Out of Curiousity- What are your local shops charging for shop fees on ECU Tunes?

[BDP]

I have a local shop that wants to charge me 1.5hrs of labor on a TCU & ECU tune. The shop rate is $95 an hour which puts things at about $142.50 to get flashed. Personally I'm shocked that an ECU/TCU tune would literally take a full 1.5hrs of labor...ACTUAL LABOR. The same shop quoted me 2hrs labor to put on the AWE resonated downpipes I have. To me the downpipes seem like a good 2hrs of labor, where flashing a tune literally takes what...hit enter...maybe hit enter again.

Also for a Stg II upgrade, with the ECU tune labor [rolleyes] plus the install of the pulley they are quoting 6.5hrs. Does that sound right? I guess this means it's 5hrs to put the pulley on...I guess this shop doesn't know how to do stuff in parallel and the manger in me just doesn't get it.

This is at a GIAC dealer shop, the APR shop isn't much cheaper.

[justr0]

Wow that's crazy! I'm sure they charge the same if you want to reflash back to stock for servicing etc...ridiculous!

My shop doesn't charge me for flashes :) (APR)

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[bmoreS4]

Normally shops charge 1 hour, so doing an ECU and TCU tune might be 1.5

[scottycs]

Just FYI, I flashed my stage 2 and DSG tune in under 30 minutes from start to finish.

[GRUMPY-S4]

If a shop charges for flashing... Find another shop! I would never pay for a flash

[jran76]

It completely depends. The two local shops I've dealt with don't charge any shop time for the initial tunes, but sometimes charge a half-hour for subsequent updates. I also know of some shops that do charge for all tuning work, and it's probably justified up to a certain point. It is a little more than hitting a few buttons. A good shop will do a thorough inspection of the car to make sure everything is in working order before it's tuned. You also have to hook up a battery charger, clear codes afterwards, and they should verify everything is working properly afterwards. It really comes down to what a shop is willing to throw in to get your business on the tune.... Shops aren't making a lot of money off this type of tuning.

[LordMagnet]

My shop did my flash for free. They said I could come back anytime I needed to flash back to stock (service) and they would flash and then reflash back for free.

[bakedziti]

While I don't necessarily agree with it, the logic holds that the car is in the shop's possession, and it is occupying their time that could be used to work on other customer's cars. I am not sure how APR or Unitronic works, but I know GIAC tuners have to log into a specific site and provide all necessary vehicle information before a tune is released for the specific car. It took longer than expected for me, but that was due to issues with a new GIAC dealer site that was released within the last few months. Again, I don't agree with the labor charge, but I understand that this is your local dealer's opportunity cost of providing you a service; pay to play my friend.

[chaos2984]

1.5 sounds fine to me for flashing 2 ecu's. If you go to a dealer they charge you the same to flash a computer 1.0 for the first and .5 for every computer there after. But like others have said you should be paying for a flash. There is enough profit built into the tune price to where they would install the flash for free. Also my Manager friend. If the work doesn't overlap you get charged whatever the quoted rate for the job reguardless if the tech can do both jobs at once. Only when the job's functions or requirements overlap that's when you would get a break on labor.

[BDP]

I don't have many options on flashes unless I want to drive 3hrs. There are literally 2 shops within an hour of me (APR & GIAC).

Both quoted me 3 grand to do a Stg II install (Pulley, ECU, TCU) so I was curious to how much it would be just to go Stg 1 and was a little shocked to see the nearly $150 charge to flash the car.

I guess outside of that my only other option would be Unitronic or EPL to avoid any flashing fees.

[rwtzero]

1 Hour labor

[DannyDeez]

Usually free. But we have plenty of options and competition between shops in the tri state area here.
Since you don't have any real shop options where you live, the shops are taking advantage of that.

[shaunm82]

Mine will charge for about 45 mins of labor on a ECU flash/reflash.

[Ben_magnan]

You have to take in consideration the shop is not just doing an upload . They have to take time to gatter some information prior to the flashing process and build up your customer file in the data base : Ecu ID, Revision number, name address ,phone number , car specification , etc..etc.. that being said it take a good 10 minutes to properly enter those. After they have to proceed to the task of flashing the car. Not all the car's have the same flashing period ECU's and DSG's are not ALL flash the same way and in some situation they must take appart some other part's to start the flashing session. On other car's the flashing session can take as long as 2 hours.. It is certainly not a good thing to surcharge a customer for a flash but keep in mind that not every car is a 5 minutes flash session.

