HIGHLY defensive about the chip....ooooh nooooo, could POSSIBLY be the CHIP!.....details to follow.

I will post our email banter as soon as it slows down.

 

apr is really overly aggressive about their chips...i find some of them to be unfriendly

 

it's a soldering issue - especially with the symptoms your are displaying. RARELY is a chip bad, rather the install could have been botched. Nothing against the installer - but sometimes thing happen.

I've never had any problems in the 3 years i've been dealing with APR and purchased their products.

 

by locating someone with the VAG tool, taking it to the installer, or paying your dealer to diagnose.

No one can tell you what the issue is without knowing which codes are there. And it follows that you won't know if it is minor or major until the codes are pulled. Sure, it isn't convenient to take time off and drive somewhere for diagnostics of a MIL, but that's one price we pay for having computer controlled everything.

You're getting a surprising amount of power from a little 1.8T. Appreciate and enjoy, and try to work through any issues that arise. I don't complain too much about mine 'cause I'm coming off a 2.0 "2Slow" GTI - made before the 1.8T was standard issue. It was a fun car but it sure was slow compared to other cars on the road.

APR made the chip and your tuner installed it. Take time off to drive down to the installer. They should be glad to help you out and get you on your way quickly. Both back their work but they can't do much for you until they know the error codes.

Best of luck!

 

I'm having some problems with mine as well.

 

Plus their response time to questions is top-notch.

 

and a huge attitude prbelm.
I called the guy talking about how much i loved the chip, and was asking him if he had ever heard of sych symptoms, and before I knew it, he was spouting out things like:

"Well you JUST SAID you loved it, so what is the problem?"

I further explain that I was just wondering if he had heard of any issues lately.....

"I cant tell you anything unless I have an error code....blah blha blah..."

He was so condescending and defensive, its hard to have a conversation with a person like that.

My main question was what would happen if they said it was due to the damned tuner, but I couldnt even get that far. He tells me "no one EVER has probelms with the chip, its always something in the car....."

And after I mentioned to him that other audi owners on Audiworld.com say they have similar issues with their APR Chips, he continued....

"Yeah, I think I know what Audiworld is....." - IN A VERY CONDESCENDING VOICE - as if i assumed he didn't. I am not an idiot.

He goes one "...Check with everybody else on there. They'll tell you, I cant do anything without a code, and even THEN it is limited as to what I could do........."

I asked him if the MIL light would come on spaoraticallyt, due to the loss of comms with the ECU and the speed limiter. Politely, I might add:

"NO. Our chips DO NOT cause the CEL to come on. Yes, it takes away the limiter, but it doesnt cause the light to come on."

Well whatever, instead of giving me a reaosn why, he just acted like I was an idiot.

So I said, "Yeah, thanks. Good-bye." PISSED that I bought over $1000 in APR equipment with such *******s.

 

Because I have stage 1+ and my car just died the other day. The ECU is totally kaput (codes not readable) and car is at the dealer waiting for a new ECU to arrive. Now I'm not saying it is or is not APR's modification. It's hard to tell without being able to pull codes. APR has told me and the dealer has confirmed a small rash of ECU failures in recent Audi/VW cars. The dealer has agreed to replace the ECU under warranty so I'm not complaining but this also means I won't be able to get a hold of the failed ECU to do a post mortem.

My point here is that all through this ordeal I have been having a back and forth through email with APR in Alabama and they have been very helpful. I was just curious as to who you are dealing with?

BTW my Stage 1+ was installed by APR at their facility in Auburn.

 

The rep I was speaking to was Jeremy.

But I am not trying to say that it was APR's fault. Before he even knew what I was asking, he was being defensive. I just thought it was damned rude.

What happened to your car really sucks......good thing you were fortunate enough to have the dealer work with you on a new ECU. I hope that doesnt turn out to be my case as my car is sitting at a dealer as we speak.

I am hoping it is just a coil probelm, or a boost leak or something. Anything, so that the APR upgrade doesnt affect the warranty.

Overall, I just didnt like the guys attitude one bit. It was VERY surprising indeed, because you are not the first person, nor the last, who says that APR's customer service is outstanding. It is totally what I expected when I called, and very much the reason I felt i COULD call them to ask simple questions on what they have been hearing/seeing in these models lately. This is why I was so shocked as to his automatic "APR is higher than thou" attitude.

 

Because Jeremy is who I have been conversing with at APR. I have met him and he seems like a reasonable guy, not one to cop an attiude like your describing. Maybe you caught him on a bad day or something, I dunno. I just described my problem, told him I was concerned it was the ECU, asked what he thought my options were and what support they would provide if the dealer denied coverage. I've so far gotten reasonable prompt answers with no evasiveness or defensiveness.

Anyway I hope things work out OK with your problems. It's looking like I will be out the woods in a week or so. I'll keep you posted if anything interesting develops in my dealings with APR.