Dealer Approved Aftermarket Upgrades!

bjmarler

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2004
Location
Tullahoma, TN
TDI
Jetta GLS, 2004, White
My dealer had a "customer appreciation" day yesterday. During the Clinic, questions were taken from all of us in attendance. So, I just had to ask how they felt about aftermarket upgrades - i.e. Old Navy CCV, etc... They said as long as it did not alter the electronics, they had no problem with it and we could go for it.

In fact the biggest warnings they gave us to avoid were "flashing the ecu" and "changing the radio." Both which can/will void your warranty.

It's funny how integrated the radio is with the electronics. They mentioned several cases where the car would not pass emissions inspection because of the radio being replaced and thus the ecu would give an error during emissions inspection. I wish I had asked more questions as to what aftermarket radios they do recommend, or know will work.

Oh well... At least they were willing to install any aftermarket upgrades we purchased ourselves.
 

david_594

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 28, 2004
Location
Cheshire, CT
TDI
2000 Jetta GLS Silver
They idea of the radio voiding the warranty is a total crock on the dealers part. The decision for work to be covered by warranty is pretty much up to the service writer, so if you have a good service writer you are all set. I was at my dealer like 2 weeks ago and they loved my aftermarket stereo and said nothing about it voiding my warranty. They will make you pull he head unit if the car needs to be Vag-com'ed but thats it.
ALSO, last time i was there, the service writer and 2 techs told me I could get LOTS more power out of my TDI by chipping it, and proceeded to go on naming chips tuners they recommened.
 

AtomicSushi

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2001
Location
Rancho Cordova, CA
TDI
2002 Black Golf GL
My dealers worked on my car since day one with an aftermarket radio in it.
One of the dealerships in Sacramento makes you take out our aftermarket radios. The rest don't.
Its just the k-wire thing. There are K-wire testers out there now anyway that remove the need for this. If the dealer doesn't have one then they are pretty lame.
 

dzljet

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2002
Location
TEXAS
TDI
00 Jetta
Back when I used to install chips, I had quite a few of my customers come in from the dealership. Actually, I got PAID by the dealer!! They would get someone in asking about performance upgrades, tell them about my chip and other ways to upgrade their cars properly, they would then in many cases charge the person for chip, send them to me at an agreed upon appointment date and time and then I would go by the dealers at the end of the month and pick up my check.

How about that!!

It is all relative to how proficient the dealer is and their personell and also if their a sheister or not. Many either have clueless techs or their owners/general managers like to pad the profit margin by converting warranty work into customer pay or "retail" work.

In Texas, I've seen them all.

Just like listening to people at this board, you really gotta check around and be very careful not to blindly trust some. They make a talk a good game but they might not have a clue what they are talking about.
Case in point: I know 30 years ago I learned one way to rob yourself of power was to poorly sized tires. I can recall a thread where I pointed out a car dynoed less than others but it also had bigger wheels on it. I was lambasted by "wannabe" experts as being full of dung, that wheels wouldn't rob power on a dyno. Ok, whatever, I can only do so much insanely stupid arguing before I figure I got better things to do with my time.

The same applies for 60-90 times.
I see some people are starting to rethink what wheels they run for these test runs. Gee!! Ya think!!

It seems to me like many on this board are arguing with people with 30 and 40 years of experience in this field and they are relying on well written engineering dialogue that may look good on this board but it's not worth squat where the rubber meets the road.


Going back to dealers, when you go in to one, ask good questions and realize if they give you all the wrong answers, just get out!! RUN!! Leave that dealer!!
Pop smoke and disappear.
Find one that answers more to your liking.
Be advised, this may be a painful process. It may mean you gotta drive an hour or so to get your car worked on.
You then gotta ask yourself; What's it worth to you?

It comes down to a relativity matter.
It always does.
 

jkc120

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
I'm thinking about getting my 2002 Jetta TDI chipped, but I purchased the 7 year/100k warranty upgrade and I'm afraid of voiding that. We usually take the car to Roseville VW in California or Neillo in Sacramento, CA. I realize if I blow the turbo, they will probably not cover that, but would reprogramming the ECU void anything else besides the turbo or the ECU itself? Could I theoretically just de-chip it before I take it in if I'm worried about it?

Thanks in advance!
 

david_594

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 28, 2004
Location
Cheshire, CT
TDI
2000 Jetta GLS Silver
Depending on the dealer they might void the warranty on anything to do with the powertrain or the electrical system. Which means when your seat spring lets go, or the latch for the armest breaks, you will be covered. But beyond that, the dealer won't be much of a help to you.

Or maybe your dealer wont even care (notice) that the car is chipped.

You sound like a good canidate for a tuning box. Its not permenant so if you do have a problem you can just pull the thing out before you head to the dealer.
 

jkc120

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
How much do the tuning boxes run for the TDI? Also, is it just flip switch between stock values and the tuned ones or is there some degress of tweaking? I don't know if I'd feel comfortable tweaking it myself. I know the ECU reprogramming is like $300-400, how does this compare? Thanks for the help!
 

Oil_Burner

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2000
Location
Issaquah, Washington, USA
I went to a local Seattle area stealership to have my newly warrentied MAF done. The tech told me (as soon as he opened my hood/bonnet) that he was supposed to imediately walk over to the manager and tell him about my car and they woule BAR me from the dealership! My warrenty would be void and I wouldnt be allowed in there!

He was COOL and kept his mouth shut!

DO NOT TRUST THEM! ANY OF THEM!

TB
 

20IndigoBlue02

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Location
Was North NJ, now SoCal
TDI
2002 Golf TDI-- deceased
With aftermarket radios...it's the whole K-wire (Premium V) or CAN-BUS (Premium VI) thing. An improperly installed HU can damage the VAG-COM, VAG-whatever the dealer uses, etc, since the radio is part of the system.

in states where diesel emissions is checked through the OBD system, if they cannot hook it up...you're screwed.
 

pepper10

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Location
Manchester, NH, USA
TDI
:)2002 A4 TDI , 2006 A5:)
What you can do is get an ECU from a scrap yard and have that one chipped. Get Vag-Com and whenever you want to go to the stealership, swap the ECU with the stock one. Not hard to do with Vag-Com.
 
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