Now let's talk about how a VIN number get flagged with a TD1 code. I’ve read all sorts of thing that people have imagined up about how this works; from the dealership flagging the VIN because you have an intake all the way to tuners reporting your VIN numbers back to VW/Audi. How it happens is actually very simple, there is nothing a dealership does to intentionally throw you under the bus. The dealership does NOT have the ability to manually “flag” a vehicle that has been modified, the entire process of flagging a VIN with TD1 code is completely behind the scenes and unintentional and unannounced at the dealership level. The way warranty has worked since 2004 with Audi/VW is that you are REQUIRED by the manufacturer to submit a GFF (Guided Fault Finding) log online with any and all warranty repairs for engine, transmission, or electrical related warranty claims. If it’s a mechanical suspension problem there’s no reason to submit a GFF log but if it’s anything that throws a fault in ANY system a GFF log is required or the manufacturer will deny the warranty claim and the dealership eats the cost. If the dealer eats the cost because the tech did not provide adequate documentation, the tech does not get paid for the work they did. Obviously the tech does not want to work for free, therefore GFF log are ALWAYS sent in to ensure payment on warranty repairs. Anytime you run a GFF log or you perform an SVM (software) update the scan tool records all sorts of hidden data and sends it back to the manufacturer. That’s how a VIN gets flagged with TD1, it’s not the dealership telling on you, it’s the factory scan tool detecting something not factory in the software and reporting it back to the manufacturer.
