VAG Warranty and Chips

[GeoffC]

Ok, so I've got my brand new S3 with 3 years manufacturers warranty, but after an old AMD chipped RS2 it's just not fast enough, so the obvious solution is chipping it, AMD or otherwise.
The question is, supposing the engine goes pop during the warranty period, and the Audi dealer says no chance, you've modified it, do any of the chipping companies cover this? Has this happened to anyone?

(Saw an RS6 with a broken engine the other day at a dealers which *may* have been chipped and *may* not be covered under warranty, expensive!)

[Dippy]

The tuner won't cover you for engine failure, only chip failure (and maybe ECU as consequential damage).

You won't necessarily lose your Audi warranty claim because of a chip, since (a) the dealer may not know about it and (b) if you have a good relationship with the dealer they may know about it and still honour the claim in order to keep you as an Audi customer.

I think you are at low risk with the S3 since AFAIK turbo failure is rare, and anyway the coilpack issue is so prominent to Audi that there may be more of a tendancy to accept warranty claims in general.

If you're really worried, get the chip done via an Audi dealer (I think Whitehouse do this???). Although you'll pay more, you'll get your modding officially covered by warranty.

[Alan]

Scott's in London also chip cars and honour your warranty [img]images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[SimonS4MTM]

Whatever you do, dont use Scotts in London.

They totaly screwed me with my used S4 that had been modified. When i purchased it just over a year ago they gave me a full 12 month Audi warranty and told me that it was covered even with the mods.

However, when i came to make a claim on it, i found that they had told Audi that it was a 1.8 Avant. I had no comeback on Scotts becaused they had closed the company down and then re-opened it with a new board (new company)

I did get the work done in the end, after many arguments with Audi UK and soem help from my local dealer.

So beware

[jonno]

geoff
I'd give wayside a call in Milton Keynes, they'll take a more liberal view to the AMD chip [img]images/graemlins/clap.gif[/img]
... that might mean that you need to use them for sevicing/any warranty work tho, but thats no bad thing, unless your in Scotland [img]images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Riz_RS4]

You may also consider Revo, its switchable, so when your car goes in for warranty work set the ecu back to standard.....obviously this is misleading the dealer but its your choice [img]images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Hopsta]

If you're really worried, get the chip done via an Audi dealer (I think Whitehouse do this???). Although you'll pay more, you'll get your modding officially covered by warranty.

AFAIK Whitehouse no longer offer this service, I asked them last year during a routine visit. Although they do 'aapear' to be mod friendly [img]images/graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

Graham