News: APR Sale & R32 Software / HPA DSG Software

[gtimk5]

Its no good setting the price yourselves by the currency rates as there is a lot of other behind the scenes stuff that goes on which alter the price in Australia.
I suggest you contact Guy to find out about prices or go to the website, rather than speculating...
Andrew

[Guy_H]

For the record - there is no "APR sale" in Australia at the moment.

This is a US based sale for the US market.

If APR Australia has a sale, it will be announced on www.goapr.com.au website & the usual forums we sponsor!

There was a Porsche runout sale in Lithuania last week, I rang my local dealer to see if they were participating & matching the price - unfortunately they wouldn't

[RhysQ]

Was that an attack?

[Guy_H]

The only thing greater than your sarcasim is your profit margin

R1 Crasher, from this thread you seem to be an expert on us selling our products in the Australian market.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=13028&page=2

Please feel free to telephone me on 1300 730 949 to discuss it in person - you can let me know your real name & I can talk to you one on one regarding any problems you have with our pricing. I can also introduce you to your local Melbourne APR dealer - you might then understand some more.

[Aleksii]

R1 Crasher..You know what they say, You gotta pay to play. And considering you get 40 odd kw for just under $2000, you should really compare it to all other possible mods, their price and what you get out of them.

Besides, take the time to think about how many cars VW sells in europe, and in this case the UK and then compare that number to Australia. So, the profit has to be made somewhere.

[kryten2001]

I sense another closure coming.......

Anyway my $0.02 is that I'm aware it costs more here, and I'm aware you can get it cheaper if you were overseas.

I'm also aware my car cost me the better part of $60k (nearly 80 with all the mods now), and I'm happy to pay a few more bucks for a happy smiling face behind the counter who makes sure I'm taken care of if there's ever (EVER) a problem.

A lot of things are cheaper in the US/UK. Some things are also a lot more expensive. Try eating. Try buying petrol.

We pay $500 to fly to melbourne and back.... They pay 20 pounds to fly anywhere in europe.....

It's just the way it is.. Economies of scale and all.. Personally I think we should be grateful of the service, expertise and local effort being expended on us few VW crazies who want local, yet world class support.

Easy to bag out the local suppliers, until you've actually used them.

Just my piece... I'm sure this will be destined to be yet another one of those locked up chip threads....

[Blitzen]

The grass is always greener somewhere, but in the end you end up chasing your tail...Cop it on the chin, and pay to play...$2000 is an alright price for a small market. What do they pay in NZ??

[kryten2001]

The grass is always greener somewhere, but in the end you end up chasing your tail...Cop it on the chin, and pay to play...$2000 is an alright price for a small market. What do they pay in NZ??

Agreed... Don't like the price? Don't pay! It's that simple..... That's the free market for you.

People in business don't 'owe' you cut-throat pricing any more than you owe them your patronage.

[R1 Crasher]

R1 Crasher, from this thread you seem to be an expert on us selling our products in the Australian market.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=13028&page=2

.

No,no not an expert at all. As in the thread you so kindly highlighted your silence on that one was deafening.

As a supplier of a product it is your right to defend your pricing structure. Also as a consumer it is also my right to question it.

[Golf Houso]

APR are the market leader in Australia for a number of reasons, and have the majority of market share. Alot of the cost comes from that, and well it seems that people are willing to pay for it for the time being anyway.

If Revo, GIAC or MTM put anywhere near the amount into premises, customer support and marketing as APR did, the prices would be similar. I'm not saying the way they run business is bad, but I honestly doubt their margins will be to different from the other distributors who spend alot less on their other costs.

[Sharkie]

I buy on product not price..... If I like the product and think its good I pay what the going rate is. It is of no use looking at what things cost outside Oz as too many variables come into play then.

Do I think some APR products are overpriced ? ... yes, but then as a paying customer I have the right to think so. Do I question the quality of the products ? .... no, not by any means.

I have bought APR products on the fit, quality, price, etc .... and I have bought non-APR products just as happily on the same criteria.

At the end of a day it is a business run for profit and not a community service (even though Guy does his best) and I believe they are allowed to charge a fair price with the intention to make a profit. I know I would if it was my business.

[Maverick]

No,no not an expert at all. As in the thread you so kindly highlighted your silence on that one was deafening.

As a supplier of a product it is your right to defend your pricing structure. Also as a consumer it is also my right to question it.

And the supplier has every "right" to ignore your whinging and deal with actual paying customers or those that are actually interesting in purchasing.

Did you walk into Porsche demanding that they justify their pricing structure? After all it has 4 wheels and an engine just like the golf so surely they are ripping you off with a higher margin then VW.

What about Audi? They're just VW's with a 20%+ price so how do they justify their pricing structure?

