ur20v

I bought a B5 S4 earlier this year with APR 93 octane software the previous owner acquired in 2005. The car was having issues with EGT's and random misfires, so I went nuts and threw all sorts of money at it, including APR bi-pipes, piggy pipes and exhaust. Still having issues so a friend suggests I call APR and see if they have any updated software. Well, I did so today. "Sure, we have upgraded the software since then. All you have to do is pay the $150 warranty transfer fee and go to any APR dealer for the update tune."

Seriously? Another arbitrary $150 on top of the thousands I have already spent on the S4 and TT? Get real.

So I will be selling all my APR stuff and replacing it all with competitors products - the ECU's from both the TT and S4, stealth exhaust, piggy pipes, bi-pipes and a bunch of other stuff. I'd rather take a loss selling everything and buying new replacements than reward their poor customer service with another $150.

Flyboy

What version of their software do you have? To my knowledge APR hasn't released an update to their B5 software since 2005, and that was Stg3 code. The Stg1/2 code was last updated before that. You ought to verify that your ECU doesn't have the latest software. Then you ought to verify that the software is your car's issue. I don't recall people having problems with the Stg1/2 code.

I don't get what aspect of their customer service you find poor. They said they would update the software, you aren't the original buyer, so there's a $150 warranty transfer. That warranty transfer buys you their support for a used ECU that you bought, and if they ever did update the software (doubtful) then you'd be entitled to the free upgrade.

I think it is very rare for a cars problems to be the software. Especially with APR's since it is very mature in widespread use.

ur20v

What pisses me off the most is the fact that I have literally spent thousands of dollars on their products and they want me to give them another $150 for the priviledge of being their customer.

Thanks for the info on the software.

Flyboy

You aren't paying $150 for the privilege of being a customer, you're paying $150 to have the right to free upgrades to software that you bought used, and support from APR should their chipped ECU give you problems when again you aren't the original buyer. Many warranties will only apply to the original purchaser, so they're giving you the option of acquiring the warranty for a fee.

It's not just you that they are charging, that warranty transfer fee applies to anybody in your situation. I sold my APR Stg3 kit to someone and they paid that fee to APR to get the warranty on the software. They didn't need to buy the warranty rights, just as you don't need to.

PHOKNMUVN

Nah.. Why should he have to pay $150.00 for the rights to free updates and or support.... the original customer bought the flash and the flash is stored as purchased by VIN in their records.. theyve already gotten their full purchase price from the original customer what would be the difference between the old owner updating or the new owner updating???? apparently $150.00....

Preatorian

I gotta say I agree as far as the issues you are experiencing go. I doubt its the software. Having rebuilt a few of these cars I would say it's more likely that you have some other mechanical issues. Unfortunately without testing and the Vag-com software it can be difficult to say exactly what the issue is. There are a lot of likely culprits if you read the s4wiki. guesses would be spark plugs, coils, fuel injectors, fuel filter, ICMs, or compression issues. start with the easy stuff, before you buy anything the electrical is very easy to test if you have a bently manual. specifically if its one entire bank of cylinders misfiring, start by switching the two ICMs. if it moves cylinders you found your problem.

Flyboy

This is item #1 on the extended service coverage that Nikon provides with my digital camera: "ESC applies to the original purchaser only and is not transferable or assignable."

I imagine that if you look at most product warranties, a transferable warranty will be the exception rather than the norm. Maybe contact the various tuning companies to see how many of them will warranty a product you didn't buy from them.

From VAST's web site <i>"VAST software licensing is only applicable to the original purchaser. If a vehicle is sold to another party, support for that tune is terminated. A relicensing fee and tuning support fee will be charged to treat that software as if it were purchased by the original end user."</i>

PHOKNMUVN

Im not disaggreeing that this is how most companies work.... its just a shame that for an update the original owner it would be free but for a new owner you pay.... its an update their not doing any work on the vehicle.. the shop does the labor and they will charge their own labor rate to open a laptop plug it in get the file off the server and flash the update no work from the actual maker.. and the files are stored as purchased by VIN