK at £219.99 through Gooloo’s UK website, against a recommended retail price of £289.99. It is also sold on Amazon UK, where prices vary with promotions.

Does the Gooloo DS600 Require a Subscription?
No subscription is needed for the core features. Full OBD2 functions, the four main system diagnostics and the nine reset services come with lifetime free use and updates. The 21 optional advanced functions do require a paid third-party subscription.

Can the Gooloo DS600 Reset a Service Light?
Yes. Oil and service reset is one of the nine free functions. I used it to clear the service reminder on an Audi A3 Cabriolet after the garage forgot to reset it.

Which Systems Can the Gooloo DS600 Diagnose?
The DS600 provides full diagnostics for the engine, transmission, ABS and SRS airbag systems, plus all generic OBD2 functions. Its AutoScan feature sweeps the car’s available modules automatically on connection.

What Reset Functions Does the Gooloo DS600 Include?
The nine free resets are oil service reset, electronic parking brake reset, steering angle sensor reset, battery management system registration, throttle body relearn, TPMS reset, ABS bleeding, injector coding and DPF regeneration.

Is the Gooloo DS600 a Bidirectional Scanner?
The DS600 is not sold as a full bidirectional scanner. Gooloo positions its larger DS900 tablet as the model for bidirectional control, which lets you command individual components to operate from the screen.

Does the Gooloo DS600 Work on Luxury Cars Like Bentley and Ferrari?
Supercar brands such as Ferrari are not on the DS600’s supported brand list, which covers the standard manufacturers. In my testing it still scanned and analysed a Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider through generic OBD2, and it read a Bentley Continental GT S without difficulty. Supercars still need the manufacturer’s own dealer equipment for brand-specific diagnostics and resets, factory coding and software updates.

Which Cars Are Compatible With the Gooloo DS600?
The DS600 supports more than 70 mainstream vehicle brands. That includes OBD2-compliant 12V petrol and diesel cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks from 1996 onwards in the US, and from around 2000 in Europe. Supercar marques such as Ferrari are not officially supported beyond generic OBD2 functions, and it does not support 24V heavy goods vehicles.

Does the Gooloo DS600 Support CAN FD and Secure Gateway Vehicles?
Yes. It supports the CAN FD protocol used by many newer cars. It also supports FCA AutoAuth, the official route through the secure gateway on post-2018 Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Maserati models, which requires a registered AutoAuth account.

See more here: Gooloo DeepScan DS600