Carista is an innovative app that allows owners of Toyota, BMW, Lexus, Mini, Scion, Subaru, SEAT, Skoda, Volkswagen, or Audi to diagnose, customize and service their cars.

We support many different brands and models. You can check what we have for your car here: Supported vehicles

Carista does not display any real-time data. However, our partner apps do provide this functionality and do support the official Carista OBD2 adapter

To get the free trial, just connect to your vehicle and attempt to use any paid feature in the Carista app and you'll be presented with a purchase screen with 2 options. One of those options is for a yearly subscription and includes a free trial. Select that option and it will unlock all functionality in the app for the trial period.
You can find instructions on how to cancel your subscription here:

• iOS
• Android

Our paid functionality is available as an in-app purchase inside the same free-to-download app. You must be connected to a car that's compatible with the paid functionality in order to purchase it. There are 3 ways to do it:

• Option A: Go into “CUSTOMIZE”, pick a setting you want to change, pick a new value for it and click “SAVE”. Then see below.
• Option B: Go into "SERVICE", pick a service tool you want to use, and attempt to use it. Then see below.
• Option C: Go into “DIAGNOSE” and if your vehicle has any manufacturer-specific fault codes, click the “SHOW CODE” button next to one of them. Then see below.

In all cases, if you’re using a generic WiFi adapter (not the Carista adapter), you’ll get a message asking you to unplug the adapter; do that, give the phone about 30sec to regain internet connectivity and then click “OK, I disconnected”. If you’re using the Carista adapter, you don’t need to disconnect. Next, you’ll see a new screen that shows your purchase options: a 1-week pass or a yearly subscription. On iOS you may get prompted to enter your Apple ID password; don’t worry, you’re not yet purchasing, so go ahead and enter those. Pressing BUY will take you through Google’s or Apple’s in-app purchase process. All payment information is handled through their respective platforms, so please direct any payment-related questions to Google or Apple. When you’re done with the payment, all functionality in the app will be unlocked for you, so go ahead and start using it.

• Standard OBD2 diagnostics: FREE
• Pro 1-week pass (customizations, advanced diagnostics, service tools): $9.99 USD
• Pro subscription (customizations, advanced diagnostics, service tools): $39.99 USD/year

Unfortunately, Google and Apple do not provide any way to connect the two platforms, and they do require that all in-app purchases go through their respective platforms. So the answer is no: if you want to use the app on both platforms, you have to make a purchase on each. Even if you don’t want to continue using it on one platform and want to switch to the other, there’s no way to transfer your purchase over. Also note that if you’re NOT using the Carista OBD2 adapter, you’ll need a new adapter when switching platforms, as generic adapters are only compatible with one or the other platform.

See "Carista beta testing" for more info.

If you already have an OBD2 adapter, please drop us an email at support@caristaapp.com to be added to the beta-testing program and specify the following:

• The exact brand, model and year of your vehicle
• Your mobile platform: Android or iOS
• (Android only:) the Google account you use in Google Play Store

When you use the beta, always write back to tell us what you've tried and whether it worked. Also, please use the yellow "Send feedback" button next to each customization that you try to let us know if it works.

“Debug data” is technical information about the modules in your car and their current and/or supported settings. Here’s how to send us such data: on iOS, open the slide-out menu from the left of the main screen in Carista and pick “Collect debug data”. On Android, open the slide-out menu and tap on the version label at the bottom of it five times in a row; pick “Collect debug data” from the new menu that shows up. On both platforms, the process of collecting debug data takes about 5-15min. When it’s done, you’ll be prompted to send it in a report; please follow the on-screen instructions to send it. If you’re using a WiFi adapter, you may have to disconnect from the adapter before you send it, in order to have Internet connectivity. Thanks for helping out by sending us debug data!

