Review Insights · App Store
Carly - OBD2 car scanner
Carly Solutions GmbH Co KG · 9,762 ratings · ★ 4.6
4.6
★★★★★
9,762 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 77 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"subscription"
34 negative reviews mention this · 44% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Horrible Service 0 stars. I specifically asked about subscription cancellation when I signed up, because that was my main concern. I even submitted a support ticket a long time ago and was under the impression that my subscription had been turned off. Today, I woke…" - Dani3838
2
"carly"
26 negative reviews mention this · 34% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Horrible Service 0 stars. I specifically asked about subscription cancellation when I signed up, because that was my main concern. I even submitted a support ticket a long time ago and was under the impression that my subscription had been turned off. Today, I woke…" - Dani3838
3
"scanner"
25 negative reviews mention this · 32% of all complaints
★★★★★ "No longer works. This app used to be good but now I can’t even connect to the scanner using this app it’s asking for location and I give it permission but what a waste of money this one gets zero stars!" - mikhailamshei
4
"service"
19 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Horrible Service 0 stars. I specifically asked about subscription cancellation when I signed up, because that was my main concern. I even submitted a support ticket a long time ago and was under the impression that my subscription had been turned off. Today, I woke…" - Dani3838
5
"money"
19 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Don’t Buy. Not worth the money and they double billed me and would not offer a partial refund." - JayOU812
6
"work"
19 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Beware, they will charge you forever!. The device works reasonably well, but watch out, they will charge your credit card forever and make it extremely difficult to cancel. You can’t cancel on the app and you can’t cancel on their website. You’ll have to reach out to their custo…" - Disappointed_12345-6
7
"year"
17 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Beware, they will charge you forever!. The device works reasonably well, but watch out, they will charge your credit card forever and make it extremely difficult to cancel. You can’t cancel on the app and you can’t cancel on their website. You’ll have to reach out to their custo…" - Disappointed_12345-6
8
"scam"
16 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Beware, they will charge you forever!. The device works reasonably well, but watch out, they will charge your credit card forever and make it extremely difficult to cancel. You can’t cancel on the app and you can’t cancel on their website. You’ll have to reach out to their custo…" - Disappointed_12345-6
9
"charge"
15 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Beware, they will charge you forever!. The device works reasonably well, but watch out, they will charge your credit card forever and make it extremely difficult to cancel. You can’t cancel on the app and you can’t cancel on their website. You’ll have to reach out to their custo…" - Disappointed_12345-6
10
"cancel"
14 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Beware, they will charge you forever!. The device works reasonably well, but watch out, they will charge your credit card forever and make it extremely difficult to cancel. You can’t cancel on the app and you can’t cancel on their website. You’ll have to reach out to their custo…" - Disappointed_12345-6
11
"support"
13 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Beware, they will charge you forever!. The device works reasonably well, but watch out, they will charge your credit card forever and make it extremely difficult to cancel. You can’t cancel on the app and you can’t cancel on their website. You’ll have to reach out to their custo…" - Disappointed_12345-6
12
"company"
12 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Beware, they will charge you forever!. The device works reasonably well, but watch out, they will charge your credit card forever and make it extremely difficult to cancel. You can’t cancel on the app and you can’t cancel on their website. You’ll have to reach out to their custo…" - Disappointed_12345-6
📋 All 77 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Beware, they will charge you forever!
The device works reasonably well, but watch out, they will charge your credit card forever and make it extremely difficult to cancel. You can’t cancel on the app and you can’t cancel on their website. You’ll have to reach out to their customer support, at which they will tell you too bad, so sad, you have to pay for another year. This company is a scam!
Their reply is very misleading. They intentionally make it extremely difficult to cancel and let’s be real… any good, legitimate company would honor their customer’s desire to cancel the day of the renewal. Instead, they say “too bad, you had to cancel a week before the renewal.” Ridiculous! Do not use or trust this company!
Their reply is very misleading. They intentionally make it extremely difficult to cancel and let’s be real… any good, legitimate company would honor their customer’s desire to cancel the day of the renewal. Instead, they say “too bad, you had to cancel a week before the renewal.” Ridiculous! Do not use or trust this company!
