BritB6
06-03-2004, 05:42 AM
Ok. So here is the full story now that I've calmed down. Let me start by saying that we all know the risks of modding our cars, and we buy Audis for a reason. Both the A4 and the GIAC chip are fabulous products, I couldn't be happier with either of them.
I was driving home Monday night when after a downshift into 2nd at about 45mph my clutch pedal felt very strange (lots of wierd vibration) I then tried to shift back to 3rd. The shifter took a little extra effort to engage. From here on things got progressively worse, 2 miles down the road the clutch pedal went dead and I could not get the shifter into any gear. I stop as soon as I find a safe place and call Audi roadside assistance. They had a flatbed out to me in 45 mins. The car is taken to the dealership and I meet it 8am Tuesday morning.
This is where it gets interesting. I was EXPLICITLY told by a service advisor at that particular dealership not to tell anyone that my car was chipped. I go through the motions, do the paperwork etc. they give me the keys to an 04 A6 and off to the office I go. I get a phone call at 11 am informing me that my car is chipped Audi protocol dictates that my VIN be posted and my Powertrain Warranty is now void. It will be $2516 to replace the now out of warranty clutch and flywheel. I was asked why I did not reveal my car was chipped, to which I responded I was told not to by another employee at your dealership. Apparently if I had told them when I dropped the car off I would simply have to pay for the clutch and a blind eye would have been turned to the warranty issue. At this point its a bit late because once the diagnostic beacon goes off the techs are required to inspect the ECU and report any damage/modifications. Had I the oppurtunity to have my stock chip put back in before the car was taken to the dealership I would not be writing this post, and I would have been fully covered. I hope I'm not confusing anyone here, I have a tendency to ramble.
So I pay Audi's $95 inspection charge and then have the car flatbedded again over to the shop where I purchased the chip. These guys are awesome, they are going to install a Stage 3 clutch and maybe an aftermarket flywheel (if one is available for the B6?) for approximately half the cost of Audi's quote to replace the damaged parts. This is no-one's fault but my own, I took the risk and got screwed. The bright side is I get new mods :-) The moral of the story is BE HONEST WITH YOUR SERVICE ADVISOR
I was driving home Monday night when after a downshift into 2nd at about 45mph my clutch pedal felt very strange (lots of wierd vibration) I then tried to shift back to 3rd. The shifter took a little extra effort to engage. From here on things got progressively worse, 2 miles down the road the clutch pedal went dead and I could not get the shifter into any gear. I stop as soon as I find a safe place and call Audi roadside assistance. They had a flatbed out to me in 45 mins. The car is taken to the dealership and I meet it 8am Tuesday morning.
This is where it gets interesting. I was EXPLICITLY told by a service advisor at that particular dealership not to tell anyone that my car was chipped. I go through the motions, do the paperwork etc. they give me the keys to an 04 A6 and off to the office I go. I get a phone call at 11 am informing me that my car is chipped Audi protocol dictates that my VIN be posted and my Powertrain Warranty is now void. It will be $2516 to replace the now out of warranty clutch and flywheel. I was asked why I did not reveal my car was chipped, to which I responded I was told not to by another employee at your dealership. Apparently if I had told them when I dropped the car off I would simply have to pay for the clutch and a blind eye would have been turned to the warranty issue. At this point its a bit late because once the diagnostic beacon goes off the techs are required to inspect the ECU and report any damage/modifications. Had I the oppurtunity to have my stock chip put back in before the car was taken to the dealership I would not be writing this post, and I would have been fully covered. I hope I'm not confusing anyone here, I have a tendency to ramble.
So I pay Audi's $95 inspection charge and then have the car flatbedded again over to the shop where I purchased the chip. These guys are awesome, they are going to install a Stage 3 clutch and maybe an aftermarket flywheel (if one is available for the B6?) for approximately half the cost of Audi's quote to replace the damaged parts. This is no-one's fault but my own, I took the risk and got screwed. The bright side is I get new mods :-) The moral of the story is BE HONEST WITH YOUR SERVICE ADVISOR