Distributed diagnostic system

A diagnostic system comprising:

• a remote host accessible via a network;
• and
• a diagnostic tool comprising:
• a processing unit;
• a vehicle communication interface;
• a network communication interface;
• an output device for communicating with a user;
• a data storage;
• and
• a diagnostic routine executable by the processing unit to (i) download data from the on-board computer of a vehicle, (ii) communicate with the remote host, and (iii) provide diagnosis information to the user;
• wherein the diagnostic tool receives data from the on-board computer of the vehicle via the vehicle communication interface, and communicates with the remote host via the network communication interface;
• and
• wherein the remote host responds to the communication from the diagnostic tool by (i) diagnosing a vehicle fault and (ii) communicating information regarding the vehicle fault to the diagnostic tool.

A method of diagnosing a vehicle fault using a diagnostic tool, the method comprising:

• downloading vehicle information from the vehicle's on-board computer;
• determining whether additional computing power is required to diagnose the vehicle fault;
• in response to the determination, establishing a connection with a remote host;
• sending at least a portion of the vehicle information to the remote host;
• receiving diagnosis information from the remote host;
• and
• outputting the diagnosis information to a user.