No offense taken gmtech1, I fully appreciate what you're saying. I have thought of that, and that remains an option.
A few years ago, I went to a shop to have another GM vehicle diagnosed for a check engine light. $60.00 was the charge I paid just to hook up the OBDII code reader plus some more money to do further diagnosis to pinpoint the problem. It tuned out that the ignition wires had been installed at the factory touching each other and a spark was crossing from one wire to another, burning the rubber insulation and causing piston misfires. The whole repair for replacing a $50 set of ignition wires cost me several hundred dollars! Then I needed to do another check engine light on account of oxygen sensors failing and I went out and bought one on sale for $220, which has paid for itself many times over since then. They now can be had for $100.
I understand that garages pay big dollars for these devices when they first come out (after all somebody has to pay for the cost of research and development) but I just can't see having to pay $100 as you suggest to find out what my problem is today, then another $100 next year and so on and on, if I can buy a device for a couple of hundred dollars that will let me do that many times over in a few minutes each time. That is the reason I'd like to get an ABS code reader to know what I need to do to fix the problem, then I can decide if it's something I feel comfortable doing myself or if the garage is better suited to do the work because of the need for special tools, level of difficulty, need to hoist the vehicle that I don't have the capability of doing in my garage, etc. I guess I just like to be an educated driver so I don't get taken to the cleaners.
And, one thing I know for sure is this - all work I have ever done on my vehicles was well done, and I can't say the same thing for work I've had done at service garages - in fact, I could tell you about more horror stories that have happened to me personally with dealers and other garages than you would care to listen to. As the saying goes, if you want to have the job done well you do it yourself. Having said that, I found a very good mechanic a couple of years ago that I trust. I always knew there were some around, they're just hard to find. But it's still cheaper to do it myself and the learning experience is priceless.
So I'd still like to find an ABS scanner for, say, under $200 that will work on this 08 Uplander (and hopefully others).