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IS20 + JB4 & Warranty

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Cool, that's promising! Out of curiosity have you had many issues with your car?

I'm so on edge with my new vehicle as they really didn't seem to inspect it much. Backwards mounted wiper, unbalanced wheels/tires, and timing cover crank pulley shit it's in for now don't leave me with a ton of confidence 😬 .

Only has 24k on the clock, dealer has me wondering if they ever changed the oil, or fluids.
The dealer that you're counting on to warranty aftermarket turbos and performance parts has you wondering if they ever changed the oil or fluids in 25K miles? Good luck.
 

zwalk

Drag Race Newbie
Location
United States
Car(s)
GSW 4motion
The dealer that you're counting on to warranty aftermarket turbos and performance parts has you wondering if they ever changed the oil or fluids in 25K miles? Good luck.
Definitely not. I will never go back there. I drove out of town to get the car. I also never said anything about warrantying an aftermarket turbo. You're using a straw man argument here. Warranty work was in reference to common failures being covered such as fuel pump, water pump, thermostat as they go out on these cars sometimes etc.

Thanks for the insight.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Definitely not. I will never go back there. I drove out of town to get the car. I also never said anything about warrantying an aftermarket turbo. You're using a straw man argument here. Warranty work was in reference to common failures being covered such as fuel pump, water pump, thermostat as they go out on these cars sometimes etc.

Thanks for the insight.
I shouldn't have said aftermarket. I meant a non stock turbo like the IS20. Sorry for wrong terminology.
 

zwalk

Drag Race Newbie
Location
United States
Car(s)
GSW 4motion
I shouldn't have said aftermarket. I meant a non stock turbo like the IS20. Sorry for wrong terminology.
Regardless I'm never going to be like "Hey my friend I blew my is20 please replace it" ~maybe on a GTi 😂

I get your meaning though. Just don't want to throw warranty work in the garbage if it is warranty work that wouldnt be invited by modification. But I understand there's no way to know the outcome in advance.
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion
Cool, that's promising! Out of curiosity have you had many issues with your car?

I'm so on edge with my new vehicle as they really didn't seem to inspect it much. Backwards mounted wiper, unbalanced wheels/tires, and timing cover crank pulley shit it's in for now don't leave me with a ton of confidence 😬 .

Only has 24k on the clock, dealer has me wondering if they ever changed the oil, or fluids.
No significant issues worth noting in ~3 years/70k miles. Tuned since 3K miles. IS20 for a year. IS38 for a year. Tracked. Dragged. Hundreds of launches. Generally drive it hard but not stupid plus it's been anal-retentively maintained. This seems to be the norm for these cars based on the forums and FB groups. I would clearly get all your issues sorted first under warranty to make sure the car is solid before touching any power mods and to reduce your financial risk. I know you've posted a lot in the FB group and gotten similar info/results.
 

zwalk

Drag Race Newbie
Location
United States
Car(s)
GSW 4motion
No significant issues worth noting in ~3 years/70k miles. Tuned since 3K miles. IS20 for a year. IS38 for a year. Tracked. Dragged. Hundreds of launches. Generally drive it hard but not stupid plus it's been anal-retentively maintained. This seems to be the norm for these cars based on the forums and FB groups. I would clearly get all your issues sorted first under warranty to make sure the car is solid before touching any power mods and to reduce your financial risk. I know you've posted a lot in the FB group and gotten similar info/results.
Yeah I have. I have the 'anal retentive' thing going on too. I like to collect a lot of information before I make decisions, but I'm aware it doesn't make the decisions any safer really. Just logical fallacy. Appreciate the insight on your repairs. Hoping after this warranty work is done I'll have a better idea of risk I'm willing to assume. Figure I'll drive it a few months and see if anything crops up.

Thanks for humoring me
 

Shiny_Rx

New member
Location
USA
Car(s)
Alltrack
Figured I would just chime in. I've been debating whether or not to go with just a JB4 tune for the past 3 years. I have heard of cases where people just running JB4 tunes were denied warranty service even with the unit removed, while that does not seem to be a common issue, it does happen. If they suspect the car was running modded, despite no TD1, I am sure VW will do all they can to try to find a way to screw you out of warrantied work. Yes the 1.8t is a proven robust powerplant, but that does not mean it cannot fail. I would say proceed with caution, and if you decide to go through with power mods, don't expect VW to have your back on anything. Warranty work on things not affected by power mods should be covered by warranty but you may have to fight for it. If this is your only car and you do not have the option of working from home, I would really think about that too.

Before my Alltrack, I had a b6 A4 1.8t, that for the last ~20k miles I had it, was APR stage 1. It was a somewhat high mileage car, sold it at ~185k, no issues at all with the engine/trans. I made sure to follow all preventative maintenance, oil change every 5k with quality oil, but I also young and drove it like I stole it 24/7.