You may choose between our official Carista OBD2 adapter, a Kiwi 3 adapter, or a generic ELM327 adapter. If you use a generic one, make sure it conforms to ELM327 v1.4 or newer and that it uses WiFi for iOS or Bluetooth or WiFi for Android.

• Works with all iOS 9 and newer iPhones/iPads/iPods except iPad 2
• Works with all Android 4.1 or newer phones/tablets that support Bluetooth
• Works with all ELM327-compatible apps on Android
• Works with a multitude of partner apps on iOS

Just plug the adapter into your car and start using the app. There’s no prior setup, pairing, or connecting necessary. Just make sure your phone/tablet’s Bluetooth is turned on. On iOS, the Carista app will ask you what kind of adapter you’re using: select “Carista adapter”.

In most cases, you don’t need to do anything special in order to connect to your ELM327 Bluetooth device with Carista: the app automatically detects your device and connects to it. If this is the first time you are connecting to the ELM327 device, Carista might take some extra time to find it and connect to it (up to a minute) and you may be prompted to enter a PIN code (try 1234 or 0000 or consult your device’s manual). If Carista doesn’t automatically find your device, you can pair with it from your Android Bluetooth settings like you pair with any other Bluetooth device.

The WiFi OBD2 devices that Carista uses create a WiFi hotspot that you need to connect to manually. Before you start using Carista, open your Android device’s settings, go to WiFi and connect to your OBD2 WiFi device as you would connect to any other WiFi hotspot. Wait for the connection to be fully established (for the WiFi icon to show up in the top bar) and then open Carista and start using it. It’s ok if Android shows an exclamation mark next to the WiFi icon. If you get to a point where you’re making an in-app purchase and you get an error, try temporarily disconnecting from the OBD2 WiFi network in order to regain Internet connectivity. When you’re done with the purchase, reconnect to the OBD2 WiFi network. The same process applies when submitting a problem report, as that functionality needs an Internet connection as well.

Generic WiFi OBD2 on iOS: The WiFi OBD2 devices that Carista uses create a WiFi hotspot that you need to connect to manually. Before you start using Carista for iOS, open your iPhone or iPad’s settings, go to WiFi and connect to your OBD2 WiFi device as you would connect to any other WiFi hotspot. Wait for the connection to be fully established (for the WiFi icon to show up in the top bar) and then open Carista and start using it. If you get to a point where you’re making an in-app purchase, you must temporarily disconnect from the OBD2 WiFi network in order to regain Internet connectivity. When you’re done with the purchase, reconnect to the OBD2 WiFi network. The same process applies when submitting a problem report, as that functionality needs an Internet connection as well.

Yes! If you use the Carista OBD2 adapter or the Kiwi 3 adapter, you get 1-month free trial of all Carista app features. If you use a generic WiFi or Bluetooth adapter, you get 1-week free trial.

We have an email newsletter that contains the important developments and news, dispatched roughly once a month. You can scroll down to the bottom of any page and subscribe there. We also post all updates on our Facebook page and Twitter account. Please like/follow us to be the first to find out about new features, beta versions, developments into new brands, etc.

We hope so. We’re still doing research to confirm that it is indeed possible to implement this, but it’s looking likely at this point. We already have BMW-specific diagnostics for those models implemented in our beta. Please follow us on Facebook and twitter to get updates.

Yes, that’s the plan! We’re currently in the development stage for those and we’re looking for beta testers to help us validate them. See "How do I get in the beta" for more info.

All of the above manufacturers use a proprietary variant of the “K-line” communication protocol for their older models. Unfortunately, due to the proprietary nature of their variants, they are not compatible with the OBD2 adapters that we use. So at this time it is not possible to implement support for those models.

We’re looking into ways to expand our support into other brands. In fact, we are already working on adding advanced diagnostics for Renault, Nissan and Infiniti and we’re looking for beta testers to help us validate them. See "How do I get in the beta" for more info.

We will announce any further development on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, as well as in our newsletter (subscribe from the bottom of any page).