Anyone subscribing to Alldata?
 

I was think of subcribing to Alldata to do repair work on my 420sel. Anyone used this site? Is it worth it?

John

I use it and like it.

I bought a subscription to ALLDATA shortly after purchasing my MB used in 1997. This subscription was for "diyers". The photos were awful and the instructions were incomplete and sometimes vague.

Sometime later I was in an MB repair shop and happened to notice a legible and seemingly thorough elect. schematic laying on one of the counters in the customer area. The owner told me he got it from ALLDATA.

My take on ALLDATA is there's the junk/useless diyer subscription and the much better pro version. Be careful what you buy.

I used 'Nodata' since it started in it's origonal form as a site address with downloadable pages back in 1992. It was a pain to download and even worse to find what you needed. They then put the subscription up in the $$$$$$$thousands even for a one man shop....Told me 'tough', as I had paid a ONE TIME subscription in the begining, after asking them what happened for the 'Forever' clause in the Sub' I paid.

Now though, I use the DIY site sub's to keep up with Recalls and Updates on customers vehicles..diagrams are good to reasonable..plus other data rich sources, like....'STARtekinfo'.


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My equipment shop superintendent now uses Alldata for maintaining all our small vehicles, lots of makes and models. It is very thorough and complete, but exoensive if you are interested in the pro version. Plan on spending up to $2,000 a year for their pro-level subscription service. FYI, our evaluation was that the Alldata was cheaper and better than the Snap-on alternative we were looking at. We get CD sets several times each year to update the system.

230/8

I like it. For $24.95 first year, and $14.95 thereafter, it's been worth it to me. I have a 95 S600, and there is a lot of info available. What's the worst thing that can happen? If you spend $24.95 and find out you don't like it, cancel it.

I used it for 1 year.
It was interesting, but I found that nothing ever goes wrong with my car, so I let it expire. :D

It might be OK for that car. I don't know. I have it for my C230 and for that it is very poor. It does have the TSB's listed which is nice. Otherwise it is basically the quality of a Chilton manual, which is to say very poor. Often times it references pictures and procedures from the W124 which does me no good. Much info is simply missing and when I sent in a question I got no answer. It is better than nothing. Just not much better. IMHO.

Mike

I have often wondered about that. Their website implies that the DIY site has the same info as the pro site. Here is a quote from Alldata's DIY page:

"Access the most comprehensive diagnostic, repair, and maintenance information that professional technicians have been using for over a decade. With a subscription to ALLDATA DIY, access all recall information, Full Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) and comprehensive diagnostic and repair information. This invaluable information is also updated quarterly, unlike a printed repair manual."

The way I read that quote, the information should be the same.

Alldatadiy definitely has its limits, but I think it is worth the low subscription price.

To each his own, I suppose. Personally I think you'd be better off buying one of the pirated CDs that are available on EBAY, assuming of course the seller actually sent you a CD with real MB data on it.

I've had mixed results... for my W140, the information is outstanding... very complete although not the easiest to use. For my 2001 W210, its incomplete and merely a shadow of the W140 level of information.

Don't encourage theives by giving them money. Check out the following topic instead: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=112835

I have used it for 5 years or so on 4 different vehicles (2 M-B's). I subscribed because I could not get enough info elsewhere. I like it for "another opinion". It is not perfect or all inclusive, but it often has info. I can't get elsewhere and, sometimes, more detail than what I can get elsewhere. On my old computer downloads were slow and not very good quality. With my new computer they are very fast and very good. I also have the M-B 2CD-ROM manual which is quite obtuse and limited. I have been spoiled by the old manuals (1990 and earlier). especially Jaguar.

Just subscribed for my 86 420SEL. I will only complain about the picture quality. Definatley not very helpful for us do it yourself types.

The content seems adequate for my needs....time will tell.

It's well worth the few bucks you pay for it. When I bought my used and somewhat abused 300E, I used Alldata to fix everything that needed to be fixed. Take the time to figure out how the system works.