jamesastro

I recently had a bad experience that I'd like to share with fellow members. You should consider reading it if you plan on getting an APR upgrade, and especially if you plan on using 034Motorsport in Fremont, California.

Back in September, I hired 034 Motorsport to install an APR Stage 1+ ECU upgrade in my 2012 Audi TTS. The upgrade included new engine software, and a high pressure fuel pump. Unfortunately the upgrade didn't work well. The engine light illuminated during heavy acceleration, and the computer reported misfires at high RPMs.

I brought the car back for service several times. They tried new spark plugs, new coil packs, and even downgraded the fuel pump back to stock. None of that helped, and they were unable to make the upgrade work. Keep in mind this was a nearly new car, only 15 months old, and still under warranty. The upgrade never worked, and they couldn't find anything wrong with the car.

I eventually gave up, and they downgraded the car back to stock. So now I have a stock car, spent $1936 to have the car upgraded, they have all my money, and they have my high pressure fuel pump.

I politely asked for a partial refund. After all, I wanted to be fair. It wasn't necessarily their fault that the APR software didn't work, and I wanted them to be reimbursed for their labor costs. My total bill was $1936, and I asked them to refund $1116 for the following items:

* APR software
* Half the cost of the fuel pump
* The mysterious $100 convenience fee they charged
* Sales tax on the above items

That was nearly 3 months ago, I still don't have my refund, don't know if or when it will arrive, and I don't know how much they will refund me (if anything). I have written a dozen e-mails to them, written a letter to the service manager, and none of that seems to matter. All I hear are empty promises that they are working on getting me a refund of some kind.

To make matters worse, I had additional problems:

* After the initial upgrade, the technician accidentally left my old fuel pump in the car. I had to drive for an hour round-trip to return the fuel pump. It was a big inconvenience.

* During one of my return visits I had an appointment to put my car on the dyno. I arrived on time, and waited for almost 2 hours. I was eventually sent home, because it turns out the technicians were too busy that day.

* During two of my other visits I waited for more than an hour before anyone looked at my car. I understand that keeping exact appointment times is difficult. However, it would have been nice if someone called to let me know they were running behind.

* They initially said my refund would be given as a store credit. What the heck? Why would I want a store credit at a shop that was unable to make my only upgrade work? I talked them out of that.

* They said they would call me every day to give me updates on my refund. Yeah right! I don't hear anything from them unless I write an e-mail to complain.

So there you have it. They were unable to upgrade my car, kept all of my money, won't say when I'll get a refund, won't say how much they will refund, didn't keep their appointment times, didn't communicate well, and wasted huge amounts of my time.

I would stay far away from this place. There are other shops in the Bay Area that perform ECU upgrades. You might as well pick one that will stand behind their work.

mtnbikerva1

I feel your pain.

Nin Din Din

This stinks. Any update?

jamesastro

I eventually contacted the California Bureau of Automotive Repair. They opened an investigation, and sent someone out to talk to 034 Motorsport in person. They negotiated a refund of $1381, so in theory I'll be getting that much back. However, I don't have the check yet. I'll keep you posted.

Nin Din Din

I'm glad you will be recovering something. Shame to have to go through so many hoops. Did you ever get your car dyno'd? Considering a flash tune from another provider?

jamesastro

I never got the car dyno'd, and probably won't get it flashed by anybody else. This whole experience scared me straight. I think I'll just live with my stock TTS (which is still an awesome car!)

milknchees

Hey James,

Just came across this thread. Been looking for a Bay Area tuner to do the APR S3 K04 upgrade to my B8 A4. Got a quote from 034 as they're one of the few shops I could find that at least listed selling the APR S3 K04 kit on their site. I know you're off tuning for the time being but were there any other Bay Area tuners you checked out?

thanks,

M&C