[Chris@EPL]

Free to install the software in house and we offer the cable to install the flash yourself for $199 and then you can go back to stock at your convenience and be able to do any updates as necessary as well.

[BDP]

You have to take in consideration the shop is not just doing an upload . They have to take time to gatter some information prior to the flashing process and build up your customer file in the data base : Ecu ID, Revision number, name address ,phone number , car specification , etc..etc.. that being said it take a good 10 minutes to properly enter those. After they have to proceed to the task of flashing the car. Not all the car's have the same flashing period ECU's and DSG's are not ALL flash the same way and in some situation they must take appart some other part's to start the flashing session. On other car's the flashing session can take as long as 2 hours.. It is certainly not a good thing to surcharge a customer for a flash but keep in mind that not every car is a 5 minutes flash session.

Understood but 1.5hrs seems a little excessive to me. I can do system installs in less time then that on my computers while eating a doughnut, while drinking a cup of coffee. It's sad to see how archaic VAG tuning still is in respects to handhelds and the ability for custom tunes. I guess I've been spoiled with Cobb tuning over the years and actually having a kick A$$ handheld that comes along with their flashes.

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Free to install the software in house and we offer the cable to install the flash yourself for $199 and then you can go back to stock at your convenience and be able to do any updates as necessary as well.
Can you PM me your prices on your tunes?

[TexasDfwS4]

Unitronic and it's free at home flashing. Love it I went to the audi dealer last week for Audicare and flashed it the night before and the next day came home from Dealership and flashed back the the race file that I will use this weekend, and then back to the 2+ tune. Easy

[MrFunk]

1 hour labor is fair

[Chris@EPL]

Understood but 1.5hrs seems a little excessive to me. I can do system installs in less time then that on my computers while eating a doughnut, while drinking a cup of coffee. It's sad to see how archaic VAG tuning still is in respects to handhelds and the ability for custom tunes. I guess I've been spoiled with Cobb tuning over the years and actually having a kick A$$ handheld that comes along with their flashes.

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Can you PM me your prices on your tunes?

haha I already sent you some prices.

[ModdedEuros]

Flash right at home with UniConnect. takes all of 15-20min

https://www.moddedeuros.com/products/unitronic-uniconnect-programming-tool-uh008-tla

[mr shickadance]

can't speak for recent times, but I know back when I had my b7 a4, the flash was 1 hour's labor, and the reason they told me is that they just don't know how long it will take. Most cars it's 30 minutes, some cars an hour, some over. even if it's 20 minutes the shop usually has a 1 hour minimum, but I get what your saying, you are buying a product from them, they should offer something.

idk vote with your wallet.

[cjw]

Unitronic dealer (IIRC), was either 50 or $100, though depends on the dealer. The labor for Stage 2 was 3.5hours (I did it myself).

I went EPL for the tune FWIW since it's an easy DIY flash once everything is set up computer/cable/ECU wise. I strongly considered Unitronic because they are Canadian (exchange rate sucks), and Uniconnect is a huge benefit to me. But they had no DSG tune and EPL had a great sale.

[BDP]

Thanks everyone for your input. It sounds like I need to start researching a do it yourself pulley install.


Unitronic dealer (IIRC), was either 50 or $100, though depends on the dealer. The labor for Stage 2 was 3.5hours (I did it myself).

I went EPL for the tune FWIW since it's an easy DIY flash once everything is set up computer/cable/ECU wise. I strongly considered Unitronic because they are Canadian (exchange rate sucks), and Uniconnect is a huge benefit to me. But they had no DSG tune and EPL had a great sale.

See the shops here are quoting 6hrs for the pulley install. I assume they are tacking on the software install time also with that.

[LordMagnet]

See the shops here are quoting 6hrs for the pulley install. I assume they are tacking on the software install time also with that.

That's brutal. I was quoted 2.5 hours of labor for pulley install and stage 2 flash.

[DannyDeez]

That's brutal. I was quoted 2.5 hours of labor for pulley install and stage 2 flash.

Just curious, which shop?

[will13k7]

the tcu flash is much quicker than ecu flash, combined should be under an hour unless something goes wrong like 30 mins into it, then a lot of time gets consumed starting over.

[cjw]

Thanks everyone for your input. It sounds like I need to start researching a do it yourself pulley install.
.

There is a YouTube video on a diy. I removed the supercharger as another way to do it. Maybe 2.5 hours of casual work and another thirty minutes of diy flashing with EPL.

