MK7 TSI 1.8 APR Stage 1 - Scheduled

[tigeo]

I also care about longevity on my tuned engine so I do 3 things:
(1) Change oil/filter every 5 thousand miles.
(2) Minimum oil temp at 180 before pushing.
(3) Every 5 thousand miles add VW fuel additive.

Try not to hammer it too much!

Good advice for sure...especially the temp one.

 

[tigeo]

Makes sense to have a warm engine before reving past 3,000 rpm. I do that now. I will probably switch to oil changed every 7,000 miles.

I landed on 7500 just b/c it works with tire rotation schedule. I sent my first oil change out for analysis...5K of that is tuned. I bet it's just fine to 10K unless you hammer it. We will see!

 

[tigeo]

Tuner savvy/tuner friendly/tuner unfriendly means little. If you have a claim that requires them to connect your car to the mothership in Germany, then your tune will be detected and your car flagged.

Tuner friendly merely means that they won't go out of their way to find a reason to deny warranty coverage. Tuner unfriendly means that they'll try to document any mods and actively look for evidence of a prior piggyback tune.

The only way to stay sane when tuning your ECU is to consider your powertrain warranty as history and be pleasantly surprised when VW does cover something.

Nobody can tell you what may, or may not, be denied unless they have the identical car, with the identical mods, going to the same service advisor at the same time (did he/she argue with their spouse that morning and are in a bad mood?) and have the identical complaint.

In short, if a repair requires them to hook up the car to the computer for authorization then they have no choice if they want to get paid.

A flag in the system (TD1/TD4) won't affect recall work - but depending on the work that needs to be done, it may result in a future flag if the car is scanned.

You won't know if your car is flagged unless you go in for warranty that gets denied because of the flag.

Sage advice/comments for sure. You just don't know. Some flash back to stock with no issues...some do and have issues. I like your comment about just assume it's gone and if you get somethign covered (powertrain), cool!

 

[videoguy009]

I don't know how the tech side works in the US but a good friend who's a VW mechanic at a dealership told me that if we take our cars in for service and they have to plug it in they can tell the ecu was flashed.Now having said that they do not use VCDS and they do not allow them in the shop but their own system called Geco or something that sounds like that.Once they plug it in the info is monitored in Toronto Canada.Say if the car came with 4 flashes from the factory and they see a fifth one and identify it on TD1 and it will be there you will get a nice letter from VW saying that your warranty is void on the power train.They do not care what you tell them because they know you flashed the ecu.You will not have a case to even argue that.My friend told me that what I have invested in my new 2019 that I would be a complete fool or even worse to even do it.I asked him if there was a way he could over look it and he said he could but VW certainly will not.What I said is just how VW works in Canada.JB1 or 4 is a safe way to go but if you break down don't get it towed to the dealership before removing it.

 

[cb1111]

Well that's what I assumed. If the dealer taps into the ecu, thanks to the interwebs, my cars data gets stored in VW database. Time on my powertrain warranty will expire June 2020. It will expire on time as my Golf is low mileage. So the risk is potentially loosing 15 months of power train warranty. I could get APRs power train warranty. And I am thinking of this. But if effectively it's $400 for 15 months. IDK.

Read the APR warranty (and especially the exclusions) carefully before you think you're getting something worthwhile. I see loopholes big enough to drive a semi through but you may think it is useful.

 

[Woody_in_MN]

An interesting twist on the warranty question. I just read through the slim extended warranty booklet I bought for my car. The company is called Protective Asset Protection. They are still in existence. So that part is good news. It is possible I missed it, but I did not see anything about ECU software voiding the coverage. There was a section about "retro fitting equipment" and also called out "used for racing" as voiding the warranty, but nothing about ECU mods. Also thinking about the factory powertrain warranty and potential claim. I would think the dealer would want to keep me as a customer as I bought the Golf New from them. To me this would have some weight with the dealer as well. Not a guarantee, but as a business person, I do think keeping a customer happy becomes part of the mix. Net net, the safe thing would be for me to wait another year and then reconsider the tune. Still have not made a final decision.

 

[Woody_in_MN]

Read the APR warranty (and especially the exclusions) carefully before you think you're getting something worthwhile. I see loopholes big enough to drive a semi through but you may think it is useful.

I have heard adding other aftermarket, like a cold air intake, voids the APR warranty. It would be an additional $400 for 15 months of coverage. Seems expensive. But if I blew a turbo, would be worth it.

I must say I am not totally new to this kind of mod. I bought a performance chip for a like 1995 Cadillac STS and never had a problem with it. Also did an ECU tune in a 1998 A4 I had. Did not have issues with that. But both cars I traded about a year later. Both out of warranty. So no long term history on those.

