I am sure that it is not this simple because Ross Tech aren't going to leave themselves this open but............
The VCDS Software is available on the Ross Tech Website on free release, but will only work once you have a suitable USB Hex adaptor. They must have something in place that stops you buying any compatible adaptor off flebay and using that instead of paying £265 for the genuine new one.
TBH, I was thinking of spending the money anyway, because I would rather support the distributor, but just wanted to check I wasn't missing something!
Options: multifunction steering wheel, fogs, 18" alloys; DAB; XDS activated, DRLs reset, lock beep activated; indicator repeat set to 4; covered cup holder, rear seat 12v socket installed. metal pedals, 210 Golf GTi also in the stable. Scirocco gone - miss it. Polo GTI now.
The cables have a chip in them and need to be programmed appropriately to 'handshake' with the software so just getting a cable from ebay won't work. Sorry!!
Options: Gone but never forgotten; Sumatra, Cruise, Parking Sensors, Flat Tyre Indicator, boot liner, hatchbag, premium sills, SciroccoCentral stickers & hedgehog! Ordered 23rd June 09 Build week 41 Handover 17th Oct 09 Off to his new home July 2016 after nearly 7 years & 88800 miles.
to add to the above, the ebay cables are usually locked to one version of the software (generally will come with it on cd) that is not the latest and therefore does not give you the updates, additional notes as they are added and support from rosstech.
For a rocco or any golf mk5 or newer based vehicle you only technically need the micro-can rather than hex-can lead which is slightly cheaper.
If you planning on using the lead with older cars or non CAN based cars e.g. polo then the hex-can version is needed, each genuine lead has a serial number and "chip" that handshakes with the rosstech software. ebay fakes don't and either need you to buy the software or will come with locked pirated software that may or may not work correctly.
It's always better not to take the risk with fake cables I think, mainly because your car is worth more than that risk (>£10000s lost if you brick the electronics or ECU).
I bought mine from Gendan, one of the ross tech distributors in the UK. The MicroCan was well priced
The fake cables are no risk for the car, but... they are not updated with recent label files since you can only use an old, cracked, VCDS version with them...
And most of the fake cables will work only for a short time, and then they disable themselves.
There was a certain batch of fake vagcom leads that caused factory airbags to deploy on scanning. This was technically a bug in the pirated version of vcds included but even still was a somewhat expensive "cheap" option. There have been previous issues with fake leads locking out controllers either due to bugs in the pirated version of vcds provided or due to the "crack" preventing vcds from working correctly.