[TexasDfwS4]

Unitronic dealer (IIRC), was either 50 or $100, though depends on the dealer. The labor for Stage 2 was 3.5hours (I did it myself).

I went EPL for the tune FWIW since it's an easy DIY flash once everything is set up computer/cable/ECU wise. I strongly considered Unitronic because they are Canadian (exchange rate sucks), and Uniconnect is a huge benefit to me. But they had no DSG tune and EPL had a great sale.

This is true if you choose not to get the Uniconnect cable but as you can see by others the cable pays for itself the first time. If you buy the tune and cable together the cable is/was $100.

[cjw]

Good Point, I'd see no reason not to go Uniconnect. The only downside is if you're a Mac user or have no laptop so you'd need to buy a mediocre one to use Uniconnect. The EPL program works on the cheapest of tablets.

[Chris@EPL]

Good Point, I'd see no reason not to go Uniconnect. The only downside is if you're a Mac user or have no laptop so you'd need to buy a mediocre one to use Uniconnect. The EPL program works on the cheapest of tablets.

And we can also include a tablet with purchase as well.

[Sales@DriveAuto]

We don't charge for flashes. Even on the most complicated setup (figure a C7 S6 ECU and TCU tune, the latter of which requires more equipment and setup time), we can still knock both out in under an hour, and we're making money on the tunes. Most of the shops around us charge somewhere between a half hour and three hours labor to flash/reflash/unflash, which we feel is unnecessary. For most tunes, you plug the laptop in and watch the status bar progress forward. I can understand it taking time, but if your shop is tacking on a fee for this, what else are you overpaying for?

Just our $0.02 - we try to make your dollar go further.

[Dudemans4]

free to install the software in house and we offer the cable to install the flash yourself for $199 and then you can go back to stock at your convenience and be able to do any updates as necessary as well.

what he said!!!!!

[Silverbullet S4]

Zero cost for install at my shop. I wouldn't pay an extra fee for that. I'd go to another installer or run a different tune if there was labor cost for every time the tune is added/updated/removed.....

[PSUGOLD]

AWE Tuning is the shop that does my work, there are no other GIAC dealers near me. 1.5 Hours of labor to remove the tune and DSG software, then 1.5 hours to put it back on when I bring it back. $100 an hour labor. Sucks, but WTF else am I supposed to do?

[Chris@EPL]

AWE Tuning is the shop that does my work, there are no other GIAC dealers near me. 1.5 Hours of labor to remove the tune and DSG software, then 1.5 hours to put it back on when I bring it back. $100 an hour labor. Sucks, but WTF else am I supposed to do?

With our ECU tune and TCU tune you buy a cable and install/uninstall either tune yourself any time you want. And we can also include a tablet to use with the cable if you dont have a laptop.

[TexasDfwS4]

AWE Tuning is the shop that does my work, there are no other GIAC dealers near me. 1.5 Hours of labor to remove the tune and DSG software, then 1.5 hours to put it back on when I bring it back. $100 an hour labor. Sucks, but WTF else am I supposed to do?
Tune from home!!!
Unitronic Uniconnect is the answer.

[Navyseal#6]

Anyone in central PA performing ECU/TCU tunes for a good price? Bloomsburg PA

[littleredwagen]

We don't charge for flashes. Even on the most complicated setup (figure a C7 S6 ECU and TCU tune, the latter of which requires more equipment and setup time), we can still knock both out in under an hour, and we're making money on the tunes. Most of the shops around us charge somewhere between a half hour and three hours labor to flash/reflash/unflash, which we feel is unnecessary. For most tunes, you plug the laptop in and watch the status bar progress forward. I can understand it taking time, but if your shop is tacking on a fee for this, what else are you overpaying for?

Just our $0.02 - we try to make your dollar go further.

[up] great service and great prices from you guys

[justr0]

We don't charge for flashes. Even on the most complicated setup (figure a C7 S6 ECU and TCU tune, the latter of which requires more equipment and setup time), we can still knock both out in under an hour, and we're making money on the tunes. Most of the shops around us charge somewhere between a half hour and three hours labor to flash/reflash/unflash, which we feel is unnecessary. For most tunes, you plug the laptop in and watch the status bar progress forward. I can understand it taking time, but if your shop is tacking on a fee for this, what else are you overpaying for?

Just our $0.02 - we try to make your dollar go further.
+1 These guys are great and my primary shop for all my tuning work.

Shout out to Dion, Matt, Kevin and Sam!

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[AerotusX]

Wasn't charged for initial ECU flash here either. The pulley install and stage II flash took 3-hours for me.