How VAG dealerships recognize aftermarket tunes

[wemay]

The Humblemechanic

 

[sloinker]

They have a flash counter iirc.

 

[MCompact]

So does BMW.

 

[UG_Passat]

That's why APR has their APR Plus program, where you are paying extra for a third party warranty APR administers. Of course, you if intend to modify the car past the APR Plus program, you may end up voiding that 3rd party warranty. But, the old saying goes: when you mod, you are your own warranty

 

[dareo]

APR Plus being backed by them says its the only super safe tune

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted by UG_Passat

That's why APR has their APR Plus program, where you are paying extra for a third party warranty APR administers. Of course, you if intend to modify the car past the APR Plus program, you may end up voiding that 3rd party warranty. But, the old saying goes: when you mod, you are your own warranty

Yep.. Going through this "dilemma" right now with my new R. I've never really cared much about car warranties--until I had a new car with a 6 year warranty on it. I had APR stage 1 on the Alltrack, and really liked it. I was planning to go IS20 on it, but bought an R instead... I didn't go "Plus" on the Alltrack, since I figured I might be adding more power. With the R though, I don't know what I'd do with more power than the Plus tune on public roads. Tempted to go APR Plus, add an APR intercooler, and call it a day. I did take my tuned GTI to a local dealer for a warranty repair (leaking water pump), and they did not flag the vehicle as tuned. Seems like this is just luck of the draw, though.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted by dareo

APR Plus being backed by them says its the only super safe tune

That's incorrect. APR Plus is not backed by VW. This is why with the extra money you pay for APR Plus versus a regular Stage 1 tune, you get a third party warranty administered by APR.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

How does VW view Dinan? They're well known in the BMW community and provide their own warranty.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl

How does VW view Dinan? They're well known in the BMW community and provide their own warranty.

I'm not even sure they do anything w/VW. Right now, APR is the only tune with warranty support. The other big off the shelf tuners are Integrated Engineering, Unitronic, and Cobb (for the gas engines).

 

[GMBoy]

GM does this too - they especially monitor all duramax diesels coming in for warranty.

 

[XCIDMigs]

This is why people use the JB4 device instead....

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by XCIDMigs

This is why people use the JB4 device instead....

And others.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by JOD

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl

How does VW view Dinan? They're well known in the BMW community and provide their own warranty.

I'm not even sure they do anything w/VW. Right now, APR is the only tune with warranty support. The other big off the shelf tuners are Integrated Engineering, Unitronic, and Cobb (for the gas engines).

You're right. I read a few months ago they were going to start introducing VW tunes. Just checked their website and nadda.

 

[wemay]

The last vehicle I tuned was a 2003 Evo. Back then these "checks" didn't exist. I have changed my mind on tuning the Passat now and even removed the K&N for a Fram9711. I want to risk my 6 yr/72,000 mi warranty as little as possible.

 

[splinter]

Originally Posted by UG_Passat

...But, the old saying goes: when you mod, you are your own warranty

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...extended-warranties-are-a-waste-of-money Touché.

 

[DeltaP71]

Correct. Have a flash counter that Audi/VW can see. I work at one of the largest APR dealers in Northern California. Flashing back to stock before going into to the dealer is no guarantee you won't get TD1'd. But mostly depends on the service advisor at your dealer if they are mod friendly.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted by splinter

Originally Posted by UG_Passat

...But, the old saying goes: when you mod, you are your own warranty

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...extended-warranties-are-a-waste-of-money Touché.

I got my new engine covered. They tried to put up a fight though. Even claiming that VW's own maintenance schedule is wrong compared to alldata's maintenance schedule, because I paid for the VW pre-paid maintenance plan to 50,000 miles.... ie they claimed spark plugs were not replaced at 40,000 miles, and VW did my 40,000 mile service under the pre-paid plan. Looking at the removed engine, the piston damage was likely from LPSI, which some on the forum claim is a myth on European cars.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted by DeltaP71

Correct. Have a flash counter that Audi/VW can see. I work at one of the largest APR dealers in Northern California. Flashing back to stock before going into to the dealer is no guarantee you won't get TD1'd. But mostly depends on the service advisor at your dealer if they are mod friendly.

The whole point of the TD1 is to scare people away from modding their cars, breaking it, then "demanding the dealership to warranty the repair". This particularly scared the early MK7's where the turbo's where prematurely failing, even on the stock map.

 

[Skippy722]

Sounds similar to what FCA does. Tune the PCM, and it sets a P1400 code in the BCM. Can't be cleared, and swapping back to the stock PCM doesn't fix it because it's not stored there.