New S3 Owner... Question about tune

[ericnab]

Hello. I purchase a used S3 last Friday from the local Audi dealer. It is a 2015 with 4.1K miles. I found out it was tuned with Unitronics stage 1+ and the dealer sold the car with the remaining factory warranty. Can I ask the dealer's service department to remove the tune or I am better off going to the shop that did the tune? I am just worried about voiding the factory warranty if I were to run into engine or transmission problems.

Thank you for your help.

[diztek]

i would contact the dealer. the dealer is the only one that can overwrite the Uni software with the Audi OEM software. man, i would let the dealer know it was flashed before you bought it and see if they even care.

[Baggio]

How do you know it is tuned? If it is tuned, you will definitely be disappointed going back to stock. Lol.

[ericnab]

They did disclose it was flashed. They told me the warranty was still valid. When I questioned them further they said I could potentially be denied service if something significant were to break. They did say if it was flashed back to stock I would not have to worry about any warranty claims being denied. Thus the reason I am going this route. I am awaiting a call back now from the dealer to look into getting the car flashed back to stock.

I may tune it again once I get some miles on it but I want to get a feel for the stock car first.

[afig367]

Keep us posted. You should only have to provide them the VIN to check.

I wouldn't worry (at all) since you bought it from the dealer. Audi should / will stand by its products, even if that means voiding the sale if warranty coverage was mis-represented.

Btw, what dealership?

[ericnab]

Thanks for the replies. I will provide an update later this week.

Cherry Hill Audi is the dealership.

[afig367]

Cherry Hill Audi is the dealership.

Been by a bunch of times, but never shopped with them.

Going back to your first question--are you better off having the deal reflash or going back to the original place? I could go either way on this... In the interest of preserving your warranty, it makes sense to only have Audi technicians touch the car. However, if it's more complicated than just plug-in-and-reflash, they may do more harm than good. There was a big thread in the B8 S4 section about 2 years of one tuning company bricking an ECU because they tried to remove another tuner's flash (IIRC, APR and GIAC although I don't remember who did what). Sometimes, the best people to take them off are the ones who put it on.

[diztek]

ya, but APR will not be able to flash it back to oem, only the dealer can do that. APR can put their "version" of a stock tune on it, but it will still be detected as aftermkt software.

[will13k7]

make sure they remove the TD1 destination in Audi's systems when you get it flashed back to stock, that doesn't happen automatically.

[afig367]

make sure they remove the TD1 destination in Audi's systems when you get it flashed back to stock, that doesn't happen automatically.

Can they do that for everyone, or just when it's a car being sold CPO?

[will13k7]

Can they do that for everyone, or just when it's a car being sold CPO?

I think it was for CPO and in situations where they didn't cover an engine failure under warranty and after you paid to get it repaired/replaced, you can get the car back to non-TD1 status sometimes.

[hbracer93]

If the dealer says they will honor your warranty then I wouldn't flash it back to stock, thats like a free $600 you're throwing down the drain. Maybe get it in writing that your warranty is good. I bought a CPO jeep wrangler that was lifted and they actually warrantied the after market parts, now granted that was a jeep and not an audi.

[silversho92]

You can call audi directly and they will tell you warranty status of the vehicle based on the VIN. I did that before I bought mine. If it is a CPO car, then I doubt anything is flagged on audi's system. Also, if the dealer knowingly sold it to you tuned and as a CPO, they'd have a hell of a time denying any repairs later...even if audi flags it.

[ericnab]

Hello,

An update on this. The dealer got back to me today and said my car was not flagged in their system yet. However the only way to get the OEM software would to buy a whole new computer system ($1700). The service manager then proceeded to tell me if I attempted to get any warranty work done my car would be flagged in their system and void the warranty. Currently waiting to hear back from the Sales manager if they will cover this cost to replace the computer. If they will not cover this cost I am going to have to look into voiding the sale of the car.

[MkUrMark]

Wow thats not cool

[afig367]

Yup, I'd take this to the manager of the dealership at this point (and, if necessary after that, the regional manager from AoA for the Mid-Atlantic)

[2015S3]

Audi WILL NOT just flash it back to stock been there done that (and admit to it)!!! On a traded in 13R they proceeded to tell me the trade-in was void (after I took delivery of new car) because the computer was corrupt (Eurodyne tune). I called their bullshit and after they said I need to pay for a new computer because the current COULD NOT be REFLASHED!

I already had my new car in my hands and they were not going to void that sale so the whole thing disappeared. End of day AOA/Dealer can do whatever they want and when it becomes difficult for them to hold anyone accountable things disappear in the AOA database.

But they will push and push and try to scare the shit out of you. make you pay and try to get anything they can out of you. Needless to say, I am sure the sales manager and service manager took a ton of shit on this one from superiors.

[afig367]

Yeah, even if you're on the offending end of this sort of thing, give AoA the big finger if they try to scare you. Apart from being honest about the odometer reading, etc., it is the dealership's responsibility to inspect the car and they can't void a sale. And especially if you're trading an Audi back to Audi, checking on a TD1 should be as hard as adding 1+1.

I traded my S4 in with AWE exhaust on it to a Subaru dealer. I didn't tell them because I didn't care. They never mentioned it after the fact though.

I suppose there could be a question about Audi's ability to reflash the ECU. Many of the tuners put their own security protocols in place to protect their work from other tuners. It is, after all, intellectual property. As I mentioned previously, there was a big post in the B8 S4 forum about 2 years involving APR and GIAC and somebody bricking someone's ECU by trying to remove another tuner's files. Even if Audi doesn't have some sort of "master access" bullshit, they may see the easiest solution as forcing someone to buy a new ECU.

[Dubfound]

If you bought it at an Audi dealer that's on them. I'm 100% sure they knew the car was flagged and just wanted to sell it hoping you would be gone and never have an issue. They flagged my old Audi with an APR tune when it was in for an oil change once.

It's on them! Make them honor the warranty or fix it...

[will13k7]

Audi overwrites aftermarket tunes all the time when they apply ECU Software Updates. They'll even warn you about it if you tell them your car is tuned and you have a good SA. This happened to me when I took my B8 S4 in for a recall which required a ECU update, they gave me a call and told me my tune is going to get wiped out and that I'll need to reflash, and they couldn't complete the recall unless they updated the ECU, so they had to wipe my tune.

[Blaine]

If you go from Uni Stage 1 to stock.. your going to cry. Like driving a minivan in comparison. Won't be the same car. At all.

I would have the dealer contact the previous owner regarding the Uni handheld? Where is it? Odds are the dealer does have it. The mechanics tossed it aside somewhere. The stock tune is uploaded to it. You can go back to the stock tune at least if thats your cup of tea.

[OneOfOne]

why did you buy the car when they told you it had been tuned? then they tell you that if theres a problem they wont honor the warranty? dont listen to stupidity about keeping the tune. that just asinine. what you should be doing is trying to get out of this potential nightmare that the dealer hosed you on. let some other moron worry about having a tuned car. if something goes wrong theyve pretty much told you your hosed. make a smart decision and soon.