Re-Mapping New Car - Warranty Issues ?

[Hudson1]

Ok, has anybody done this and if so was the issue of the manufacturers 3 year warranty mentioned.

Looking at getting a brand new (2013 plate) Fabia 1.6CR Elegance Hatchback in March and have been looking at the different options, whilst doing so i note that there is a £700 difference between the 75 bhp one and my prefered one, that of the 105 bhp. I have also noted that the emmissons and the fuel economy quoted by Skoda are exactly the same for all 3 engine power outputs ??? Odd that.

But that aside, i have thought of saving my cash on the purchase cost and the lower insurance premiums and get the 75 bhp version and then simply have it re-mapped..... anybody think that if i need to take it in for warranty work that this could be spotted ?

N.B One main dealer (will be getting it from carfile anyway) attempted to tell me that all 3 engines were 'different' and i will not get any more power or torque out of the lower powered one by re-,mapping !!! Needless to say that the usual dim wits are still working for car dealers around the country.

Edited 28 October, 2012 by Hudson1

[MediaJunky]

The engine is identical and its simply the ECU maps which are different.

My dealership actually offer a Revo remap when buying the car and will continue to maintain the usual warranty, however as pointed out to me by another forum member, if the dealership ceased trading and I had to take it to a different dealer, they may not be as willing to do warranty work if they realise the car is mapped.

See below for the Revo details, also take note of my insurance comment on your other post

http://www.revotechnik.com/news/2012/1-6/

[Moist Von Lipwig]

Checking the revo site, the stage 1 for both models is the same, kicking out 135 bhp. Issue with the 75bhp engine as a starting point could potentially be insurance as you are doing a big jump in bhp. Someone else may be able to offer a lower gain map but you are back into warranty issues if not dealer supplied

[XK140]

The engine is identical and its simply the ECU maps which are different.

My dealership actually offer a Revo remap when buying the car and will continue to maintain the usual warranty, however as pointed out to me by another forum member, if the dealership ceased trading and I had to take it to a different dealer, they may not be as willing to do warranty work if they realise the car is mapped.

See below for the Revo details, also take note of my insurance comment on your other post

http://www.revotechnik.com/news/2012/1-6/

What you say doesn't sound totally logical.It's Skoda that provide the warranty,not individual dealerships.

So if Skoda UK say a Revo remap doesn't affect warranty,fine...and that then surely applies via any dealership.

On the other hand,if the Revo "warranty" is just dealer "word of mouth" there may be issues.

[octavia5]

Have you checked that the underlying spec is the same on all engine variants - i.e. Brake sizes etc I do not know the Fabia line up but some manufacturers fit small brakes to lower power models, even drums on the rear instead of discs.

[Ootohere]

Always best to ask the person that provides the Warranty & see the answer from them in writing.

Ask the Tuner or mapper or the installer for the T&C's and the small print stuff.

Too many tuners & mappers giving the answer with winks and nudge, nudges, ducking and diving

& ' if it is not found how can it hurt.' type answers IMO.

The magazine articles on their products usually have them saying 'its up to the person to inform of Maps'.

(paraphrasing.)

That is for both Warranty claims and vehicle insurance.

http://www.briskoda....affect-warranty

george

[Whitelighter]

Firstly, you won't save any mo ey on insurance by buying a 75hp version and mapping it to 105hp - to be insured you would have to declare this and it might even be more as an after market mod.

Secondly, the warranty from skoda will e affected. Not all of it, but if you have a fault that can be linked or attributed to the remap then the warranty won't be valid. I.e if your ech fails chances are skoda will say you tampered with it so your on your own. However, if you have say a drive shaft fayre or heater problem for example these have nothing to do with the ecu so the warranty stands

[Hudson1]

Cheers for all that, i will have a think about it and decide what to get, its simply the extra £700 by Skoda for what is, in its basic form, a click of a mouse on a skoda computer to set the bhp to 105.... for £700 !!!!

I understood the cars are exactly the same and that brakes etc are no different in all 3 variants.

Edited 28 October, 2012 by Hudson1

[XK140]

Cheers for all that, i will have a think about it and decide what to get, its simply the extra £700 by Skoda for what is, in its basic form, a click of a mouse on a skoda computer to set the bhp to 105.... for £700 !!!!

I understood the cars are exactly the same and that brakes etc are no different in all 3 variants.

Sad fact of life,that's how they maximise their profits,with "extras" that cost them very little.

The consolation is that with an Audi or a VW you would pay a lot more for the same thing.

[Hudson1]

This is true. I will have a good think about it. I think i need to test drive a 75 bhp one and then a 105 one and go from there. Thanks

[MediaJunky]

What you say doesn't sound totally logical.It's Skoda that provide the warranty,not individual dealerships.

So if Skoda UK say a Revo remap doesn't affect warranty,fine...and that then surely applies via any dealership.

On the other hand,if the Revo "warranty" is just dealer "word of mouth" there may be issues.

I can't see Skoda UK authorizing the use of unofficial code in their ECU's so I think its more lightly the case that the dealership will turn a blind eye to the remap when making warranty claims with Skoda UK.

I'm going to my dealership in a week or so to test a remapped 105 Monte so will ask them then.

[Moist Von Lipwig]

I can't see Skoda UK authorizing the use of unofficial code in their ECU's so I think its more lightly the case that the dealership will turn a blind eye to the remap when making warranty claims with Skoda UK.

I'm going to my dealership in a week or so to test a remapped 105 Monte so will ask them then.

