Modifying a Car on VW Solutions

[Mr Savage]

Hello guys,

Just thought i'd throw a discussion up here for anyone looking at modifying their cars that are on VW Solutions. I've read through the entire terms & conditions (which was very boring) and there's no mention of the car needing to be in it's stock form when returned to the dealer. It just says it needs to meet the "fair wear and tear guidelines". Obviously it would make sense to return the car to stock and sell the parts on after ownership anyway but I was curious as to what they're guidelines are when you return a remapped car. Obviously it would be flagged with TD1 as having custom ECU software in the past even if the stock map is re-flashed onto the ECU. But it seems that VW won't refuse to take the car back in this instance?

Warranty wise we all know that modifying your car will void the warranty on that part of your car and any closely related ones. Remap = ECU and Drivetrain warranty voiding for example.

[monkeyhanger]

So you're looking for R performance without losing a ton on your GTI? Wise move, considering how much your GTI would lose at this early stage. Tuning boxes seem to be the safest option. They can be removed without trace, while a true remap/ECU flash will be detectable. Any faults flung up due to the box could be cleared with VCDS.

Most of the time, the onus is on the manufacturer to prove a part isn't defective when you buy any consumer item, but VW could flat out refuse you if the turbo popped etc and you'd have to take them to court, get expensive independent engineers reports to prove the part would have likely failed under normal loading etc if they do refuse you.

I'm of the opinion that if VW central would never know (maybe after inspection of parts etc), the dealership is likely to fix under warranty as it's a revenue stream for them at the end of the day.

[Rhyso]

Nothing is undetectable.......

Also what if you dont have VCDS?? 

[monsta]

I asked my dealer whether the car needed to come back standard and he said no.  You can do what you like but it will be valued based on how it is returned.

That is of course a dealer and not a solicitor

[Talk-torque]

I asked my dealer whether the car needed to come back standard and he said no.  You can do what you like but it will be valued based on how it is returned.

....but that is the point - it's simply the effect of what you do on the car's value at the end of the agreement. If you never washed it and parked under a factory chimney the car would be worth less. If you make lots of mods that have to be changed back to standard by the dealer, or which make the car harder to sell, the car will be worth less. It's just another transaction to him.