Good for BMW and that’s it
Worked for my BMW 128 (12V battery change) but barely works for a Lexus LX470. Do not buy for anything other than a BMW. I can’t even read basic OBD codes for the Lexus.
Horrible Service 0 stars
I specifically asked about subscription cancellation when I signed up, because that was my main concern. I even submitted a support ticket a long time ago and was under the impression that my subscription had been turned off.
Today, I woke up to an unexpected charge from Carly, which is extremely frustrating. On top of that, the tool itself has not been working as expected, so being charged for a service that doesn’t deliver makes this even worse.
This feels misleading and poorly handled. I expect a full refund for this transaction and a clear confirmation that my subscription is canceled moving forward.
Today, I woke up to an unexpected charge from Carly, which is extremely frustrating. On top of that, the tool itself has not been working as expected, so being charged for a service that doesn’t deliver makes this even worse.
This feels misleading and poorly handled. I expect a full refund for this transaction and a clear confirmation that my subscription is canceled moving forward.
Don't buy, either the subscription or the Carly reader
You buy, you will regret what you've done.
They are only compatible with their own software and hardware.
You buy hardware, you have to subscribe their software, otherwise you can do nothing.
And they will ask you pay the tariffs by yourself, which they will never specify on website before you place your order.
And remember, once you purchase, you can hardly return it.
Their service response is really a sht
They are only compatible with their own software and hardware.
You buy hardware, you have to subscribe their software, otherwise you can do nothing.
And they will ask you pay the tariffs by yourself, which they will never specify on website before you place your order.
And remember, once you purchase, you can hardly return it.
Their service response is really a sht
DO NOT BUY
never ending loading, crashes, no service and then it’s expensive this is garbage don’t bother
Shady billing practices
Beware, automatic annual renewal and they make it a pain to cancel. Shame on you Carly. Very disappointed.
Don’t Buy
Not worth the money and they double billed me and would not offer a partial refund.
App is Broken
The app is broken. Ever since I updated my phone to the most current IOS it hasn’t worked.
No longer works
This app used to be good but now I can’t even connect to the scanner using this app it’s asking for location and I give it permission but what a waste of money this one gets zero stars!
Scammy
Very deceptive renewal licenses. They use a loophole they are based out of a different country then the US
Can’t read BMW F44 for coding
Update: Received a technical form to fill out so they can further analyze. However the form in google doc was not in English hence unable to fill out the form. Useless support.
Purchased the scanner and the app to code F44 as it was advertised online but not able to read KOMBI, BDC and IHKA modules. Just wasted over $200 for useless tool. Very disappointed. Will have to now buy another product.
Purchased the scanner and the app to code F44 as it was advertised online but not able to read KOMBI, BDC and IHKA modules. Just wasted over $200 for useless tool. Very disappointed. Will have to now buy another product.
Horrible product and company
Where to start. Bought direct from mycarly. No mention of a reoccurring subscription. So paid what I thought was a one time fee. Scanner comes in and right off the start it was terrible. Took over 15 minutes to scan my car. Did not let customization like the say it does, had to look up everything it said was wrong. It is not very user friendly. Fast forward 12 months and I’m hit with a $110 charge. I was super confused and had to even look up what the company was since I wrote this scanner off as junk. It would be one thing to just be a bad product, but to have a hidden subscription that you have to cancel 30 days before renewal to avoid another charge is criminal. Junk product, junk service and a horrendous company. Buy any other one scanner.
Absolute junk
Bought this scanner to register my battery for my mini. 4 years later I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve received useful information from this scanner and I’ve still not been able to get the battery to register. Customer support is slow to answer and just asks for more information days later when you’ve moved on to the next fire life has given you to deal with.
Scam
I cancelled my subscription more than a month ago and this company charged me more than $100 after canceling my subscription. They refuse to help and continue to say the charge was made through Apple services when I can clearly see the charge was made directly through the Carly company. The charge is also completely different to the subscription service I was originally paying for and this company has yet to inform me of what exactly I am being charged for. I do not recommend this device or the services you have to pay for separately to even use the device. This company frequently steals from customers and do not provide any kind of proper customer support for dealing with issues like these.
I wouldn’t recommend this to a enemy
This is by far one of the worst scan tools I’ve ever owned, takes 20 mins to scan. The pricing is severely overpriced, I have since bought a cheaper one that is not subscription based and am much more pleased!