 

[cb1111]

I don't know how the tech side works in the US but a good friend who's a VW mechanic at a dealership told me that if we take our cars in for service and they have to plug it in they can tell the ecu was flashed.Now having said that they do not use VCDS and they do not allow them in the shop but their own system called Geco or something that sounds like that.Once they plug it in the info is monitored in Toronto Canada.Say if the car came with 4 flashes from the factory and they see a fifth one and identify it on TD1 and it will be there you will get a nice letter from VW saying that your warranty is void on the power train.They do not care what you tell them because they know you flashed the ecu.You will not have a case to even argue that.My friend told me that what I have invested in my new 2019 that I would be a complete fool or even worse to even do it.I asked him if there was a way he could over look it and he said he could but VW certainly will not.What I said is just how VW works in Canada.JB1 or 4 is a safe way to go but if you break down don't get it towed to the dealership before removing it.

Your friend is wrong. A TD1 flag does not "void" a warranty. It merely indicates to VW that the car has had the ECU modified and VW in the Fatherland decides if a failure will be covered.

You will NEVER get a letter from VW about a TD1. Not in the US, not in Canada, not in any country.

It is incorrect information like that from your friend that does the community a disservice.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Your friend is wrong. A TD1 flag does not "void" a warranty. It merely indicates to VW that the car has had the ECU modified and VW in the Fatherland decides if a failure will be covered.

You will NEVER get a letter from VW about a TD1. Not in the US, not in Canada, not in any country.

It is incorrect information like that from your friend that does the community a disservice.

Agreed. And from what I was told the dealer can't tell if the ECU has been flashed but when it's hooked up at the dealer the ECU information goes directly to VW. Don't know if that's true but that's what a VW mechanic told me.

 

[seanmcd1]

Just tune your car already. Follow your heart.

 

[videoguy009]

Your friend is wrong. A TD1 flag does not "void" a warranty. It merely indicates to VW that the car has had the ECU modified and VW in the Fatherland decides if a failure will be covered.

You will NEVER get a letter from VW about a TD1. Not in the US, not in Canada, not in any country.

It is incorrect information like that from your friend that does the community a disservice.

Sorry I may have that td1 thing all wrong as when he was explaining things to me it was a lot of tech jargon and I probably got it wrong,All I am saying is if you tune your car they will see it and it's their choice as to what they will do.Personally I would never do it.I would go the JB1 or 4 route.

 

[tigeo]

Sorry I may have that td1 thing all wrong as when he was explaining things to me it was a lot of tech jargon and I probably got it wrong,All I am saying is if you tune your car they will see it and it's their choice as to what they will do.Personally I would never do it.I would go the JB1 or 4 route.

It's not that complicated. VAG has a system that can tell if the ECU has been modified...regardless of what you think you can do to try to hide it. Depending on the type of warranty repair claim VAG may require the dealer to scan the car which will allow an ECU tune to be noted. If the ECU has been modified the VAG system flags your VIN with a code "TD1" so that they know to scrutinize future warranty claims. Your warranty isn't "voided". The dealer doesn't have anything to do with this. If the dealer doesn't follow VAG's warranty procedure in terms of documentation they may not get reimbursed for the work against the warranty claim. The end.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Bäsemödel]

I also care about longevity on my tuned engine so I do 3 things:
(1) Change oil/filter every 5 thousand miles.
(2) Minimum oil temp at 180 before pushing.
(3) Every 5 thousand miles add VW fuel additive.

Try not to hammer it too much!

I subscribe to each of these but the VW fuel additive is a new one... anyone else use it?

 

[vincevtr]

just do it man, 100% worth it. youre already in your 60s, life is too short to worry about stuff like warranty

 

[Juggar]

I have heard adding other aftermarket, like a cold air intake, voids the APR warranty. It would be an additional $400 for 15 months of coverage. Seems expensive. But if I blew a turbo, would be worth it.

I must say I am not totally new to this kind of mod. I bought a performance chip for a like 1995 Cadillac STS and never had a problem with it. Also did an ECU tune in a 1998 A4 I had. Did not have issues with that. But both cars I traded about a year later. Both out of warranty. So no long term history on those.

Dont go based on "what you heard" you need to actually research things.

APR's warranty covers the CAI and many other things:

APR Plus now includes support for our entire lineup of APR Stage 1 compatible engine hardware, such as intakes, intercoolers, catback exhaust systems and more. We’ve also included support for our APR Plus transmission software, and hardware, and even include support for driveline components, such as brakes, wheels, suspension and more.

https://www.goapr.com/news/2017/12/13/apr-expands-the-apr-plus-limited-powertrain-warranty-program/