Buying a remapped car

House

House

House

Soldato
Joined
16 Jun 2005
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Back in the UK
I've been looking for a A4 for a while now and have found a very good new example that fits the bill perfectly now and its pretty much on budget as well.

Only one problem its been remapped for increased bhp. now its being sold by a main dealer. It should have 2 years warranty left on it but i have my doubts after the fiddling. Also what is this going to do to the insurance costs? and dont even suggest "not telling" casue i want to be covered.

Would you by a 1 year old remapped car?
 
House said:
I've been looking for a A4 for a while now and have found a very good new example that fits the bill perfectly now and its pretty much on budget as well.

Only one problem its been remapped for increased bhp. now its being sold by a main dealer. It should have 2 years warranty left on it but i have my doubts after the fiddling. Also what is this going to do to the insurance costs? and dont even suggest "not telling" casue i want to be covered.

Would you by a 1 year old remapped car?
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My decision would really be based upon whether the manufacturers warrenty had been voided. If it has I'd walk away, if not I'd go for it. As for insurance that will depend on the insurer and how much the remap has added percentage wise to the BHP.
 
these remaps can usually be easily removed.

i'd check first if the warranty has been voided, if not then you have to ask yourself are there any other cars with the same spec available as easy ?

if this is the only car in the trim / option / colour combo for 100 miles, it may well be worth your while removing the remap or investigate insurance quotes to keep it

if its nothing unusual, and theres loads of cars like this, its not going to be worth your bother i would have thought.
 
To me a remapped car would suggest a thrashed one, however at 1year old one should be fine.

You say it fits the budget, but make sure it isnt cheap because it has no warrenty , yet on the other hand it saves you remapping it yourself.
Personally I think it is plain rude not remapping a turbo car:)
 
Depending on the remap itself, on any VAG, it's undetectable - either by the insurance or vag, so both insurance/warranty is safe.

The only issue is whether you want pay to have the OEM vehicle mapping re downloaded to the vehicle's ecu.
 
Liverpool-Lad said:
Yep, thats true. Have you STILL not sorted this yet? :p

Switch to a specialist and youll be laughing!
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No, letting the side down aren't I :( ;)

TBH Top priority is my creaking steering which has come back with avengance :mad: once thats sorted I'll give it some though but I think rear ARB will be first then I've got a feeling rear discs and pads have their eye on some of my disposable income :p

Sorry for the O/T
 
Seraph said:
Depending on the remap itself, on any VAG, it's undetectable - either by the insurance or vag, so both insurance/warranty is safe.
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How is it undetectable?

The boost/fueling tables will be different.

Unless the car is a write off running a quick log with some software will tell you it's been remapped.

No doubt they can get the time the ecu was flashed.

Put it this way... if I can find out mine is remapped (I did it) with an old laptop and vag-com I'm sure the pros can do it faster/a lot more ways.

Remember there are people employed soley for getting insurance companies out of paying.
 
ethos said:
Unless the car is a write off running a quick log with some software will tell you it's been remapped.
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heres a tip

if the car is write off, how exactly are they going to tell that its remapped ? scrap metal cant talk :p

furthermore, if its not so badly damaged that its scrap metal, and its just scraped or whatever. Why cant you take the map off again before you take it into the shop ?

And this is assuming btw that the insurance assessors carry round vag coms or other diagnostic equipment, which they dont.

ethos said:
Remember there are people employed soley for getting insurance companies out of paying.
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they're called assessors

and they dont carry vag coms. I bet mucher is prolly the best person to ask, but i bet the number of insurance co's who've avoided paying out due to detecting undeclared remaps is negligble, assuming there are any.
 
Becasue the car doesn't need to be running to tell if its remapped, infact if they wanted the could take just the ECU and tell.

Granted if it was damaged and taken into the shop you could swap the ECU before anyone checks.
 
I would like to remap my car but won't at the moment for the reasons above - everyone thinks it's been thrashed by a Burberry-clad chav. :(

That and ignorant insurers.
 
MrLOL said:
heres a tip

if the car is write off, how exactly are they going to tell that its remapped ? scrap metal cant talk :p
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Here's a tip, learn to read. I said "Unless the car is a write off".

MrLOL said:
furthermore, if its not so badly damaged that its scrap metal, and its just scraped or whatever. Why cant you take the map off again before you take it into the shop ?
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Cause not everyone has the software / standard map to put back on. Infact I've never seen it.


MrLOL said:
And this is assuming btw that the insurance assessors carry round vag coms or other diagnostic equipment, which they dont.
and they dont carry vag coms. I bet mucher is prolly the best person to ask, but i bet the number of insurance co's who've avoided paying out due to detecting undeclared remaps is negligble, assuming there are any.
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Haha, So you're telling me they don't have any software / ways of telling if the car is mapped? Please.

They may not have vag-com but I can bet they have access to something very similar / better.
 
ethos said:
Haha, So you're telling me they don't have any software / ways of telling if the car is mapped? Please.
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what does an insurance assessor need a diagnostic tool for ?

ive talked to garages twice when the insurance assessor has turned up for my car when involved in insurance related accidents

neither time did they carry anything like that. Including the time it was my vw polo in. I'm not denying they couldnt find out if they wanted to, its just the insurance assessors dont bother.
 
MrLOL said:
what does an insurance assessor need a diagnostic tool for ?

ive talked to garages twice when the insurance assessor has turned up for my car when involved in insurance related accidents

neither time did they carry anything like that. Including the time it was my vw polo in. I'm not denying they couldnt find out if they wanted to, its just the insurance assessors dont bother.
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I'm guessing the assessor is trained on these things, ie looking closer at performance cars / cars that are popular to be remapped / fettled with.

You have talked to TWO garages? Wow, that's must mean that no-one else does.

Fair play, I didn't realise you were so up on these things.
 
2 separate incidents, 2 separate cars.

First time was my VW polo, which had some undeclared modifications on it. Those were ripped out before it went in. hence me being so curious about what they did the first time.
 
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ethos said:
I'm guessing the assessor is trained on these things, ie looking closer at performance cars
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The assessor who looked at mine didn't have diag gear - infact he didnt even lift the bonnet of the car. He looked at the damage, noted the rest of the condition of the car, and approved the repair.

No dynos or assessment gear involved.
 
I'm not saying it happens at every accident, but to say that they cannot tell a remap at all seems a little knieve.

Is it worth the risk?
 
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