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Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour
All US cars sold with a year model of 1996 and younger had to be OBD enabled for smog testing if I'm not mistaken.
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Close.
Model year 1996 required all autos sold in the U.S. to be OBD-II compliant. If your car is 1995 or older, it's OBD, or some other type of computer as it gets older, but not a common connector for all models. OBD-II made it a standard with a common connector and more darn sensors to fail.
There are two types of OBD-II readers. One is the "cheapo" type that just reads the code and gives you the code number or the number and meaning of the code. It also allows you to clear the codes when you fix something.
The other is one that can read the codes, clear them and also read and record sensor readings and general computer readings to help with diagnostics. Several of these also allow you to re-program the computer (like the chips that cost $$$) for certain (mostly American made) computer modules. They usually plug into a laptop or a Palm to use the screen and recording ability.
The plain readers run $20-$200 and the other type runs $150-$300.
http://www.obdii.com is where I got my reader/recorder/programer for $180.