What the M1 is, and what comes with it

The DriveDecode M1 is an adapter, not a scan tool. It has no screen and no buttons. It plugs into the diagnostic port under your dash, and your phone does the reading. That split is why it costs what it does: the expensive part of a scan tool is the screen, and you already own one.

What is in the box

An M1 adapter and a quick start card. That is the whole of it.

Buying an adapter also includes six months of DriveDecode Pro, which you redeem in the app with your order number. Chapter twelve covers that, and you do not need it to read codes.

What you need

A phone, and the free DriveDecode app. The app runs on iPhone and iPad from iOS 15, and on Android from version 8. Mac and Windows versions are planned after the phone release. Most people scan from a phone anyway, because the phone is the thing already in the car.

You need the vehicle too, obviously, but not a running one. Ignition on is enough for everything in this manual except the fuel trim and acceleration checks, which need the engine going for reasons chapter ten explains.

Which vehicles it reads

If your car or light truck was sold new in the United States in 1996 or later, it has an OBD-II port and the M1 will talk to it. US diesels are covered from 2008 on.

Outside that: pre-1996 vehicles predate the standard, heavy trucks use a different one called J1939, and motorcycles are not part of OBD-II at all. None of those will connect, and no adapter of this kind changes that.

The limit worth knowing now

The M1 reads engine and emissions systems. That is the powertrain and emissions data the OBD-II standard requires every US vehicle to publish, and it is a lot: trouble codes, live sensor values, freeze frame, readiness monitors, your VIN.

It does not read ABS, airbag, tyre pressure or transmission-specific manufacturer codes. Those live on channels that need make-specific decoding, and generic OBD-II hardware of any brand cannot get at them. If your dashboard has an ABS light on and that is the reason you are buying, this is not the tool for the job, and we would rather say so here than have you find out in the driveway.

The guide on what a generic adapter cannot read goes into why, if you want the longer version.

What to do next

Install the app before you go out to the car. Chapter two covers that, and it takes about two minutes.