APR Tuning new MK7 Golf R - Pros and Cons

[tigger73]

There are known issues with the turbos in these cars - they're up to the 4th or 5th revision of the part.

If you have a problem and ring VW Assist, then they will tow the vehicle directly to the nearest VW dealer (assuming that they can't get it going).

So if you do get an APR tune, you'll need to arrange your own tow truck to the APR dealer so that they can remove traces of the tune before taking it to VW. If you have a bunch of supporting mods then VW may suspect that there is/has been a tune on the car. If they decided to dig a little deeper they'd see that the car had been tuned.

If you're going to be travelling outside the metro area this could be inconvenient/costly.

[nat225]

Gotta pay to play. But for new vw comers, best to have personal experience be it good or bad.

You can have answers from some owners who have had joyful satisfying trouble free experiences and also some owners who have had nothing but sorrows from modifying vw's.

BuT for.me personally, for the new Golf Mk7 R, i would leave it stock and street driven only and wouldnt even take it to the track; given the risks with turbo failure on even stock remap... else i would have been driving one right now.

[tigger73]

But for me personally, for the new Golf Mk7 R, I would leave it stock and street driven only and wouldnt even take it to the track; given the risks with turbo failure on even stock remap... else i would have been driving one right now.

Likewise. Just heard of another one let go yesterday - just locally. Ended up with white smoke out the back and a CEL.

There's too many of these that are failing to take the risk. If it were me I'd be leaving it stock and be getting dealer servicing so that there's no arguments.

When the turbo goes you can get debris finding its way into the engine and then this needs to get replaced also. I'm not sure what the cost of a replacement engine on one of these is but my guess is about 10-20x the cost of the tune.

Unless the tuner will go back-to-back on your engine/turbo/drivetrain warranty then I would just leave it stock. Though understand that another 70kW is tempting...



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[Transporter]

If it were me I'd be leaving it stock and be getting dealer servicing so that there's no arguments.

The dealers servicing has nothing to do with the warranty Damien.

I've sent the TDI Octavia owner to replace the turbo after it failed - 6 months out of warranty and with the 120,000km. They replaced the turbo with the new one (24months warranty), no questions asked. I did all the servicing from 20,000km on his car and he was a second owner. So, yes in some instances you could speed up the warranty job, but that's all. I doubt that the resale value is that much (if at all) affected, when you have other than VW stamp in the book.

[tigger73]

The dealers servicing has nothing to do with the warranty Damien.

I know Miro but according to the service advisors at some dealerships (who like to play Lord), it does. Or at least when it become discretionary....

[jazzyjames999]

I wouldn't be relying on a legislative act from the USA, locally.

There is an Aussie link too in that extract which says the same thing.

But ya, I just paid extra for a 5 year warranty on my R so I think everyone is right, wait until after warranty or maybe on the last year if you can't wait

[Transporter]

I know Miro but according to the service advisors at some dealerships (who like to play Lord), it does. Or at least when it become discretionary....

Well, the service advisors aren't above the Australian law, are they? So, the advisors are wrong when they say to their customers, "you have to come to VW dealer to maintain your new car manufacturer's warranty". They won't give it to anyone in writing, because they know it's against the law.

[tigger73]

Well, the service advisors aren't above the Australian law, are they? So, the advisors are wrong when they say to their customers, "you have to come to VW dealer to maintain your new car manufacturer's warranty". They won't give it to anyone in writing, because they know it's against the law.

I think the service advisors are trying to infer that if you get the car serviced with them then they will make a bit more of an effort when it's outside warranty and you're looking to get it covered under good-will.

Yes it's a form of blackmail and I don't agree with that type of business practise, however it's what is going on out there and people should be aware of it.

Something that I also wonder is when you hear of people getting offered a % of the parts/labour costs to be covered by VW under goodwill and then with further negotiations that the whole job is to be covered whether the workshop involved was getting the full job covered by VW to start with and was just looking to "top up" their margins by getting the customer to put in some $ towards the job.

...though we're getting a little off topic now.

Still if you modify and then get caught up in the dealer network with warranty claims this is what you have to look forward to.

[Brendan_A]

I think the service advisors are trying to infer that if you get the car serviced with them then they will make a bit more of an effort when it's outside warranty and you're looking to get it covered under good-will.

Yes it's a form of blackmail and I don't agree with that type of business practise, however it's what is going on out there and people should be aware of it.

Exactly this! My service manage has been trying hard to get me to come back with servicing my cars. Offering trade price on parts and saying if I have issues outside of warranty they will do good-will if I have the service booked stamped with VW.

I felt he was trying to blackmail me but it's not working.

[Dam355]

Back to the original question... I have the same dilemma. I have now been looking at the ABT option. Yes it's twice the price but they supposedly take over the the drivetrain warranty from VW for 2 years.

So if you are worried about your warranty this option makes sense. Also no TC1 code.