I've recently received an e-mail from one of the forum members, who stated that Audi has voided his warranty due to chip and suspension mods. Has anyone else had this problem? Here's the text of his recent e-mail.

Brad,

Thanks for replying.

Yes, the warranty is void coz i have chipped and new exhaust, and i will have more warranty void coz i will have h&r installed soon.

The turbo bypass valve = the blow off valve ? is the on in the pic attached the one u r talking about ?

please advise.<p><img src="http://home.san.rr.com/winefinds/1.jpg" border="0">

<B>Brad Willis</B>

<FONT COLOR="#FF6600">2001 225q TT Roadster
No Borla
No Garrett
No Stickers</FONT>

<A HREF="http://home.san.rr.com/winefinds">SoCal Audi TT Club</A>

 

Why, pray tell, should Audi provide a warranty on somebody elses dinking around?

 

Because after all it is still an Audi,if the mods are not related to the warranty claim sureley they should honour it.It would be like me buying a house,painting it a different colour and then the roof caves in....my fault cause i changed the colour? i think not,same for the car.And anyway the way Audi have treat many of it's first time customers with their bad q.c. and lousy service at dealerships,you would think they would bend over backward to try and keep us a happy customers. (IMHO)

 

<p><a href=mailto:"azsyno@aol.com"><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/sigred2jpg.jpg" border="0"alt=2000TTQ"></a>

 

This is NOT the USA, it is Hong Kong! The warranty is NOT going to be VOID if you modify your car!

If this were the case then Audi is in for a HUGE lawsuit. Audi of Germany GIVES MTM ALL of the code so that they can easily create upgraded aftermarket chips for Audi cars!

An aftermarket muffler obviously eliminates/"voids" the warranty on the factory muffler . . . it is NOT on the car anymore! duh! The springs are the SAME issue! The chip CAN'T be seen by a VAG tool! The ONLY way for the dealer to know you are chipped:

1. You stupidly tell them!
2. The chip you have in your car does not have an algorithym chip to hide the new chip, these types are NOT sold in the USA. (Garrett, APR and MTM all use an algorythm chip).
3. The mechanic/service tech/someone else at the dealer drives the car and "thinks" the car seems faster "than stock".
4. The dealer actually OPENS the ECU. This will NEVER happen, unless 1, 2 or 3 happen FIRST!

If you do #1, then you are not too bright. If #2 happens then you did not do enough research in the first place! If #3 happens it will be a miracle! The dealers are not out to get us, they want our business and most encourage you to make your car your own! Just remember Audi of America includes with EVERY new Audi sold an application to join the Quattro Club of America. This club holds drivers schools throughout the USA and Canada. Audi KNOWS that new Audis are brought to these events and a good percentage of them are going to be modified under the warranty period. You can prove in court if it were to ever come to that that Audi was a knowing and willing contributor to you voiding your warranty! #4 would NEVER happen, it is a pain in the *** removing the ECU in the first place, and opening the damn thing is a real bitch! lol

Brad, please find out where the person is from before causing a panic! Everyone knows that for some reason you are totally against a TT owner from making the car their own, so you don't have to try and scare current and future TT owners from performing modifications to their cars.

The A4 and S4 community has been modifying their cars for almost 5 years now. I don't know of any of those cars having their warranty void! You should also post this in the other forums and see what sort of a reaction you receive there!

I am sure quite a few people are going to think that I "attacked" Brad for posting this. That is NOT what I am doing here. I am trying to tell the other side of the story that is ALWAYS left out of a post like this.<p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=3285"><img SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/ttsig.jpg" BORDER=0 alt="Click for Mods"></a>
<a HREF="http://larrytt.tripod.com">Larry's TTQ WebSite

 

"Brad, please find out where the person is from before causing a panic! Everyone knows that for some reason you are totally against a TT owner from making the car their own, so you don't have to try and scare current and future TT owners from performing modifications to their cars."