Beware of poor business practice.
Beware of very shady business Practice. They make it very hard to cancel the automatic renewal subscription. You have to manually contact someone. I’ve canceled gym memberships easier.
Impossible to purchase base plan
Carly advertises a ‘Ford’ plan for less than $2/mo or just $69.99/year. Um, $2 a month should be $24 a year Carly. Your math is fraudulent. There is no path I can find to purchase the lower priced, advertised option. Carly forces you to purchase their useless “smart mechanic” which I don’t want to buy. Now my expensive OBD2 scanner is a paperweight.
Subscription needed for scanner!
Carly is an annual subscription not a one time charge. So you buy the expensive scanner and then they still put you in a subscription!
So be careful, there are other competitors who won't trap you into a subscription like this company does.
So be careful, there are other competitors who won't trap you into a subscription like this company does.
Buyer beware
Carly is an annual subscription not a one time charge. They don’t tell you this upfront. They don’t give you the option either to turn off auto renew. They don’t send you a reminder about the auto renew. Once they charge your card $145 for the renewal fee, they will not allow you to cancel and get a refund, even though you never authorized. There service people are terrible and unwavering, even if you call the same day of the charge. Carly should be black listed as a scam.
Scammers
Once they get your payment information, you’re on the hook. No refunds, despite the fact that the software was never activated.
Bad customer service
I had Carly for years now paying every year
Now my reader broke and they refuse to send another one they want me to purchase the basic package and I already have all make and models
So it’s better to buy more expensive reader with no subscription than Carly
Stay away from them it will cost you a lot of money to manage it
Now my reader broke and they refuse to send another one they want me to purchase the basic package and I already have all make and models
So it’s better to buy more expensive reader with no subscription than Carly
Stay away from them it will cost you a lot of money to manage it
Beware. Scam. Customer service is horrible
Beware buying from this company, I am German and I am used to this kind of arrogant behavior, but this company is an absolute scam. Buried deep in the fine print very hard to find. This is a subscription service that they charge you every year. but when ordering, I was completely under the assumption that it was a one time purchase, I ordered the full open license which was over $100 US. They also did not tell me anywhere, even in the fine print that I might have to pay an import duty tax on the “free “OBD2 scanner module. But another German company, DHL decided to hold that hostage for $30 before it would be delivered.. Immediately when I found out that this was going to be a subscription service long before the OBD 2 module was shipped, I tried to cancel. They will not issue a refund at all. No matter what. There is no possible way I could use the software without the scanner module that is being held hostage by DHL . Because I refuse to pay another extortion fee. So I deleted this app off of my phone and tried to close my account, but I was informed that even closing the account does not cancel the subscription. You have to get on your knees and beg these people for them to cancel the subscription. And guess what even though it’s been paid for, that subscription is canceled, you lose that money. You can’t use the year that you just paid for because it all goes away, pufff….. into thin air. Now you see it, now you don’t.. Like magicians just gone. if I didn’t have to be in United States for work, I would fly back to Germany and alert the proper authorities of this because they are clearly scamming people and they know it.
Not as feature-packed as hoped, unethical.
After seeing what Carly can do for BMWs (coding and diag) I figured it would be great for my other vehicles (mostly Mazdas and Toyota). It turned out that the other scan tools I use do the same thing, making Carly redundant and useless. It is a subscription service, however Carly provides no notice of billing. Write down the date of purchase because if you forget to cancel 30 days prior to your anniversary date they will charge you and they will refuse to refund you. What is unethical is that each year THE PRICE INCREASED WITHOUT NOTICE. Save your money for a real automotive scan tool. Carly is total garbage.
Does not work
Can only use livedata
Scam
I paid for license and the scanner showed up but my car model wasn’t available(2013 bmw f30) really feels like a scam they stole 100 bucks from me and the funny thing is they don’t have a customer service number, they’ll offer you a partial refund less than 50% and dismiss you. Feel really dumb buying this thing.
Useless
You have to buy the scanner then a $100 subscription just to find out your car engine isn’t compatible even though it’s on the list of cars they service. This has been the biggest waste of time and money. I’m over 200 USD invested and I can’t even program a new battery. Do not buy this!
