According to a recent email, yes.

 

Incorrect.

 

Porsche’s control module supplier’s software will definitely recognize and capture excessive torque levels and peak crankshaft acceleration rates from its misfire detection system. You need to remember that with the GTS to come and the base Carrera’s in production they have chosen to limit available performance for marketing reasons rather than technical capability. They have a vested interest in not wanting you to tune the car to the next higher performance level from a profit standpoint.

I have no personal information as to how Porsche will or won’t decline warranty for tunes. I know that one of the major US companies very rarely does if it is accomplished with no other hardware changes due to the difficulty of proving in court that it caused the failure. Proving in US court is much tougher for the defendant than telling you we won’t pay and hoping you give up. Most companies that know this feel some compulsion to act within past court rulings even if it is voluntary.

 

The flip side, I would think, is that most companies also know that the consumer is less likely to try and take them to court over a declined warranty claim especially when a tune is present (whether or not it caused the issue). Going to court for the consumer is a lot more expensive than for the company and the presence of a tune makes it a lot more likely that the consumer will lose

 

In the words of my malpractice lawyer that still remains without work from me to this day partly due to his 1 hr consultation and free advice: “the key about a lawsuit from the perspective of a defendant is not about how good your lawyer is, how much it will cost you, how long it will take, how much misery and heartburn and sleepless nights it will give you, or about being right or wrong. The key is not to ever be involved in one if you can help it”!

this has been very educational for me so far. From reading pretty much every ad or website about “tunes of all kinds”, it makes it sound as if there there is no possible way they would ever know something was ever there except for each flashing. Definitely something to seriously consider on such an expensive car to begin with, and especially since 99% of us will not be racing it for profit or a living!!

 

Based on what I’ve read here as well as conversations I’ve had with people who’ve tuned their cars (various makes), the biggest barrier I have from taking the “plunge” of tuning my car is the risk of loss of warranty.

So if I do an ECU tune on a new car, I’m sort of betting that I will not be having any major engine or transmissions issues within 4 years or 40,000 miles, thus making it a moot point.

Conversely, one of my neighbors advised that I simply wait 4 years till my warranty is up and then perform the tune. By then the tunes will have been fully on market for years and any issues will have been ironed out. Has anybody tried this latter strategy with a previous car?

 

I will make some inquiries about it when I get my car tomorrow and see what, if anything they will allow or say.

my previous 991.2 had been tuned by me with a Cobb Accessport. Loved how it performs for such little investment. Frankly, the car actually ran smoother!! However, by the time I got to do it the warranty was expiring. So that was not an issue!

 

When you pick up your car I'd be thankful if you asked ("for a friend", of course) when someone brings in their car for annual service (since I now have 3 yrs of free annual service due to the delays in receiving the car), or any non-engine service do they routinely look at the number of times the ECU has been flashed or the recordings of output that are outside the norm etc.? In other word, are they only potentially looking at the number of ECU flashes, the overperformance above specs that the engine is producing, etc, ONLY IF there's a problem, or does Porsche dealer service have a checklist of things they have to perform when the car comes into the shop for any service? Aside from building the best cars, Germans do LOVE a good process...
Thank you, sir.

 

I would bet money I don’t have they only check to see if any codes pop up due to problems that need addressing. I am pretty sure the only way or time the time or anything else would come up is if they had some internal issue that needs repairing. If your water pump, starter, wiring, or something else similar to that failed, I seriously doubt they would turn down the claim due to a tune. Could be wrong though!

 

Just curious, how does tuning affect the resale market? Do dealers have any problems taking trade ins of tuned cars?

 

It would negatively effect it for most buyers. Your average buyer is going to equate Tune=Thrashing/Abuse/Tracking, etc. So kind of like any mods, you likely will not get your money back, and in fact lessen the value.

But as they say: You tune and mod for yourself, not the next buyer :-)

 

I had my 991.2 tuned for approximately 2 years. 10K service was done with tune on the car and Porsche said nothing. Additionally the car was lowered. I returned the car back to stock at the end of my lease (to include flashing the car back to OEM). Car had 15K miles on it.

Returned the car on lease upgrade (pull ahead program) and the car went to Porsche auction (Porsche wanted more than my dealer wanted to pay). Car was bought by Porsche Austin and they proceeded to CPO it and sell for $86K which was nearly $26K more than my residual.

The car was in as nicer condition when I returned it that when I purchased from Porsche. I did put new rear tires on the car prior to lease return.

 

Very helpful. May I ask, where are you located and which tune did you have? I was thinking of waiting until possibly after the 1st annual service to make sure there's nothing wrong with the engine, but the impulsive side of me is saying, "F&ck it, just do it!" My impulsive side usually wins those arguments.

 

I'm located in Hawaii, I had my tune done by M-engineering in Huntington Beach/Torrance, CA. My car was tuned by them at the World Motorsports wind tunnel dyno in Torrance. I've tuned every single Porsche I have owned with no issues. That is my experience. Others may have different experiences.

 

I traded my 991.2 with nearly bald cup2s (one had a nail in it), half life gyrodiscs/pagids, tuned engine and many hours of track duties. The car was certified and put up for sale as is.

How much dealers care when comes to resale varies widely. The past 3 911s I traded, I got a number on them without the dealer even looking at the car. The only time someone that gave me flack for track use was a local Ferrari dealer (carfax with early pad replacement- I do my own work now).