I know these cars are slow/boring when they are stock. Its really tempting to get it livened up a bit. I am just waiting until I don't have a warranty to worry about losing. Most people seem to run their cars modded with little to no issues. I would just say, don't rush into anything, proceed with caution, and don't do anything you cant afford to fix out of pocket. Just my 2 cents.
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion
Figured I would just chime in. I've been debating whether or not to go with just a JB4 tune for the past 3 years. I have heard of cases where people just running JB4 tunes were denied warranty service even with the unit removed, while that does not seem to be a common issue, it does happen. If they suspect the car was running modded, despite no TD1, I am sure VW will do all they can to try to find a way to screw you out of warrantied work. Yes the 1.8t is a proven robust powerplant, but that does not mean it cannot fail. I would say proceed with caution, and if you decide to go through with power mods, don't expect VW to have your back on anything. Warranty work on things not affected by power mods should be covered by warranty but you may have to fight for it. If this is your only car and you do not have the option of working from home, I would really think about that too.

Before my Alltrack, I had a b6 A4 1.8t, that for the last ~20k miles I had it, was APR stage 1. It was a somewhat high mileage car, sold it at ~185k, no issues at all with the engine/trans. I made sure to follow all preventative maintenance, oil change every 5k with quality oil, but I also young and drove it like I stole it 24/7.

I know these cars are slow/boring when they are stock. Its really tempting to get it livened up a bit. I am just waiting until I don't have a warranty to worry about losing. Most people seem to run their cars modded with little to no issues. I would just say, don't rush into anything, proceed with caution, and don't do anything you cant afford to fix out of pocket. Just my 2 cents.
I don't think anyone can point to an example of someone running a JB4 that was removed that had warranty drama. There just isn't really a way to tell based on how it works.
 

Shiny_Rx

New member
Location
USA
Car(s)
Alltrack
I don't think anyone can point to an example of someone running a JB4 that was removed that had warranty drama. There just isn't really a way to tell based on how it works.
I remember reading about it in an AT owners group I was in, on FB a couple years ago. To be honest I never really looked into it that much because I hate using FB. Just remember reading a couple members saying they got denied service due to their removed JB4.

Only thing I can think of is if the wiring in the engine bay looks off, that might have been a clue to the tech. However, again, I didn't really follow that thread, so I don't know what exactly happened. Just pointing it out as OP seems concerned about retaining his warranty, and when you push more power, you run the risk of something going wrong. Not that it will go wrong, but it can, I could have been more clear on that. It does seem like the overwhelming majority of people running a JB tune do not encounter trouble, and it is the best bet if you want to try to retain your warranty while increasing power.

That being said I have never seen anyone on VW Vortex, or here, report any warranty issues due to a JB tune, and I suppose the credibility of a FB post could be questionable...
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion
I remember reading about it in an AT owners group I was in, on FB a couple years ago. To be honest I never really looked into it that much because I hate using FB. Just remember reading a couple members saying they got denied service due to their removed JB4.

Only thing I can think of is if the wiring in the engine bay looks off, that might have been a clue to the tech. However, again, I didn't really follow that thread, so I don't know what exactly happened. Just pointing it out as OP seems concerned about retaining his warranty, and when you push more power, you run the risk of something going wrong. Not that it will go wrong, but it can, I could have been more clear on that. It does seem like the overwhelming majority of people running a JB tune do not encounter trouble, and it is the best bet if you want to try to retain your warranty while increasing power.

That being said I have never seen anyone on VW Vortex, or here, report any warranty issues due to a JB tune, and I suppose the credibility of a FB post could be questionable...
I've heard the same/read the same as I've really active on the FB groups/mod on the GSW/AT one. I just think it's a lot of "My bro that works at a dealer's buddy that works there says he heard..." kind of thing.
 

GTIfan99

Autocross Champion
Location
FL
Every car that I've owned that had issues that would be covered by warranty, had them pretty early.

Drive the car for awhile, make sure it's solid, then mod like a reasonable person and don't worry about it.
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion
Every car that I've owned that had issues that would be covered by warranty, had them pretty early.

Drive the car for awhile, make sure it's solid, then mod like a reasonable person and don't worry about it.
Yep - life is too short to not enjoy your stuff but I do get that if you stretched to buy something and have a car payment, having a big repair bill on top of it is an issue for many folks. Edit - not judging that BTW.
 
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danbfree

Go Kart Champion
Location
Portland, OR suburbia
Car(s)
2017 Golf 1.8 TSI
I believe the details on that "removed JB4 still voided warranty" involved something to the effect of that they could see the wiring looming for the JB4 top connection had been modded/pulled back so that's how a douchey anti-mod dealer denied them...
 

zwalk

Drag Race Newbie
Location
United States
Car(s)
GSW 4motion
Yep - life is too short to not enjoy your stuff but I do get that if you stretched to buy something and have a car payment, having a big repair bill on top of it is an issue for many folks. Edit - not judging that BTW.
Yeah we're not really stretched. I just tend to be conservative and careful on most things and it's served us well. Cars are where I break at times 😂.

I'm actually really happy with the car stock for now I might JB4 and chill for a while before I make a major change.
 
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