<B>Response:</B> It is not my job to investigate where the author of each e-mail resides. If a TT owner is truly being denied warranty coverage, regardless of where he/she happens to be, I think that it is worth noting. The intent of the post is not to "scare" anyone, but rather, to shed light on the issue.

I would suggest that it's best to not speak on my behalf, or on the behalf of "everyone", as I am not against each TT owner personalizing his/her TT. There are modifications that I don't care for, but I think that many would agree that taste is highly subjective.

This is an issue worth expolring periodically. It's helpful to know what problems other owners with modified TTs are or are not facing, so that we can all be better informed.<p><img src="http://home.san.rr.com/winefinds/1.jpg" border="0">

<B>Brad Willis</B>

<FONT COLOR="#FF6600">2001 225q TT Roadster
No Borla
No Garrett
No Stickers</FONT>

<A HREF="http://home.san.rr.com/winefinds">SoCal Audi TT Club</A>

 

I'd always heard they could immediately tell you were chipped. Any more info is appreciated! <p><img src="http://www.g3.com/sean/images/tt-sig.jpg">

 

The chip is installed on the ECU circuit board so that the VAG tool can't see the chip and also can't wipe it out!

Ask any of the chip vendors. I can even have a picture of the circuit board with the chip on my website. Garrett installs the algorythm chip on a separate board. I believe that APR solders theirs onto the ECU board. I don't know about MTM or the other vendors and how they handle installing that extra chip.<p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=3285"><img SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/ttsig.jpg" BORDER=0 alt="Click for Mods"></a>
<a HREF="http://larrytt.tripod.com">Larry's TTQ WebSite<ul><li><a href="http://larrytt.tripod.com/chip_install.htm">Garrett Chip install</a></li></ul>

 

"Response: It is not my job to investigate where the author of each e-mail resides. If a TT owner is truly being denied warranty coverage, regardless of where he/she happens to be, I think that it is worth noting. The intent of the post is not to "scare" anyone, but rather, to shed light on the issue."

I agree, post it . . but also post where they live if a country other than US or Canada. Everyone has jumped on our European TT counterparts when they mention something and then don't mention that they are from the UK. Look how many of them have even been putting their country into their forum names! Enough people have made this an issue, so their is NOTHING wrong with you finding out where someone is from BEFORE posting something like this.

Brad, this is a Hong Kong issue, NOT a AoA issue like you WANT it to have been!

"I would suggest that it's best to not speak on my behalf, or on the behalf of "everyone", as I am not against each TT owner personalizing his/her TT. There are modifications that I don't care for, but I think that many would agree that taste is highly subjective."

This is NOT true when it comes to YOU, Brad Willis. You are <b>totally</b> against:

<FONT COLOR="#FF6600">
No Borla
No Garrett
No Stickers</FONT>

your sig tells the entire story here, no denying it! <p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=3285"><img SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/ttsig.jpg" BORDER=0 alt="Click for Mods"></a>
<a HREF="http://larrytt.tripod.com">Larry's TTQ WebSite

 

First of all, I had no idea where the author was from, nor did I especially care. Even if I did know, which I didn't, I would generally try to avoid disclosing the author's identity, unless they gave me specific permission to name them.

To say that I "want" it to be an AoA issue is simply ridiculous. Again, please don't speak for me, as I am the only person currently in a position to do so.

The "No Borla, Garrett, or Stickers" is only a slam on stickers, which I think usually look pretty tacky (sorry, sticker fans). My signature tag is more of a commentary on the "Gray Avenger" being a pretty quick car without those mods. Actually, I have had periodic conversations with Garrett Lim for well over a year, and as I understand it, he makes a fine product.<p><img src="http://home.san.rr.com/winefinds/1.jpg" border="0">

<B>Brad Willis</B>

<FONT COLOR="#FF6600">2001 225q TT Roadster
No Borla
No Garrett
No Stickers</FONT>

<A HREF="http://home.san.rr.com/winefinds">SoCal Audi TT Club</A>