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About to pay off the R

aloha_from_bradley

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
I'm about to make my last payment on my 2019 Golf R.

It's got 25K miles. No major modifications.

What should I do next? I didn't want to tune until it was fully paid. What's the story look like for those that fully own their car? I'm curious to get the general take of members here and the stance on what's appropriate to mod on a car that's financed vs. one that's owned outright.

I still want this car to last a long time.

Thanks,
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Since you're about to pay it off isn't it a moot point about tuning a financed car vs one that's paid off?
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
How do you figure? I didn't want to tune a car that was being financed. It no longer will be.

How is that a moot point?
It's moot because you will be paid off shortly according to you. If you're talking in general about anyone and not yourself I say tune it when you want to regardless of being financed or own it outright. It depends on a person's risk aversion and financial position. I tuned my brand new GTI after I got 1000 miles on it. It is at 416 HP and 428 torque and has 141,000 miles now. Your mileage may vary based on how well you maintain your car and to some degree the luck of the draw.
 

KevinC

Autocross Champion
Location
The land of Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday
Car(s)
'19 Golf R, '21 M2c
First, congrats on paying it off. Nice accomplishment this early in the car's life.

You have a 6/72 b2b factory warranty to think about. If you tune the car, good luck getting coverage on any powertrain issues. If you're willing to forego that coverage and want to tune it, then go for it.
 

aloha_from_bradley

Autocross Champion
Location
AZ
First, congrats on paying it off. Nice accomplishment this early in the car's life.

You have a 6/72 b2b factory warranty to think about. If you tune the car, good luck getting coverage on any powertrain issues. If you're willing to forego that coverage and want to tune it, then go for it.

Thank you. It's been a goal of mine. To your point, this is kinda why I started this thread. I'm wanting to tune / do other things that most might be weary about during the time their car is under finance. I'm concerned about the warranty, but also wanting to harvest more power. Trying to figure out if a car without a lien is better for modding? So far, seems like the answer is no.
 

Jose_Gti

Autocross Newbie
Location
Philadelphia
If you are happy with stock power and want the car to last the more the better, don’t tune it, just drive and enjoy.
But if you want more power without reliability issues, tune it stage 1. It’s something simple that you can do it at home and in case of necessity you can go back to stock.
 

sterkrazzy

Autocross Champion
Location
United States
Car(s)
Turbo. Blue.
I tuned at 9.1k miles. Destroyed the oem clutch by 11.4k miles, and not just clutch slip, but the flywheel and pressure plate were both fucked. 18.5k left on the loan. Send it.
 

gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
Honestly whether or not there was a lien wouldn’t be a deciding factor. I bought a brand new bike in 2005 and I started modding it right away. Owned it 15 years. The warranty on the car would be more the concern. Once that ran out I would probably start with anything that could be affect coverage. If you are cool with a servicing dealer, maybe talk to them and see how they treat modded car warranty claims. I have had customers come to our dealer, not VW, and ask how we handle stuff. We’re usually mod-friendly depending on the level and quality.
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
I'm about to make my last payment on my 2019 Golf R.

It's got 25K miles. No major modifications.

What should I do next? I didn't want to tune until it was fully paid. What's the story look like for those that fully own their car? I'm curious to get the general take of members here and the stance on what's appropriate to mod on a car that's financed vs. one that's owned outright.

I still want this car to last a long time.

Thanks,

most people that are modded/tuned are financing their cars. I’ve never owned a car before, always trade in before paying off.

do what you want man. Go APR Plus if you want to retain that 6/72 warranty.

I’m APR Plus on my 6/72 B2B Alltrack and like everyone always says, it’s the way the car should’ve come from the factory.

based on what I’m picking up from you, I think you’d be very happy with APR Plus and some tires. Especially if you’re DSG. You likely wouldn’t feel the need for much of anything else.
 

HalfGerman

Go Kart Newbie
Location
NH
Car(s)
2018 Golf R
I figure this spring with my '18 R, I will be at 50k miles and will go for a EQT Stage 1+ tune. So I might have lost 2 yrs / 22k miles warranty on engine, I'm fine with that. Probably rear sway too, then I'm done on suspension/engine mods.
 

CaptainRatty

Autocross Champion
Location
Winston-Salem, NC
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
Don't tell my car... I guess it's "stage 3" at this point and I expect to easily go 150k. I went stage 2 at 25k and currently have 59k miles.

Reliability will depend on your right foot more than any one tune.
 

Daks

Autocross Champion
Location
Toronto
Car(s)
GTI PP
Don't tell my car... I guess it's "stage 3" at this point and I expect to easily go 150k. I went stage 2 at 25k and currently have 59k miles.

Reliability will depend on your right foot more than any one tune.
And maintenance. Change your fluids - keep up with the plugs. Be reasonable. I had an issue free MK6R on a Stage 2 HPFP upgraded tune for 100K+ miles. I just saw it on sale on kijiji the other day, still running strong it seems.
 

jay745

What Would Glenn Danzig Do
Location
Slightly Outside Chicago
Car(s)
Mk6 racecar, Tacoma
Get a tune, well worth it. Drive the car and enjoy. Tuning it alone doesn't blanket void your warranty like many think. I tuned my gti with 7k miles on it, bigger turbo at 20k. Nothing's going to blow up from a tune. I just bought a new Tacoma and tuned that one with 300 miles on it 😃
 
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