Once you mod, you're assuming a certain degree of risk. But if you're truly discussing the risk to your warranty while running a reputable stage 1 tune (like say APR), your risk is insignificant. Look back through the pages on pages on this forum, golfmk5, and vortex, and you'll be hard pressed to see anyone that just got a stage 1 tune and ran into any kind of issue with their warranty.
6
Tuning/Chip FAQ Thread: Which One Do I choose?
- Thread starter grambles423
- Start date
grambles423
Automotive Engineer
I would also be completely honest with my dealer up front to ensure that they would be willing to work with you.
My dealership has done warranty work on my car and you can see from my sig the amount of mods I've done. They knew about it up front and seemed VERY willing to WANT to work on it. If oyu can get a service manager that is actually a car guy, then normally they''ll help you out
I was Stage 1 with Coilovers, wheels, mounts, intake etc. etc when I had my mechatronic unit replaced under warranty (Albeit a recall) but that's $5K-$6K worth of work!!!
My dealership has done warranty work on my car and you can see from my sig the amount of mods I've done. They knew about it up front and seemed VERY willing to WANT to work on it. If oyu can get a service manager that is actually a car guy, then normally they''ll help you out
I was Stage 1 with Coilovers, wheels, mounts, intake etc. etc when I had my mechatronic unit replaced under warranty (Albeit a recall) but that's $5K-$6K worth of work!!!
I would also be completely honest with my dealer up front to ensure that they would be willing to work with you.
My dealership has done warranty work on my car and you can see from my sig the amount of mods I've done. They knew about it up front and seemed VERY willing to WANT to work on it. If oyu can get a service manager that is actually a car guy, then normally they''ll help you out
I'm fortunate to have a similar relationship with my dealer. I've taken all my cars there. They know about the mods. They're curious about the car. They treat me very fairly as it relates to any warranty items, etc.
Of course, this I understand. I'm not a noob to modding cars by any means. I had a fairly modded Evo VIII and a shared ownership of a track built S2000 (welded cage, turbo and all). But when we're talking about a car that has under 10k miles and less than a year of "life" I like to know that the stuff I plan on doing (Stage 2 max [assuming stage 2 is just adding a TBE and/or intake to stage 1).
I am completely unconcerned about warranty issues with even adding a TBE/Intake/Coils/etc. Because those are fairly easy to justify warranty claims for other items but only a complete fool would try to get aftermarket coils covered by the dealer. What frightens me is doing more modifying to an ECU than I have ever done save for the S2000 (which... needed no warranty and had an AEM standalone) with the cutting open of the case and the addition of the chip. I'm used to OBDII flashing, and there's never been problems with that. But since the ECU is basically the whole car... I could see VWNA voiding most of all warranty claims just because of that.
Thank you guys for your responses, they've been very informative. I will talk to my local dealers a bit while I plan this out. Gotta break the car in and get some tint first... Also, what the hell is with these stock Dunlops? I'm tempted to spring for the money just to get rid of these tires, they're seriously worse than the factory run-flats on the MINI.
Bretterson
Ready to race!
So it is actually flagging a broken encryption code on the ECU? Not just a simple "ecu flash" thing (which could always have been the dealer doing something or other) but an actual "The encryption on this ECU has been broken" type flag? That's even shittier. Especially if it is perma-flagged... And unfortunately being the ECU even with Magnussen v. Moss (spelling...) backing you you'd still have a hard time because the dealer/VWNA could easily justify denying a warranty claim for just about any part that is controlled via the ECU or ECU related parts, and I'm no expert but that is likely just about everything. You'd be safer with a full TBE than a tune in that case. Guess my GTI will have to stay stock for now...
Aren't you worried about your car? I see you have 850 miles on it and APR stage 2... Or do you have enough saved to cover the cost of anything if (read: when) it breaks as xd-data-ii suggested?
According to my APR dealer, VW/Audi can tell the last time the ECU was flashed, but that's all. They can't tell who did it or how it was flashed. However, they could probably figure out whether a VW dealer did it based on records in the system.
Yes, but a VW dealer doesn't have to have been the one to do it. Remember you are allowed to get work done outside the dealer and have it still be covered under warranty. Just have to make sure the flash just appears as a flash and nothing more. If that's all they can tell (and can't even tell the ECU has been cut opened and modified) then I'm all for it. Gonna be some time before I save up enough though anyway, like I said.
For example, with the MINIs the tune also has to raise certain "limit" flags on the ECU so that they don't get triggered should the owner break them. Namely RPM and max speed. People were having warranty issues because they'd raise the rev limit a few hundred, and break it, and throw the flag.
Bretterson
Ready to race!
Right, but I don't think anyone other than VW would have the means to update the ECU for legitimate reasons. I could be totally wrong though.
speed
Ready to race!
Has anyone heard of ATM Chiptuning?
http://www.atm-chiptuning.com/
It's one of the firsts that appeared on google when I searched for a tuning company here in dubai. I'm planning to have the stage 1 tune and they're charging around $700.
http://www.atm-chiptuning.com/
It's one of the firsts that appeared on google when I searched for a tuning company here in dubai. I'm planning to have the stage 1 tune and they're charging around $700.
grambles423
Automotive Engineer
Heard of them, but dont know much about them. For $700 you might as well go with one fo the Bigger named companies.
grambles423
Automotive Engineer
It does actually, normally a high altitude situation will create lower atomospheric pressure which ultimately will give you a loss of power. You'll be fine though, plenty of people run these in your area.
grambles423
Automotive Engineer
Wont matter. Your ECU will adjust to your ambient conditions.