Looking at buying a 2018 that’s been tuned

[What13]

I found a 2018 GTI SE at a non-VW dealership, drove it, loved it, told them I want it. They sent it to a local VW dealership for a leak since it still had time on the warranty.
Sales guy called me this afternoon and said basically- good news bad news. They found the leak but also discovered that the car has been tuned so the warranty is void.
The dealership I’m working with said they will pay to get it fixed, so that they can sell me a good car so that’s very cool. But no warranty whatsoever.
My question is - if I install my JB4 and log some runs, will it let me know what has been adjusted in the ECU tune?

 

[CaptainRatty]

Is there a question?

 

[What13]

Is there a question?

Sorry - that posted before I finished. Actual question is now there

 

[daconchslop]

What was the leak? Map 0 on JB4 should show if the car is making more boost than factory settings. Unlikely the car is still tuned but rather just shows the ecu flash counter has increased from factory setting.

 

[What13]

That makes sense. It did drive really nice though. The leak is from the bevel box.
I wasn’t expecting a warranty, but it was an additional benefit over the other cars I was looking at. So ultimately not a deal breaker there.

 

[PowerDemon]

I’d personally avoid any already tuned car.

 

[CaptainRatty]

“No warranty whatsoever” isn’t how that works. You basically have an uphill battle to get anything with the engine or turbo covered, but when* your water pump/t-stat housing leaks, there shouldn’t be any issue having that repaired under warranty. Same for a ton of other potential failures that can occur during the warranty period.

You just have to decide what your risk tolerance is.

I would not start piggybacking a JB4 to figure out the ECU tune… They’re all going to look similar on a log. I’d just call the big players with the VIN.. good chance it’s one of them.

 

[What13]

I was under the impression that the tune voided the warranty, end of story. Yeah, the water pump bled out on my current ’15 GTI, that wasn’t fun to pay for.

 

[CaptainRatty]

I was under the impression that the tune voided the warranty, end of story.

Negative. It sounds like that dealer might be a pain in the ass to work with, but I know in my area there are plenty of dealers who are reasonable and have no problem submitting warranty claims for failed parts that failed because of defect regardless of the added power from the tune.

 

[jimlloyd40]

I was under the impression that the tune voided the warranty, end of story. Yeah, the water pump bled out on my current ’15 GTI, that wasn’t fun to pay for.

My thermostat housing leak was fixed under warranty while tuned.

 

[gixxerfool]

I was under the impression that the tune voided the warranty, end of story. Yeah, the water pump bled out on my current ’15 GTI, that wasn’t fun to pay for.

Not really. VW has to determine whether or not the tune was the cause of the failure. There are obvious systems covered that the tune wouldn’t affect, water pump is a good example. Now, some dealers will say it’s a blanket null on the warranty either out of ignorance or lack of care to actually cover something. Unfortunately, unless you buy new, you’re likely never going to find an unmolested GTI or R at this point. Of warranty wasn’t on the table anyways, then like you said no big deal. See if the selling dealer is willing to offer an aftermarket warranty if you’re interested. The aftermarket won’t know or care about a tune either way.

 

[gixxerfool]

My thermostat housing leak was fixed under warranty while tuned.

Mine was fixed under warranty but the car was returned to stock before I bought it. I know that doesn’t matter, but as we know the tune doesn’t have any bearing on that.

 

[What13]

Ah, very good to know! There are two VW dealerships closer to me than the one doing this repair, so I have options. I also have a great mechanic that I’ve been going to for over 15 years. The dealership I’m looking to buy the car from has a great reputation, but they said they would not be able to offer a warranty through them.