FALSE ADVERTISING
This app is ridiculous. I have a 2003 Land Rover Discovery II and the half witted devs thought it was a great idea to group alike cars together. Now the app doesn’t recognize my ECU but is able to connect. I bought this stupid thing for the soul purpose of the diagnostic feature and it doesn’t even work. Even if I change the year to 2001 or 2002 where it recognizes the correct vehicle, the app still doesn’t function properly and can not do any diagnostic.
Absolutely POOR quality.
Some helpful advice to the developers- not all cars are the same…. Each make and model are unique and have their own parameters at which they need to be coded and diagnosed. That should reflect in your work. Don’t Scam people.
Absolutely POOR quality.
Some helpful advice to the developers- not all cars are the same…. Each make and model are unique and have their own parameters at which they need to be coded and diagnosed. That should reflect in your work. Don’t Scam people.
Terrible experience.
Purchased license and connector. Waited a week for connector. Car won’t connect. Open ticket. Get automated response. Must fill out new form with same info in original ticket. Fill out form and ticket gets cancelled. New ticket opened. What a mess. Paid a bunch of money for a product that doesn’t work and sends you in a ticket loop for support.
Jeep owners beware
Don’t waste your time or money if you own any kind of newer Jeep. Scanner will take for ever and do nothing. Plugged in to my 2021 Rubicon and it won’t go past telling me it can’t sense that my ignition is on. Tried it on our 2023 overland and our 2020 Gladiator with the same thing. The features are clunky and you will be nickel and dimed for everything.
No se conecta
Intenté varias veces conectar el equipo a mi BMW 228 I pero nunca sucedió
Avoid
Avoid this app at all costs. Go buy yourself a dedicated scanner.
Scam
Claims to be all you need to scan your car. Not the case. Subscription mandatory. False advertising
Money Grab
When I first got this app years ago, it was free for a non commercial user to work on one car. Then it became a yearly subscription even for weekend mechanic. I paid the yearly subscription since, now $63.99. Throughout all that time my WiFi OBD2 scanner worked perfectly fine for all features, including live data readouts from all the vehicle sensors. My car and OBD2 scanner have not changed, but now despite my paid subscription, they have rendered my OBD2 scanner useless with their app via software. For an additional $74.90 I can get the Carly brand OBD2 scanner, which apparently has some fingerprint the app can recognize as having provided more revenue, and allow the data transfer my scanner has been doing fine for a decade.
Obd2 SCAMMER
Do not waste your money. It’s a subscription based device. They charge you Twice a year. $98 for the device. And $60 for yearly subscription service.
They will not advise you of this. They just run the card on file for $98 yearly. I cancelled the app subscription for $60. And they still hit me for $98 from time of purchase.
STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!
They will not advise you of this. They just run the card on file for $98 yearly. I cancelled the app subscription for $60. And they still hit me for $98 from time of purchase.
STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!
Scammy subscription
Did not work. Was surprised to know it was a subscription. Then they run you around in circles to cancel and will not confirm. Disgusting support.
WORSE SERVICE DO NOT PURCHASE
Absolutele Greed , aggressive system tricks you into monthly payments makes you pay for the whole year and your license will expire they will take your money more then once for different makes of cars , Do not purchase this app
No lo recomiendo
Nunca llegó el scanner, en varias ocasiones indicaron iban a devolver el dinero pero nunca lo hicieron.
Subscription Needed
Just dumb, go buy a foxwell scanner instead.
No Respect For Founding Users
I first got this for my 2006 BMW many years ago and it wasn’t subscription based. Just buy the full version of the app, buy the adapter and you’re good.
Now I have to subscribe. I hate when apps lure you with a one time purchase and then walk it back. “Thank you for being an early user, now give us more money even though we lied!”
I should have a lifetime access in pretty sure but I’m not able to restore that.
Now I have to subscribe. I hate when apps lure you with a one time purchase and then walk it back. “Thank you for being an early user, now give us more money even though we lied!”
I should have a lifetime access in pretty sure but I’m not able to restore that.
Not a great Product
It may work for other brands but my experience with Acura, Infiniti and Mercedes Benz with this product has been a total joke. It gets worse as the “subscription” was supposed to unlock the product did nothing for these brands. Despite having tried to cancel then, my account was left open to be billed for a second year of 0 service. They refuse to honor my request and I’ve had to reach out to my credit card company for help.
