Garage blows ECU **update**

[PMAUDI]

Some may remember I posted here a few weeks ago about my experience in getting my car's ECU '******* enabled'. (Sorry can't name the company I purchased the remap from as previous thread was deleted for 'naming and shaming' apparently).

Anyhow, some will remember the story, I bought a remap for my Audi A5, took it took a 'dealer' they recommended and they blew the ECU during the enabling process.

The garage and the company I bought the remap from refused all responsibility... 'One of those things' I think they said on the phone a few days later.

So, five weeks later, the car is still 60 miles away, still not running. I'm led to believe they tried a second hand ECU but it too was broke.
They sent the car to Audi (Didn't tell me until afterwards) and Audi told them the replacement ECU was damaged.

Today I arranged for a recovery vehicle to collect the car tomorrow (from Audi) and take it back here to a local Audi dealer (They're way cheaper £1080 v £1600+).

I've decided to just get it fixed and hire a solicitor to recover the money from the garage. (If possible).

Deep down I half expect a call from Audi tomorrow saying I owe them something for telling the garage their replacement ECU was ste.

Edited by PMAUDI on Wednesday 7th September 20:07

[petrolbloke]

Shouldn't be necessary to hire a solicitor and it's a cost I'm not sure you can get back down the small claims route.

I would have a go yourself first by sending a 'letter before action' giving them an opportunity to pay or mediate first.

[347Andy]

"They sent the car to Audi (Didn't tell me until afterwards)"

"Deep down I half expect a call from Audi tomorrow saying I owe them something for telling the garage their replacement ECU was ste."

The Audi dealer does not have a contract with you as you did not instruct them to carry out the work.

[Boosted LS1]

Will it run if you swop the ecu? If so, why don't you go to the car and swop it yourself or at least supply the ecu to them. There's something fishy about 'their' story but if you ask them to fit your ecu and they do it then would a remap of that would sort things?

I'd explore this route first as it saves a whole lot of costs and would make you look very reasonable if you did resort to the legal crap.

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Wednesday 7th September 18:50

[PMAUDI]

Boosted LS1 said:

Will it run if you swop the ecu? If so, why don't you go to the car and swop it yourself or at least supply the ecu to them. There's something fishy about 'their' story but if you ask them to fit your ecu and they do it then would a remap of that would sort things?

I'd explore this route first as it saves a whole lot of costs and would make you look very reasonable if you did resort to the legal crap.

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Wednesday 7th September 18:50

Another ECU would need recoded or whatever they do to it... As they've buggered the original I think only Audi have the ability to code the new one with the chassis number etc. Cloning it isn't an option.

I may be wrong about only Audi being able to do it but I think that's the case.

[benjijames28]

Crazy situation. I was looking at getting my car mapped but have been having second thoughts.

So many horror stories, whether it's garages messing a car up, or clutches going not looking after a remap, they seem to be more trouble than they are worth half the time.

I think you will have a decent chance at recovering costs. Maybe you could find a lawyer who will work on a no win no fee basis?

Surely garages have insurance to cover things like this? But that could be another can of worms and stress cause we all know insurance companies will fight tooth and nail to not do the right honourable thing.

[PMAUDI]

petrolbloke said:

Shouldn't be necessary to hire a solicitor and it's a cost I'm not sure you can get back down the small claims route.

I would have a go yourself first by sending a 'letter before action' giving them an opportunity to pay or mediate first.

Thanks for your reply, I think you're probably right. It's got to the point where it's costing me so much I've little choice but to make a claim.

Cost of original 'enabling process' cost of the 'remap kit' (Hoping I can still return it and get some money back) train home, many, many calls to the garage (chargable number). Cost of car recovery... And then the price of a new ECU and coding...

And all that's without the cost of the work I've had to turn down for the last five weeks.

If I can recover the cost of the ECU and enabling process I'll be happy.

[donkmeister]

PMAUDI said:

They sent the car to Audi (Didn't tell me until afterwards)

This sounds like you are annoyed they took it to Audi... Assuming I've not misunderstood, why would that annoy you?

[PMAUDI]

347Andy said:

"They sent the car to Audi (Didn't tell me until afterwards)"

"Deep down I half expect a call from Audi tomorrow saying I owe them something for telling the garage their replacement ECU was ste."

The Audi dealer does not have a contract with you as you did not instruct them to carry out the work.

Thanks.
That'll be my response to them.

It's not my name on the estimate.
It's strange how one dealer can charge £200 labour and another 60 miles away is looking closer to £500.
Even the part is £150 more expensive.

[PMAUDI]

donkmeister said:

This sounds like you are annoyed they took it to Audi... Assuming I've not misunderstood, why would that annoy you?

Just saying they didn't tell me they were taking it to Audi, therefore if Audi are looking paid for whatever they did or didn't do, I shouldn't be expected to pay for it.

The only issue I currently have with that particular Audi dealer is, they want £600 more for doing the same thing my local Audi dealer can do. So I'm getting it lifted and taken an Audi dealer closer to home.

[mikearwas]

Could you PM me garage name so I know to stay well clear. Many thanks.

[petrolbloke]

If you paid for the work on a credit/debit card then you should have some recourse with the bank too.

[Toyoda]

Ah I remember the original thread well and I thought the OP had removed it in exchange for some goodwill from either the remap company or the garage that did the work. Sadly not the case. Whatever happens I hope you get the car back on the road asap and are able to re-coup the costs.

[X5TUU]

I was wondering what the outcomes of all your issues were, thanks for the update

Are you still looking at getting rid of it when it's fixed or is there too much being spent to justify selling on immediately??

