Tuning with Warranty Protection

[VW Convert]

Bottom line, it's always going to be a risk, you are pushing your vehicle beyond what it is "certified" to do, it's probably well be well within it's capabilities the tuning companies spend LOTS of time and money ensuring these things are as good/reliable as they can be. Do you trust their R&D? Are you willing to take the risk that you break something and it's not covered by warranty? It's a personal question. Will I? Probably. Will you?

Well summarised Aaron, couldn't agree more.

Cheers

George

[Guy_H]

Most dealerships are reasonable and will talk through things with you, hard for them to refuse warranty a dodgy rear wheel bearing because you have an ecu tune.

In regards to the tuners warranty, there is only 1 tuner that offers a warranty on their tune and that is Viezu. If your car has a failure because of the tune, they will fix it. They are the ONLY company that offers this protection at this point.

Every dealership & different people in dealership will have different views based on their own perception & experience, ask 50 people, you will get 50 different answers.

I do not know any tuner who sells in Australia that doesn't warrant their product. We warrant APR 100%, if our tuned directly caused a fault or an issue, its our problem, not VW"s.

Everyone who sells products is bound by Australian Consumer Law.

Oettinger have a third party, written warranty:

http://www.oettinger.com.au/oettinger_insurance_policy_australia_2009.pdf

It's in writing, with written amounts, caps, and listed items, clauses & conditions.

Unless you see a written warranty document (I have not personally seen VIEZU's - nor have I asked for a copy) it would be similar to what "most" tuners have.

We have massive product liablilty insurance as an importer, we warrant our product 100%, and we are bound by Australian consumer law, as are all our dealers.

You wouldn't buy extended warranty without reading the PDS, so rather than assume you are covered, examine the documents.

[Greg Roles]

It's available to any customer, any time. I have read through it and am comfortable I am offering well above any standard consumer protection, something I personally am also required to have to represent Viezu.

I need to chase up approval to put the covernote up and make it public, I did promise to do so.

[Tim]

Just paraphrase it in point form Greg. Will put an end to all the speculation.

The Oettinger document was pretty simple and clear in what it did and didnt cover.
The main points were the cap on cost and age of the car from memory? Although I havent read it for a couple of years. May have changed/I may be getting old and losing my mind

[Guy_H]

Correct,

These type of underwritten insurances always have limitations to coverage - due to age / mileage & conditions. like other warranties, proof of servicing, correct oil & parts used (like the Ultra Tune type service vs VW service that has been in front of the ACCC several times), and of course its not open ended with repairs (capped amounts to stop rorting).

The underwriting company (the insurer) is also disclosed, so the purchaser can contact them to verify validity of the insurance.

[Greg Roles]

Thanks Guy - this is EXACTLY the reason why I paid a bit more to get the APR tune as it is undetectable.

PS. Enjoying the APR T shirt- had quite a few comments already

Just been told by Viezu HQ that someone high up in Audi and also in VW have confirmed that the latest ECU's do indeed log all manner of paramenter such as boost, and it is not erasable, rewritable or even accessable at this stage outside dealers. Viezu are looking into it, but it seems all the tuners are on the back foot again, and there is no stealth at present on current cars. Which ones, who knows, but we've all just been informed. Take from that what you will.

[masev]

I didn't want to hear - Simon assured me the tune was "undetectable" - Hope I don't have any warranty claims in the future.....

[Candyman]

The tune is still undetectable but the data logs are not

[Greg Roles]

We believe the R, being the older ECU system and thus flashable isn't on that list of logging, but obviously the manufacturers aren't outlining exactly which models. I'm just passing on the facts, ugly though they may be.

[Finance_Analyst]

Just been told by Viezu HQ that someone high up in Audi and also in VW have confirmed that the latest ECU's do indeed log all manner of paramenter such as boost, and it is not erasable, rewritable or even accessable at this stage outside dealers. Viezu are looking into it, but it seems all the tuners are on the back foot again, and there is no stealth at present on current cars. Which ones, who knows, but we've all just been informed. Take from that what you will.

So we don't have any visability on what the cut off point for ECUs are - e.g Mk6 GTI MY10, MY11, MY11.5 etc......

More to the point, how is this directly related to the the ECU counter (per Guy's comment on page 2) which shows 0?

[Greg Roles]

Nope, no idea as to when this started with each brand and model, but you would assume newer MK6 and antitune ECU's would be the ones. Flash counter is nothing special, most tuners can defeat that these days, but that is just the front end, and if the ECU is writing logs to a non erasable memory, well you're screwed should someone have the need to look. I am told the guys at Viezu are looking into it, seems this will be the next hurdle to overcome.

---------- Post added at 04:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:04 PM ----------

Just paraphrase it in point form Greg. Will put an end to all the speculation.

The Oettinger document was pretty simple and clear in what it did and didnt cover.
The main points were the cap on cost and age of the car from memory? Although I havent read it for a couple of years. May have changed/I may be getting old and losing my mind

I have not forgotten this promise, it's just that Viezu HQ actually have said no to putting it on forums, but Simon sees the need. Being a lawyer, he's getting it done with advice, and should be up soon. My take on the policy is if anything happens that can be attributed to the tune, it is covered up to 2 million pounds. Should it be unclear, an independent analysis is done, and again, their decision defines if Viezu HQ pays out or not. This is totally independent to my own personal insurance / consumer protection.

Viezu Australia is also looking into its own additional warranty option, just like Oettinger, so then all options are covered. That's all I know for now.