Scam company - subscription required
Subscription is required but this is not apparent when purchasing via their website and they do not issue refunds. Total scam. I see why they don’t use App Store billing. Do not support this company.
96%
Every time I run the diagnostics, your app never gets beyond 96%. The only way I can get the app to “complete” the scan is if it get off the Carly WiFi and back on my home WiFi… only then will it complete the scan… so then I switch back to carly… the app still is connected to the obd2 dongle, as far as I can tell. Anyway, I suspect, because I am an early paid user of the app, that is I have the full version without a subscription, that somehow messes with your smart mechanic option that I do not have access to., thus not completing the scan as it should. This is all speculation. I don’t know for sure. I have tried deleting and downloading the app, tried a new device, still …same stall at 96%. Way back in its infancy, Carly was a pretty useful app… now I am considering switching to BimmerCode. Sigh. More money down the drain.
Careful
The app does very few things and they charge you every year. If you do not cancel the subscription. They told me to bad. It’s my fault that I didn’t even get a warning. I don’t even use the product. It’s horrible. Buy an actual code reader if you want to actually work on your car.
Don’t waste your money
I purchased the Carly Universal Scanner for my 2024 BMW X5 G05 LCI 40i and this thing doesn’t work. It does nothing for it, installing the app and had to reset the password 10 times, the OBD functions don’t work, to get the exhaust flap function you need to buy the full license, well I don’t need a full license I only need the BMW license because those are the cars I have. Contacting support and submitting tickets to them just to have a computer auto reply to me and rejecting all my requests for support. The scanner after it is connected it says in the app that the B58 engine is not recognized, that I have a WiFi scanner and I need a universal scanner, well that’s the scanner I bought I have the Carly Universal Scanner but it doesn’t work. I’m very disappointed with this and just wasted my money. I do not recommend this product.
Ridiculous pricing
This app requires you to spend $90 on the carly diagnostic tool which is fine, but requires you to buy a monthly subscription to access the actual diagnostics on top of it😂 no way I’ll spend almost $100 AND pay a monthly subscription fee on top of it.
Worst scanner on the market
Deceptive advertising! This scanner is worst than a $20 Chinese scanner. Only sees engine module and even that will basically have limited options like dtc reading. Why is this app allowed in the app store, look at how many bad reviews it has. Nothing but an overpriced scam!
Functionality crippled
I bought this scanner in 2017 and it did a LOT without any upgrades or subscriptions. Well, now that the app has been updated, my purchase now only able to check the odometer records. What? I chose the product based on functionality and then they cripple the functionality? This should be illegal and prosecuted by the state attorney general here in the states! Fraud!
Total garbage product
This product is a total scam. First of all it took well over a month to get it only to find out you have to pay for a subscription which I went ahead and paid the 69.95 for the year and plugged it in my truck and it would say can’t connect to ECU and suggested that I need to buy some adapter. I am already upset I have to buy a subscription just to use this I am definitely not buying anything else to get it to work and I’m not sitting on hold with tech support. So in the garbage it went and I promptly canceled my subscription through my Apple account. This all took place last June, and just two days ago I get an alert from my credit card about a possible fraud charge from Carly for $104, they instantly freeze my card while I’m at dinner, I only new it was frozen because it was declined when I went to pay for dinner. I go on their website, because you can’t actually get ahold of an actual person, and the company is out of Germany. And it says if you bought the subscription through Apple there could be problems canceling or getting refunded. Well that’s what I did was cancelled through Apple and it says my subscription is canceled and active till June which is when I bought the yearly subscription. Why are they trying to charge me $104 in April. DO NOT BUY!!!!! I will be going on all of the automotive YouTubers I watch the hock this garbage product and be leaving the same review.
Scam Master company
This is a scam, do not provide any credit card information. Once you provide a bank account or credit card they will charge you every year same amount and they wont return the money.
SCAM Specialist company
SCAM Specialist company
App does not work
Lousy app. Does not work. OBD function cannot detect any error even though CEL is on.
+ 27 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
92%
Positive (4-5★)
2%
Neutral (3★)
7%
Negative (1-2★)