[PMAUDI]

Toyoda said:

Ah I remember the original thread well and I thought the OP had removed it in exchange for some goodwill from either the remap company or the garage that did the work. Sadly not the case. Whatever happens I hope you get the car back on the road asap and are able to re-coup the costs.

Nah, I wasn't allowed to name them on this site so the mods removed it, which is their right.

Was talking with a guy in Audi yesterday, says it rare for an ECU to go like that of its own free will. It's a 'VIP' part and has to be ordered and pre-paid.

Not sure if it was on here but someone commented that is likely they lost connection some way through flashing it... Which got me thinking, anytime I was on the phone to them the quality of the line was awful with 'white notice' type sound, nearly impossible to hear them on occasions, I had to hang up and call back (cause they never once called me, even when they said they'd call me back in a few minutes, which they claimed, many, many times)

I imagine they use the same line for their BB connection, could be what caused it.

Edited by PMAUDI on Thursday 8th September 13:07

[PMAUDI]

X5TUU said:

I was wondering what the outcomes of all your issues were, thanks for the update

Are you still looking at getting rid of it when it's fixed or is there too much being spent to justify selling on immediately??

Now that Audi will be putting a new ECU into it I've a bit more confidence in the car but I was a bit bored with it... It's actually the reason I was remapping it, I thought it would encourage me to stick with it for another year or so.

But I'm not sure, I think I'll probably move it on, simply because I'd like something a bit quicker.

Don't think I'd try remapping again, I looked into it for years, it always worried me. Just my luck I get a bunch of muppets to do it.

[J4CKO]

I contacted the chap I had spoken to at the tuning company on your behalf to alert him to the issue, the email reply included the line,

"It'll all be resolved eventually and hopefully this customer will see fit to update his story"

So, looks like there has been plenty of time for it to be sorted and now you have updated your story and it is not a good outcome, I had a fair amount of faith that the problem would get sorted, but the thread just dissapeared, there was an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.

[PMAUDI]

petrolbloke said:

If you paid for the work on a credit/debit card then you should have some recourse with the bank too.

Aye, that might get me £100 back for the 'enabling' process. I'd paid that before I started the car to leave.

[PMAUDI]

J4CKO said:

I contacted the chap I had spoken to at the tuning company on your behalf to alert him to the issue, the email reply included the line,

"It'll all be resolved eventually and hopefully this customer will see fit to update his story"

So, looks like there has been plenty of time for it to be sorted and now you have updated your story and it is not a good outcome, I had a fair amount of faith that the problem would get sorted, but the thread just dissapeared, there was an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.

You're very kind, I really appreciate your efforts.
Sadly I never heard from that company again. I believe the garage had been in contact with them when they failed to find a suitable second hand (which they expected me to pay for) ECU.

They know I've been without my car for five weeks because of this and they know I've still to send their product back to them for a refund (normally needs returned within 7 days I think)
But I told them I couldn't meet the deadline as the car was stuck 60 miles away and it's in the boot. They said that wouldn't be a problem.

I was gonna buy one for my Dad as well, but just went with the first one on mine to see what it was like. Obviously I wouldn't go near them again, not because the process blew the ECU, has left me without a car for over month, but because they done absolutely NOTHING to help me. I could easily have got them another three + orders for their product.

They claim the garage has nothing to do with them, yet their branding was everywhere down there, it's mentioned when the garage puts you on hold 'official xxxxx dealer'. They seem to have a pretty good relationship with this garage, both owners have been close friends for years apparently (according to garage owner) and a quick search of the web found me the garage owner talking to a national newspaper about the benefits of remapping and how they're the 'xxxx agent' of xxxxxx.

My story hasn't changed, only thing that's gonna change is my bank balance by the looks of thing.

Again, I really appreciate your efforts. Thanks

[J4CKO]

PMAUDI said:

J4CKO said:

I contacted the chap I had spoken to at the tuning company on your behalf to alert him to the issue, the email reply included the line,

"It'll all be resolved eventually and hopefully this customer will see fit to update his story"

So, looks like there has been plenty of time for it to be sorted and now you have updated your story and it is not a good outcome, I had a fair amount of faith that the problem would get sorted, but the thread just dissapeared, there was an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.

You're very kind, I really appreciate your efforts.
Sadly I never heard from that company again. I believe the garage had been in contact with them when they failed to find a suitable second hand (which they expected me to pay for) ECU.

They know I've been without my car for five weeks because of this and they know I've still to send their product back to them for a refund (normally needs returned within 7 days I think)
But I told them I couldn't meet the deadline as the car was stuck 60 miles away and it's in the boot. They said that wouldn't be a problem.

I was gonna buy one for my Dad as well, but just went with the first one on mine to see what it was like. Obviously I wouldn't go near them again, not because the process blew the ECU, has left me without a car for over month, but because they done absolutely NOTHING to help me. I could easily have got them another three + orders for their product.

They claim the garage has nothing to do with them, yet their branding was everywhere down there, it's mentioned when the garage puts you on hold 'official xxxxx dealer'. They seem to have a pretty good relationship with this garage, both owners have been close friends for years apparently (according to garage owner) and a quick search of the web found me the garage owner talking to a national newspaper about the benefits of remapping and how they're the 'xxxx agent' of xxxxxx.

My story hasn't changed, only thing that's gonna change is my bank balance by the looks of thing.

Again, I really appreciate your efforts. Thanks

No problem at all, its the kind of thing that could happen to any of us so I know I would want a bit of moral support, such a shame that between the garage and the tuner they have just left it as your problem, I am obviously not fully aware of who is responsible for what but it is the tuners name that was being dragged through the mud and despite the name and shame thing, I suspect most reading this will remember.