There is a thread on the forum (somewhere) about this issue. Someone said something about the diagnostic system automatically scanning the ECU and highlighting if the map was not stock and recording this on the Skoda UK system, not just the dealerships. No idea how the Revo dealerships handle this.

[MediaJunky]

<br />There is a thread on the forum (somewhere) about this issue. Someone said something about the diagnostic system automatically scanning the ECU and highlighting if the map was not stock and recording this on the Skoda UK system, not just the dealerships. No idea how the Revo dealerships handle this.

<br /><br />VAS diagnostics do communicate with VAG but only to program keys, stereos etc, as far as I'm aware they aren't used for warranty claims by the dealership, although its been 18 months since i last configured a VAS and things may have changed <br /><br />UPDATE: The link you spoke about I believe is this one:<br /><br />http://www.briskoda.net/forums/index.php Edited 28 October, 2012 by MediaJunky

[Whitelighter]

It's very simple, the dealership cover the cost of replacing faults that would normally be covered by the manufacturer warranty that the remap excludes.

All great provided the dealership remains solvent

[arnold]

I had a breakdown call out a few months ago and i was asked by the Skoda assist guy if i had remapped the vehicle. He wasn't bothered but he did say that when he scans the vehicle it would show up a slightly different coding if it was. All diagnostic scans are uploaded to skoda so they will know according to this chap. I read an article this week in autoexpress which stated the exact same thing. I guess dealerships are looking for any way out of paying for certain repairs under warranty.. I had a 75hp monte carlo on loan whilst mine was in for the oil issue. It wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding one of the slowest cars ive driven.. Good Luck.

[Furbytom]

. I guess dealerships are looking for any way out of paying for certain repairs under warranty..

Dealerships make a lot of money doing warranty work so I can't see them routinely avoiding it, not if they've got any shred of business acumen anyhow! skoda pick up the tab for the work NOT the dealer ;-)

[Hudson1]

I had a breakdown call out a few months ago and i was asked by the Skoda assist guy if i had remapped the vehicle. He wasn't bothered but he did say that when he scans the vehicle it would show up a slightly different coding if it was. All diagnostic scans are uploaded to skoda so they will know according to this chap. I read an article this week in autoexpress which stated the exact same thing. I guess dealerships are looking for any way out of paying for certain repairs under warranty.. I had a 75hp monte carlo on loan whilst mine was in for the oil issue. It wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding one of the slowest cars ive driven.. Good Luck.

Very interesting indeed, i agree that the dealer would not give a monkeys about a remap given they make money out of the work, but if this data goes straight to Skoda anyway..... i can see them taking note .... i may well get the 105 bhp one and then in 3 years time have it remapped when out of warranty. Thanks

[PDIBK]

I reckon you'll be pleased with the 105 as is - I think it's plenty quick enough.

Occasionally (if I could overtake) I yearn for a bit more power, but most of the time it's fine.

The argument would be, do you want 135 bhp, or just 105 bhp, so want to lift the 75 to the full potential Skoda offer?

OR

REALLY want 135bhp, so save a bit on the 105 list price, by buying a 75 and then remap to 135. Yep, great 65bhp lift in power and a bit more torque.

Also interesting that you can get a remap for £100. That would be good to be able to get...

[Hudson1]

Yep the remap i get is done by my neighbour for £300 but he will give it me for what he pays .... £100, it really has made a massive difference to my Mk1 TDI, when i first drove it, it was like a new car ! So much smoother with no jerking or flat spots, but the difference being that my current TDI is out of warranty so not an issue at all, the new one would not be of course.

[Gizmo]

Not sure if this covers the Fabia, but VAG have been using the Bosch MED17 & EDC17 ECU’s for a few years now - these need to removed from the car and physically opened up to be remapped, unlike earlier ECU’s which could be done via the OBD port, worth checking and bearing in mind.

[Moist Von Lipwig]

Not sure if this covers the Fabia, but VAG have been using the Bosch MED17 & EDC17 ECU’s for a few years now - these need to removed from the car and physically opened up to be remapped, unlike earlier ECU’s which could be done via the OBD port, worth checking and bearing in mind.

This is certainly true for the mk2 vRS. Some people have had horror stories about it, the is a thread by VRSY telling his problems.

[Snowman89]

Not sure if this covers the Fabia, but VAG have been using the Bosch MED17 & EDC17 ECU’s for a few years now - these need to removed from the car and physically opened up to be remapped, unlike earlier ECU’s which could be done via the OBD port, worth checking and bearing in mind.

If that is true should it not apply to the Polo, A1 and regular fabia tsi? In Sweden bsr supply tuning by just uploading a new map to the ecu. No hardware modification needed.

Skickat från min GT-I9100 via Tapatalk 2

[fordfan]

Dealerships make a lot of money doing warranty work so I can't see them routinely avoiding it, not if they've got any shred of business acumen anyhow! skoda pick up the tab for the work NOT the dealer ;-)

You'll find that dealers do an awful lot of work which the customer thinks is warrantable and Skoda do not, so they don't get paid. The dealer can also be charged back for warranty work, long after the repair has been done and they can also be fined £thousands by Skoda. So given the risks it's not worth while for them to be claiming for work on re mapped vehicles, where there's a chance that the remap has contributed to the failure.

[Hudson1]

I think i will do as i have done with my current Fabia Mk1, leave the map alone for the warranty period then just have it done after that, its a shame the standard map (certainly on my Mk1 Fabia) is so crap, since my remap on that car it has driven like a new one ! Thanks for all the advice.