Interesting different thread about dealer refusing to run VAL on car with tune. Dealer offered to fix problem if cash was paid. Customer inquired about unflashing and dealer still said no. Thread was in the past day.

 

Sadly, each person's experience is likely to vary by dealership. Some are very mod-friendly and some are not. It also depends on the Porsche owner. Some guys are just jerks, some are not. As it shows in my signature, I previously owned an AMG GTS. The M-B dealer in North Palm Beach, very cool about mods and would work with you keep your repair under warranty. Unless....you acted like a, well...you know. Most of the SA's there were very cool and helpful. As for Porsche in my area, I have Braman Porsche and Champion Porsche. With my 997.2S I always re-flashed back to stock prior to taking the car in for service and I would set the remote key to off. I had the GIAC tune, Werks One CF Intake, and Tubi SS Race Exhaust. I never had any issues obtaining warranty repairs. When I take my 991.2 in for service a plan to completely unmarry my COBB Accessport (only way to revert back to factory Porsche tune) and then re-tune once I get it home. I don't want to take any chances with Braman giving me issues because my car is under warranty until May 31, 2026 (3 original + 2 CPO). However, I'm still not afraid to run a tune. Even COBB's Stage 2 tune is extremely conservative that's why some guys are complaining about v106. COBB dialed it back a little bit. I'm hoping to take my car up to the Orlando area and have a custom tune performed on the dyno and have that loaded into my COBB AP, but if I do that I'm going to upgrade the intercoolers, intercooler intake piping, and add a third radiator.

 

I recently had my car checked in the Pittsburgh area by Sewickley Porsche prior to heading off cross country. I am running FVD tunes on the ECU and the PDK Control Unit and none of that prevented them from plugging the car in and doing a thorough check on all systems including clearing an old stored code. I was upfront with Duane, the Service Manager, and he understood and said it was no issue. All in all, most of these dealers are good guys and understand the need for owners to mod their cars on the safe side which generally causes no issues to the car.

 

I’ve had the Cobb AP ECU and PDK tune in my car since I bought it. I just finished custom Pro Tuning it with Sam from ByDesign. I would recommend anyone considering a tune work with Sam from the beginning (you can buy your AP from him) as you will get the most out of the tune and it will be specifically tuned to your car. Best thing I’ve done.

 

I've been on probably 100 threads on this topic at this point (lots back in my Audi days, where they aggressively deny warranty for tunes), and every time the conclusion/experience seems to be that while Magnuson-Moss Act theoretically protects the consumer, it requires a bit of a legal battle with the company to actually make use of it. It seemed like the TD1 thing was very real across VAG brands, and they used it as a blanket reason for a failure for pretty much anything drivetrain-related. To fight them required hiring an attorney, and so most folks just understood that you needed to pay to play, i.e. if you tune and break something, one way or another you're paying.

I've added a tune to probably 10 cars at this point, but will leave it off this one. My stance is I'll only add a tune of I'm perfectly fine paying out of pocket to fix something that breaks, tune-related or not.

 

FYI- I think the fine print of the Fidelity extended warranty/service plan also states that the car cannot be modified. You might want to double check before modifying car with Fidelity coverage.

 

in cost for the general population. Getting a lawyer involved for something that is worth under 100k you might lose is bad math. As a matter of fact most laws do not matter, only money. Dealerships and PCNA have more resources than most owners. I have heard many claims on audi and vw being denied and even one case where an S4 motor coverage was denied due to fuel octane.

 

But all VW/Audi/porsche dealers connect your car upon arrival to a system with direct bilateral communication to the VAG mothership. An indy will not do that and my guess is fidelity would not either (only a guess).

 

On the issue of tune detection, an easy one is via the over-rev report.

Most tunes raise the fuel cut-off by a bit. That increase moves the red line from level 1 to level 2. Any somewhat smart tech will look at the DEM report and if the over-rev in level one are high and close to level 2 they will know there was a tune.

Normally you may see a high number on level one if the driver/s liked to hit the red line, but level two is past that point so the number drips significantly from level one to level two.

Now, if the tune increased the “red line” then you go past level one in every trip to that red line, which now counts as a level two. Suddenly the level one is high and level two is close. There is your tune evidence.

 

Good point. But, I have a Fidelity warranty to protect me against that unlikely catastrophic event such as an engine failure or a PDK distance sensor failure which results in a $20k+ PDK replacement. In that unlikely event, Iam going to get the engine or PDK replaced on Fidelity’s dime, I want the Porsche dealer to do the work, not an Indy. Why? I want Porsche standing behind all parts and labor for two years. The dealer labor cost is irrelevant to me as Fidelity pays full costs less my $250 deductible. Last thing I want is this issue further complicated by a previous aftermarket PDK tune which is available by third party vendors. Another example would be a spun rod bearing where the previous aftermarket ECU tune altered timing, fuel and overrevs. Just my thinking on the subject but I also understand your logic too.

 

As long as warranty work is not involved, you're probably OK. But if warranty work is involved, most likely a different story. Remember, it's PCNA that provides warranty on your car, not the dealer. PCNA is strict on covering warranty repairs and often requires documentation, including photos, to prove the car has not been modified. Dealers have much to lose by lying about mods to PCNA.

Regarding the Magnuson-Moss Act, here is a summary of it. You may be surprised that it really doesn't cover what many claim it covers.

https://www.findlaw.com/consumer/consumer-transactions/warranty-laws-and-the-magnuson-moss-warranty-act-.html

https://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/consumers/documents/Magnuson-Moss-Warranty-Act-Flyer.pdf

You also might want to read your PCNA warranty regarding what is not covered. Mine states states that the warranty can be voided for certain reasons, such as unauthorized modifications.