What is it with the people that come out of the woodwork to question prices on remaps on cars, Product X is this much and Product Y is this much, they're different products and offer different levels of support, different levels of R&D (most don't do ANY R&D in Australia), different levels of backup (ie proper distributors vs back yarders doing it part time from their kitchen) and are NOT the same.

You don't see the same people jump on the forum whinging that the Golf GTI is too expensive and why should they pay more over the Hyundai Getz when it's got four wheels and an engine so why can't these people use the same logic and realise that the products offered are different.

If you can't afford to buy APR or can't see the value in the extras that you get then fine go and buy something else or save up but don't expect to get the same service, support or quality. I've been there with a cheap tune and I spent months sorting out problems with their useless rude technical support who lied both at the time of sale and throughout the whole process so to say that they do the same thing because they alter some values in the ECU is best niave.

You get what you pay for, this applies to cars, tunes, tyres and everything else, if something is half the price of something else there is a reason and it's not just that the other products are overpriced. Research before purchase but FFS stop demanding answers when you have no right to question the pricing

And if you think there is so much money to be made then there is nothing stopping you from setting up operations selling your own tuning products and offering a premium product for a budget price in the Australian market which has a tiny VAG market share compared to the US and Europe.

[TDIESEL]

What is it with the people that come out of the woodwork to question prices on remaps on cars, Product X is this much and Product Y is this much, they're different products and offer different levels of support, different levels of R&D (most don't do ANY R&D in Australia), different levels of backup (ie proper distributors vs back yarders doing it part time from their kitchen) and are NOT the same.

Probably the same thing that makes people question how or why others do things because it doesn't align with their own little world of ultimate knowlege and superiority. There's nothing wrong with questioning prices but ultimately you are either prepared to pay for it or you're not and that decision shouldn't be scrutinised by anyone else.

I've been there with a cheap tune and I spent months sorting out problems with their useless rude technical support who lied both at the time of sale and throughout the whole process so to say that they do the same thing because they alter some values in the ECU is best niave.

Correct me if I'm wrong...weren't you actually impressed with the performance from the "cheap tune"? Let's see you deny it..it's there in forum histories You're gripe was with codes that prove to the dealer that you had tampered with the original software which is a totally different basket of eggs.

[gtimk5]

Maverick, your the man!!
I totally agree with you mate, wise words.
Andrew

[Maverick]

Probably the same thing that makes people question how or why others do things because it doesn't align with their own little world of ultimate knowlege and superiority. There's nothing wrong with questioning prices but ultimately you are either prepared to pay for it or you're not and that decision shouldn't be scrutinised by anyone else.

The difference in my view is that you shouldn't post about a mod on here and just expect to get good feedback, some will not like and some will and if you don't want to get any negative feedback it's best not to post.

But for the ones they keep posting about the price of one companies tune over another companies is like comparing apples with oranges. We don't see these people posting that BMW prices suck and why aren't they priced the same as VW for example and the same should apply to the tuning companies.

Exhausts are probably a good example as the price ranges vary massively between exhausts that look similar but one will have more R&D and a better finish/sound but will perform in a similar manner.

Correct me if I'm wrong...weren't you actually impressed with the performance from the "cheap tune"? Let's see you deny it..it's there in forum histories You're gripe was with codes that prove to the dealer that you had tampered with the original software which is a totally different basket of eggs.

Anyone can make a tune that is fast however and yes I was impressed as anyone would be however there is of course more to it then that and I rushed in due to the limited nature of the offer at the time and the price. I've always said that the ST3 was a good idea and a good price but it was rushed out without any testing and this is where the issue lies.

The support was absolutely useless, to say that 90% of emails and pm's did not get responded to is not an exaggeration and this is an ongoing problem (look at the ukmkivs forum to see the problems in there) except this company blames everyone else for having email problems.

There are no dyno's of the tunes available which points to the tunes being purchased enmass with the handheld unit, given the fundamental problems with the handheld unit after the "extensive and exhaustive development and test process" and their blaming of the problem on "Australian" ECU's which also turned out to be just like their development claim you have to question the reliability and longevity of both the supplier and the engine.

And then promises were broken every single time, there is still no fix and we're almost a year down the track despite the many promises that this was the top priority and a fix is around the corner/next week/2 days away there has to date been no progress, the company that manufactures the unit told me in the early days that the flash counter issues on the MED 9.1 ECU could not be gotten around (despite other companies getting around it fine).

I could go into detail about the problems getting the refund as well but it dragged out for weeks and ended up with trading standards getting involved before I finally received the refund.

And this what I mentioned above, buying a tune you have to look at all the factors and support really is a key one of these and a company can't offer support unless they make money and the only way to make money is to charge more then it costs you after R&D or to cut R&D etc.

Would I buy a cheap tune again? No way, for the power gains you get for the dollars you don't want to skimp on the quality of the tune nor the support. If I have a problem I know that I can get someone on the phone or go and see them, not so easy with a company based overseas who doesn't like dealing with problems.