What happened to your warranty after tuning?

[Chappy]

Anybody taken their Stinger into a Kia workshop after tuning/modding?

How have Kia been to deal with? Do they find any excuse to void your warranty or are they more lenient?

 

[Freelancer]

Sorry to be such a stickler, but...

...Auto Manufacturers do not "void" warranty's, they just deny warranty claims. Being that this is a Kia with 10/100k drive train, be prepared to eat any drive train claims you try to file if you mod your vehicle.

 

[Brian Keenan]

Right. If you damage something that could be the result of a modification you did, you're probably not going to be covered. Pay to play.

 

[Chris]

So technically modding the car does not void the warranty. If something happens, they are supposed to be have to prove the mod caused the damages to not pay the claim.
That is all well and good, except the facts really are, they are going to deny the claim, they will say that the mod caused the damages, at that point, who has deaper pockets to go to court with? You or KMA?

 

[Kia Stinger]

So technically modding the car does not void the warranty. If something happens, they are supposed to be have to prove the mod caused the damages to not pay the claim.
That is all well and good, except the facts really are, they are going to deny the claim, they will say that the mod caused the damages, at that point, who has deaper pockets to go to court with? You or KMA?

True. Although I don't hear about it happening very much. On one hand, you might figure nobody wants to talk about it online when the lose their warranty because of modifications. On the other, you'd think we'd hear more stories about "a friend" losing their warranty - or at least from some people who don't mind admitting it happened to them. But I hear very little about this happening... I've had several modified cars and never lost my warranty. Then again, nothing ever broke...

 

[Sales@Tork]

If your really worried about warranty easiest way will be to buy a spare ecu or do OBD port flash if it becomes available.

 

[ralzod]

I can't speak for Kia mods, but it's well known in the VW world that an ECU flash will permanently flip their "TD1" bit, which tells VW it's been flashed, and it cannot be reset by rolling the flash back to the stock tune (uncertain if that's because the vehicle hardware stores the change, or if it's just because it's automatically read into VW's database).

 

[Chris]

If your really worried about warranty easiest way will be to buy a spare ecu or do OBD port flash if it becomes available.

I'm not so sure that would help. If you blow something up and then stick the old ECU back in, my guess is Kia would be able to tell that happened. No?

 

[Sales@Tork]

Given that example yes there would be an issue I believe. Its more for if you go to the dealer for maintenance or anything its just easier to swap

 

[Bamm1]

I can't speak for Kia mods, but it's well known in the VW world that an ECU flash will permanently flip their "TD1" bit, which tells VW it's been flashed, and it cannot be reset by rolling the flash back to the stock tune (uncertain if that's because the vehicle hardware stores the change, or if it's just because it's automatically read into VW's database).

It is in VW's database not on the ECU itself. The scan detects ECU modifications. This will result in a warranty note under your VIN in their database. This could happen during routine maintenance. Not just when you bring in the car for diagnosis of an issue.

This isn't just a VW thing either. It pretty much applies across the board. For example, Ford has a specific TSB that tells the dealer how to search for ECU modifications when certain "issues" are reported by the owner.

I don't think there is any way to completely escape detection. Swap the ECU after an issue appears and the "freeze frame" data the ECU would normally capture during said event would be missing. This would look highly suspicious.

In my experience piggyback units provide the highest probability of masking your modifications. Since you are tricking the ECU into thinking less boost, etc. is being requested the ECU will only ever see stock values as that is still the target. Any "freeze frame" data would also only contain "stock values" if something went kaboom. However, the ECU could also be sent "odd" readings from other sensors not being intercepted by the piggyback unit. If it "freeze frames" something "way out of the range" you may be out of luck. But, there is also the possibility that they assume the sensor is faulty since there are not other "values" that would corroborate there is an issue. So they may just replace your sensor at the same time they repair your kaboom.

That being said, "pay to play" should always be in the back of your mind when you modify your vehicle.

 

[Kia Stinger]

I've had a couple of piggyback tunes and they worked out very nicely. A JB+ and JB4 for my BMW 335i. So if they're truly the safest option - you don't have to feel you're not getting a good tune. Both my JB+ and JB4 gave very noticeable power increases. As for "pay to play" - that certainly is the right way to think, @Bamm1. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst...