# Malone vs apr?



## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

I have a 2008 rabbit. Just bought it a few months ago. My 3rd mk5 with a 2.5l and 3 pedals. Just sold my old truck and now I have some money to throw into my bunny.

I’m about to get a cold air and a catback exhaust within the next month. Aside from that it’s basically stock, just vac pump delete(to stop it from leaking more) and r8 coils(as if they really do much besides look good). I’d love to lower it about 3 inches(as I had on my old jettas) and get 17”s or 18”s but I can’t right now because I use my car for work daily and it’s mostly heavily damaged pavement and dirt/gravel so I don’t want to bottom out and damage the wheels every other week. I feel like a dirt rally driver most days.

I’ve looked around some In my price range is apr and Malone tuning both doing the mail in tune(sent them my ecu, they bench flash it then send it back). This car is never going to be a race car, I just want it to be more fun. I know there’s a lot more tune options but they’re more expensive and since I don’t plan on huge gains or more extensive engine work, I believe I’ll be happy with a lower level tune.

I’ve read mixed reviews about apr some say it’s ok some say it’s not, I know they have good gti support but don’t really know much about them. I was going to tune a Jetta I had a few years ago and there was a shop down the street from me who offered c2 tunes(which I was decided on getting but never did), then they changed to offering apr(which I was unsure on still then), but I never ended up getting it tuned anyway because the car was totaled(involved as car #4 in a 5 car pileup caused by a genius that didn’t see around a corner while going 2x the speed limit who never hit the brake that there were about 20 cars stopped in line because of an accident ahead).

I’ve never heard of Malone tuning but apparently it’s big in the tdi world. Apparently it’s one of the better tdi tunes out there from what I can find, but I can’t find any solid info on they’re gas tunes.

Like I said it’s not going to be a race car but I would like that extra bit of enjoyment out of it. They both offer the same amount of extra hp and apr offers a bit more tq on 91 octane for their stage 1 tunes for about the same price, just a $15 difference. 

For a bigger price difference, Malone offers a “stage 1.5” that offers 5 extra hp and a bit more tq but requires 93 octane and/or intake and exhaust according to their info. I’m not sure if that means intake manifold or cold air(I’ assume it means manifold). But for a lower price than apr, it does offer “more”(apr still offers more tq regardless). I don’t exactly see 5 hp more being a huge difference and I’m not getting a manifold so I don’t see that being “better” to me. Also I don’t know how easy to find 93 around my place is, I know 91 is everywhere.

Also from what I read for more money, apr offers that you can switch between 3 tunes(91, 93 and valet)and stock(using the cruise control staulk or something like that?) Malone does not. I can see that being good if you have somebody else driving your car etc, but for normal everyday driving, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see it being super useful.

Is there anybody with either tune and/or info on either tune that can chime in? 

Please don’t just bash one company or the other. Again, I’m just trying to get a bit more info on where to get this bit more of fun from the car.

Before I started research o was kinda leaning towards the Malone tune because it is a bit cheaper, but after some research I think I’m leaning more towards apr, still just trying to find solid comparisons and info.

Thanks to all who contribute in andvance.


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## JaxPlanet (Sep 17, 2018)

nekkidlad said:


> I have a 2008 rabbit. Just bought it a few months ago. My 3rd mk5 with a 2.5l and 3 pedals. Just sold my old truck and now I have some money to throw into my bunny.
> 
> I’m about to get a cold air and a catback exhaust within the next month. Aside from that it’s basically stock, just vac pump delete(to stop it from leaking more) and r8 coils(as if they really do much besides look good). I’d love to lower it about 3 inches(as I had on my old jettas) and get 17”s or 18”s but I can’t right now because I use my car for work daily and it’s mostly heavily damaged pavement and dirt/gravel so I don’t want to bottom out and damage the wheels every other week. I feel like a dirt rally driver most days.
> 
> ...


Congrats on the new Bunny!

From what I have read, the exhaust flows very well so after market headers, down pipes and cat back pipes/resonators aren't going to give you much of a gain. The Money-to-HP ratio is very poor in this area. Since the biggest HP gains on this car are made at the intake, I recommend finding out if your car can be fitted with an SRI so call APR, Malone, Integrated Engineering, and others to find out. I am not sure about the others but I know that IE's SRI won't fit, if you have hydraulic steering. Once you have done what you can do to increase HP at the intake and experienced the results, you will be better suited to determine if want to put money into making smaller HP gains at the exhaust. A nice sounding muffler with good looking tips might be all you need.

FWIW: A stage 1 tune, an automatic transmission tune (which you won't need), and a CAI made a huge difference for me. I actually have to be careful not to spin tires when starting off. I choose IE but I am sure that APR and Malone tunes with a CAI will give you the similar results. Since I have electric steering, IE gives me the the option of getting 22 more HP (for a total of 40HP) with a stage 2 tune and an SRI for $900, which is far more HP than my car could gain from swapping out any exhaust components.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Thanks, I have a manual with electronic steering so the Sri would definitely fit, however I don’t foresee myself spending around $1k for the intake. I do want the noise from the intake and exhaust tho and I have a friend that can get me a screaming good deal on the intake and exhaust combo that I can’t pass up.

I did have a cold air on both my previous jettas and I do have to say the increase in sound and throttle response was great. Never dyno’d them do don’t know if/what power increase it made.

On my 2nd Jetta I also had a lightweight under drive pulley and that increased throttle response and acceleration significantly as well. Definitely getting one soon as well for the bunny.

However I never had any kind of exhaust on my jettas. I did hit a large rock(or something) at some point in my first jetta and damaged the resonator, so I cut it out and installed just a section of 3” straight pipe and a couple of ubolt style exhaust clamps to “fix it”. However it didn’t change the sound at all aside from just giving it a slight burble on deceleration if I revved up high enough. I had problems with that because the only piece of pipe I could find at the time was too large and had to keep sticking exhaust compound in the gaps and keep wrapping the ends in exhaust repair tape about every 2 weeks. After about 4 months of that I ended up selling the car tho as I was in financial issues and it was worth more to me to sell it and buy my second jetta(same year, different trim level, different color, still manual) for the same payment a month except I’d get some money back in the front end. 

And then that one got modded and totaled as described in my previous post.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Found out Unitronic has a tune sale right now but no local dealers to me, AND I’m not shipping my ecu to Canada, it’d be forever to get it back...

also I don’t have access to a pc/laptop to do my own tune w their cable(which negates the savings, as I’d have to buy it first and a laptop for 1 time use....ever)


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## halbwissen (Jul 20, 2001)

Drive to Grossman Tuning in Louisville for a United Motorsport tune. Great tune for $350.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

ciphertext said:


> Drive to Grossman Tuning in Louisville for a United Motorsport tune. Great tune for $350.


That’d be easy if I still lived in ky, but I live near Austin tx now...
Can’t figure out how to change my location on the settings thru my phone...

Also if I lived in ky still, I know of a shop(where I had planned to take my old Jetta) that does apr tunes in house and it was literally across the street and behind the strip mall from where I lived.


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## halbwissen (Jul 20, 2001)

nekkidlad said:


> That’d be easy if I still lived in ky, but I live near Austin tx now...


Brink Motorsports in Austin is a UM dealer.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

ciphertext said:


> nekkidlad said:
> 
> 
> > That’d be easy if I still lived in ky, but I live near Austin tx now...
> ...


Just messaged them about it.
However my main concern is that the um tune is $350 but they’re also going to add on a labor cost to remove/install and/or flash the ecm. The ship and tunes I looked into include the shipping both ways and any labor associated with flashing the ecm, I just have to remove/install the ecm myself. So it’ll be less expensive.


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## halbwissen (Jul 20, 2001)

UM flashes via the OBDII port, so no removal of ECU or anything like that. They may charge labor, but I’ve found that many don’t for port flashes like this one. You also eliminate the risk of your ECU being damaged or lost when it’s shipped and any downtime associated with the ECU being out of the car.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Thanks for the info, I was able to talk to brink motorsports in Austin and they offer both um and apr.

Apr is $450, um is $350. So I’m going with the um. Now I just have to find a good day to drive an hour and get it tuned. Both of them require a $60 labor fee.


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## halbwissen (Jul 20, 2001)

$350 + $60 and an hour drive for UM is well worth it. Plus, if you ever install a short runner intake manifold from IE (or a discontinued C2 or HEP) you can upgrade your UM software for $150 to match. Report back and let us know what you think!


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

ciphertext said:


> $350 + $60 and an hour drive for UM is well worth it. Plus, if you ever install a short runner intake manifold from IE (or a discontinued C2 or HEP) you can upgrade your UM software for $150 to match. Report back and let us know what you think!


Hoping the best part of the 1 hour drive to get tuned, should be the 1 hour test drive back...lol

I don’t plan on a mani...I can’t justify almost $800+ on just it...plus another tune. I don’t think I wouldn’t be happy with it, I just think it would be too much $. At least not for the time being.

I believe the cai and cat back will “do what they need to do properly” after the tune...and that way I can justify that $1k...

Granted the $ on the intake exhaust tune combined will yield less power gains than just the manifold and tune...but I’d be getting this anyway so yea...

I have other things on this car I wanna waste my money on...lol


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## brian81 (Apr 19, 2007)

nekkidlad said:


> Hoping the best part of the 1 hour drive to get tuned, should be the 1 hour test drive back...lol


I'm an hour away from UM headquarters and know you'll be happy. Our wagon had an APR tune on it, but after driving a friend's car made the switch, and it made a noticeable difference, particularly in throttle response and off-throttle fuel economy. 



nekkidlad said:


> I believe the cai and cat back will “do what they need to do properly” after the tune...and that way I can justify that $1k...


In terms of return on investment, an exhaust is going to give you mainly noise, so just swapping out the rear muffler will release some of the 5 cylinder sound at a much lower cost than a $5-700 cat-back system. You could also look for a used GTI system. Most of the gains you can get will be from an intake. Since you're in relatively-dry TX, I'd go for a BSH or similar (if you can find a decent used APR/Carbonio pick it up - they have been discontinued for a while) one that places the filter in the bumper, away from the hot engine. Make sure it has a heat shield if the filter is up high. Before I bought a Carbonio, I saw better mileage from a just a K&N panel filter and switching to Lubro-Moly Molygen and Ceratec.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

brian81 said:


> In terms of return on investment, an exhaust is going to give you mainly noise, so just swapping out the rear muffler will release some of the 5 cylinder sound at a much lower cost than a $5-700 cat-back system. You could also look for a used GTI system. Most of the gains you can get will be from an intake. Since you're in relatively-dry TX, I'd go for a BSH or similar (if you can find a decent used APR/Carbonio pick it up - they have been discontinued for a while) one that places the filter in the bumper, away from the hot engine. Make sure it has a heat shield if the filter is up high. Before I bought a Carbonio, I saw better mileage from a just a K&N panel filter and switching to Lubro-Moly Molygen and Ceratec.


Injen cai, have had it on both my jettas. Down in the bumper and came included with a “free” snow bag(not that I’ll need it in TX), but it I did in Michigan when I first installed them...Also is very inexpensive compared to any other cai in the market for these cars.

I know the cat back is mainly for sound but I want to make sure I hear a quality system, not some hack job that’s gonna fall apart in a year or 2... as far as a used gti system I could get one from a salvage yard/pickapart I was just calling around yesterday and found a gli for a few parts...would that work too or is the gli different from gti?

I’ve only heard one 2.5 w a gti exhaust I don’t think it sounded bad but I don’t really think it sounded good either...honestly I think it made t sound like any other 4banger...(which we all know the 2.5 is obviously not) so I’m really sold on that route


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Well I decided. Thanks to Ciphertext for the info. Even tho the thread started being about Malone vs APR, I’m not getting either one of those done. 

I’m getting the UM tune done today. Will update later how it feels and runs.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Well............they couldn’t flash my ecu, something went wrong and they’re going to have to send it out to um to “hopefully fix it and get bench tuned there”...

So for the meantime I have a loaned car...they were going to loan me a mk2 gti with a vr6 swap...but something was wrong with it when they went to pull it out so instead they gave me one of the tech’s Audi A6 project car.

Now I have to wait until at least Wednesday to get the car back(overnight 1 day each way plus 1 day there...and of course it’s the weekend so they’ll mail it out Monday)


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## JaxPlanet (Sep 17, 2018)

nekkidlad said:


> Well............they couldn’t flash my ecu, something went wrong and they’re going to have to send it out to um to “hopefully fix it and get bench tuned there”...
> 
> So for the meantime I have a loaned car...they were going to loan me a mk2 gti with a vr6 swap...but something was wrong with it when they went to pull it out so instead they gave me one of the tech’s Audi A6 project car.
> 
> Now I have to wait until at least Wednesday to get the car back(overnight 1 day each way plus 1 day there...and of course it’s the weekend so they’ll mail it out Monday)


Sorry to hear about that but Kudos to UM for setting you up with a loaner. It sounds like your car is in good hands. That VR6 GTI sure would have been a fun drive but an A6 isn't bad either. Hang in there!


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

JaxPlanet said:


> nekkidlad said:
> 
> 
> > Well............they couldn’t flash my ecu, something went wrong and they’re going to have to send it out to um to “hopefully fix it and get bench tuned there”...
> ...


It was just the local shop I took it to that gave me the loaner, not UM. And so far the online thing I don’t like about the A6 is that it only has 2 pedals...vs my 3....

But yea just have to wait a few more days, o well.


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## halbwissen (Jul 20, 2001)

Awww man, that's a bummer!  I won't be upset if you take that thanks back. I know UM will get it sorted in the end, but still, what a headache.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

ciphertext said:


> Awww man, that's a bummer! <img src="http://www.vwvortex.com/Anthony/Smilies/redface.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Embarrassment" class="inlineimg" /> I won't be upset if you take that thanks back. I know UM will get it sorted in the end, but still, what a headache.


It’s all your fault, you’re not invited to my bday party now...Lol

Jk man it’s ok 👍 
It’ll get sorted, it’ll just take some time..


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

6 days.......still.......waiting........😒


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## halbwissen (Jul 20, 2001)

Damn really? :facepalm:

As much as it sucks, just try and remember that it’s a short window in the overall ownership of your vehicle. Not that it makes it better now, but later it’ll feel less impactful. 

That said- you should most definitely negotiate a discount from the shop. It’s unreasonable to pay full price for an experience that’s anything less. You should be made whole.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

ciphertext said:


> you should most definitely negotiate a discount from the shop. It’s unreasonable to pay full price for an experience that’s anything less


I second the motion..


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

10 days later...........waiting some more..............😩

I did talk to them Friday about this and they said they noticed the oil change sticker mileage is close, so they’ll do a free liquimoly oil change. I told them it has the steering wheel a bit off center and needs aligned so they’ll do that free also. And while they have it in the air, I asked them to break loose and retighten the rear brake caliper bracket bolts because I have some gti brakes to install soon, they said they’d do that free also.

I asked if they do vcds coding and they do(wanna take off drls, open/close windows w fob and lock/unlock w 1 fog press), but he never responded back wether they’ll do it free or for a charge. We started talking about something else and never got an answer.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

And it keeps going.....😤🤯

So, got a text from the shop saying vehicle will be done Tuesday by 5pm. I tried to call, text back and email to verify if/that the oil change, alignment and or vagcom mods we had talked about will be done. But was unable to get any response.

Yesterday, I called in the morning when I woke up, no answer. Waited about an hour, called again, no answer. Called at noon, no answer. Called about an hour and a half later, finally got somebody. Lady at the front says the car SHOULD be done, she doesn’t know for sure but the guy that’s been dealing with it is not in, but she’ll call to ask, also doesn’t know about any additional work if it had or will be done.

So I drove an hour out to the shop. get all my crap from the loaned car into my car, turn it on and start the ac because it’s hot as balls. Go back and tell them thanks, get my receipt and a alignment printout so the lady says the tune and alignment were done, so it’s $350 + $60 labor for the tune and $120 for alignment. I said WHOA.....#1, I’m not paying for an alignment, let alone $120. Almost anywhere else is like $70, I don’t even think the dealer charges that much. I worked at a JAGUAR dealer and we didn’t charge that much. Also asked whatever happened with the oil change THEY volunteered, and the vagcom mods I asked about? Was told nobody knew about that, nobody did that, and alignment was not free. So she called the guy d waking with the car he said yes he mentioned an oil change and he forgot so they didn’t do it, the alignment he’ll end up doing for free because it’s easy and quick and doesn’t take any materials and he didn’t do the vagcom things I asked for because he didn’t get time. I said ok fine whatever, at least free alignment. 

I go back out to car, it’s still hot as balls and I happened to look at dash, engine temp was way high. Shut the car off immediately and went back in and let the lady know, my ac used to work fine, now it’s not working at all, plus it’s almost overheating. She said she doesn’t know and as soon as one of the techs is available he’ll go look at it. About 20 mins later the tech comes out and says the fans are not working, they’re plugged in and he can’t get them to come on, he’s been messing around with the scan tool and vagcom and no dice. He doesn’t normally do the computer stuff so we have to wait til the computer guy(aka the guy that had been dealing with my car) to come in and look into it in the morning. 

SO......I had to get my stuff back out from my car and put back into the loaner car. Waiting AGAIN to see what’s wrong and what it takes to fix it.....🤯🤯🤯


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## GTIVRon (Jul 24, 2009)

Holy crap man...

So this is at Brinks? I'm having issues with remote tuning (Eurodyne) my MK6R with TTE480 turbo. I was UM Stage 2 loaded before the turbo swap and was considering paying the difference and leaving it at a dealer and paying the difference of a "custom tune" for my mods. I'm in DFW, Brinks is the closest dealer, 3.5 hours away. I've heard nothing positive about BAR tuning in Houston so wasn't considering that.

Jeff/UM puts out great tunes, I can't believe they have such a terrible dealer/support network.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Yea at brink. I’m not saying they’re doing bad service. But it’s definitely not been a perfect experience.

Still trying to resolve this problem. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks working into a 30 minute tune.😩


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## JaxPlanet (Sep 17, 2018)

nekkidlad said:


> Yea at brink. I’m not saying they’re doing bad service. But it’s definitely not been a perfect experience.
> 
> Still trying to resolve this problem. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks working into a 30 minute tune.😩


What you have described at this point is terrible customer service in my book. I think asking them do more work is asking for more of the same.

The loaner and offering free services now come across as them covering up a serious screw up. A canned tune like this shouldn't take more than 15-minutes. It is far more likely that they made a mistake, like letting the voltage drop during the tune or applying the wrong profile/tune.

It seems unlikely that the tune or alignment caused the fan problem so it might just be from normal wear. Hopefully, it is just a bad relay.

I would take the tune and leave that shop behind even if I had to have the car towed. You are far better off getting work done closer to home, if not at home.

Until then, I would drive that Audi like I stole it! :laugh:


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

JaxPlanet said:


> nekkidlad said:
> 
> 
> > Yea at brink. I’m not saying they’re doing bad service. But it’s definitely not been a perfect experience.
> ...


I agree that it’s terrible customer service, but the service itself I can’t vouch for so far as I have yet to see the result(drive the car). 

As far as offering more services like I said, they offered up an oil change and I asked about an alignment for the inconvenience, and they agreed, then backed up on it and wanted me to pay for it, then I said don’t worry about it and they said, ok fine we’ll do it anyway. They never did yet(to my knowledge) an oil change or any vagcom mods as I had asked about or breaking loose my brake caliper bolts as we had also talked about.

I don’t plan on returning on either way because it’s an hour drive for me to get there. I never go to Austin, unless it’s for something like this. Where I live has everything I need daily and if it doesn’t it’s far easier for me to buy something online than drive an hour. I believe there is a Audi/Vw/German shop closer to me but they don’t do tunes(as far as I know), not to mention independent and chain shops all over town.

I hope like you mentioned it’s something easy like a relay, but it seems odd to me they’re messing with the computer for 2 weeks and now the computer controlled fans don’t work and their 12 yr experience tech was saying he can’t figure it out. I don’t know if he checked relays, so I’m waiting to see.

I want to like this shop, everybody has been nice so far when talking to me and they have a zillion good reviews online, but this is just the experience I’ve had and I can’t say I’ll ever go back.

As far as the Audi, I have been driving it for 2 weeks now, I’ve given it a shakedown run or 5(I’m sure any of us in this forum would, some more...some fewer). I don’t want to give it back and them go wtf, this broken/messed up/etc - it’s (one of)the tech’s personal car. It’s not a loaner or a rental I had to pay for. I don’t want to end up having to pay for fixing something on it or get pulled over and get a ticket for something stupid and it’s not even my car or covered by any insurance. I haven’t even taken it off-road/dirt rally style at work like I do daily w mine, my wife hasn’t even driven it(and she drives like a grama).


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Update number next:

FINALLY got the call I was expecting yesterday. Car will be done tomorrow or the day after. BECAUSE THEY HAD TO REPLACE THE ECU THEY FRIED ON ACCIDENT.

I’m hoping the call I was expecting means the result I’m expecting(car is finished, never to return to that shop).


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## halbwissen (Jul 20, 2001)

nekkidlad said:


> Update number next:
> 
> FINALLY got the call I was expecting yesterday. Car will be done tomorrow or the day after. BECAUSE THEY HAD TO REPLACE THE ECU THEY FRIED ON ACCIDENT. ...


Wow. Just wow. I’m so very sorry I saw this thread and commented. :thumbdown::thumbdown:


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

ciphertext said:


> nekkidlad said:
> 
> 
> > Update number next:
> ...


It’s ok man...not your fault.

On the bright side...my “fixed tomorrow or the next day” turned into “one more week”. 

They apparently got in “the wrong computer” so they had to find another place that can supply the correct one. Apparently the original place they ordered only had 1 available(and turned out to be the wrong one).


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## halbwissen (Jul 20, 2001)

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:


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## JaxPlanet (Sep 17, 2018)

Hopefully, their techs will spend 6-days of the week in intensive training before they touch your car on the 7th day. :laugh:

Hang in there!


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Got another “almost done” call...1-2 days they say....


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Still waiting...officially 5 weeks now 

I even called around to local dealers to verify it was there and what the update is, and I explained my situation to them. Dealer says they have it and they’ve been busy and backed up now that COVID restrictions are letting down, so they should have it done by mid afternoon or so(...yesterday) and they took my info said they’d call me after Brink just to let me know it was done there.

Never got a call from either one. Closed on weekends.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Another “it’s done call” I called back and had them double check it’s actually done before I drive an hour to get it, they said he checked it’s all good.

Drove out.....guess what STILL NO FANS. He checked the ac pressures said the high pressure sensor is reading 30bar and should be reading maybe 10-16bar so he replaced it with a new one. Still reading like 24bar and still not working. Did a capacitive discharge(disconnect battery and hold ends together....he did it for 5 mins). Nothing.

So I told him I don’t care what’s wrong or what needs done. Do it get it fixed and let me know it’s REALLY done, just keep me posted. Again, he agreed and we’ll see how it works out again....

Is it bad I’ve owned this Guy’s car longer than he has? And probably about half the time of what I’ve owned my own car?


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Got called my car was getting released from the hospital(shop)....Visited it...

Still in intensive care(fans still not working)...

Left it under medical supervision again(they’re still working on it, not done still)


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## JaxPlanet (Sep 17, 2018)

nekkidlad said:


> Got called my car was getting released from the hospital(shop)....Visited it...
> 
> Still in intensive care(fans still not working)...
> 
> Left it under medical supervision again(they’re still working on it, not done still)


I just pictured a troop of monkeys with a surgical masks and hammers :laugh:


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

JaxPlanet said:


> nekkidlad said:
> 
> 
> > Got called my car was getting released from the hospital(shop)....Visited it...
> ...


Did you visit the shop too?
It sure seems like that’s what they have...

Called today to see if they have any update, they said sent it back to the dealership, the ecm they got was a used one from a salvage yard.
Now they’re ordering a brand spanking new ecm. It’ll take about 3-5 days in the mail(longer because weekend).

Apparently their diag says that it’s a bad ecm, and supposedly VW confirmed it. Personally I don’t believe they fried the ecm in the exact way that the ecm from a junkyard was already fried also. I can’t believe those odds.

So anyway...waiting again 1+ weeks for an update...


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

I finally got enough of my situation and emailed UM to see if they can/are willing to help.

(I reached out to them before but I accidentally sent it to the wrong email, and the next day I received the call to “pick up my car” and somehow I lost interest on communicating with UM again till now....so it really wasn’t reaching out before)


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Wow....this is the response I got from Fred at UM.



(Nicole is my wife, because she uses our email for some work stuff it has her as the sender.)

Very helpful....😱🤯


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## JaxPlanet (Sep 17, 2018)

That is a legit response from UM. They are not responsible for the monkeys at Brink.

I recommend you contact Brink and tell them you will pick up your car as soon as the new ECM is installed without the UM tune. Don't discuss costs, just be polite and humble because they still have your car's fate in their hands.

When you pickup your car, refuse to pay for any ECM-related parts, software or labor. Get a copy of the receipt from the ECM purchase from the dealership to prove that they replaced it and so you can take advantage of the warranty, if necessary.

Drive or tow your car to a local shop or DiY until all the problems are sorted out and all maintenance is up to date. You should never tune a car that is not in excellent health.

If you still want a tune, pony up for the IE tune. I am sure that you can see the value of paying more for it after this experience. Mine took less than 15-minutes in my driveway.

Report your experience to the BBB and every VW-related forum you can find so others don't suffer as you did. Ask UM to remove Brink from their dealer program.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

7 weeks and counting......😩


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

JaxPlanet said:


> That is a legit response from UM. They are not responsible for the monkeys at Brink.
> 
> I recommend you contact Brink and tell them you will pick up your car as soon as the new ECM is installed without the UM tune. Don't discuss costs, just be polite and humble because they still have your car's fate in their hands.
> 
> ...


I understand it’s a legit response from um, but at least the could be nice about it. For example “Thanks for choosing to have um software loaded to your vehicle. Sorry about your inconvenience, we are not responsible for what 3rd does.” Or something even remotely close. 

Not just say “talk to mike”.

As for the vehicle health, the only problems that the car had when going in was an axle shaft starting starting to leak grease(Needs axle or new boot and grease) and brakes pulsate a bit when applying(needs new rotors up front or machined).

One thing I thought of was (if I remember right) Ie did the mail you a laptop and tune yourself thing. But I couldn’t find that anymore, and I don’t own a laptop or computer so I can’t do any of the tunes that require you to have a laptop and whatever cable. Maybe I could find somebody local but that would be even worse if something did happen I’d have to deal myself with fixing the car. Not that I wouldn’t want to, I just wouldn’t wan to $$$ and I wouldn’t have a loaner(not that I expected this problem in the first place)

You said it took 15mins for your tune, I was told and found many reviews saying it would take about 30 mins...well we know where I’m at now...

I don’t believe I need to report them to the bbb, the main problem I’ve had with them is that they just done keep me informed. In the 7 weeks my car has been in their shop they’ve called me like 3 times(I think 2 to say “your car is done”). I’ve called for an update about every other day aside from that, because they told me they’d have more info in a bit when the advisor lady talk with the tech and would call me back. Yea they fried they fried the ecm in the first place, yea they had issues with getting a replacement one(got the wrong one) - if they supplier gave them the wrong part that’s not their problem. Yea they got a used ecm, that apparently was bad too, o well a used ecm can be bad - you can’t guarantee it’ll be fine when it comes from a smashed car in a salvage yard(I just don’t believe it was bad the exact same way mine acted when it got fried). All the extra time between mailing the ecm to/from um and waiting on wrong ecm, waiting on right ecm, waiting on new ecm, time spent at dealer that’s all 4th party delays they can’t control that - it does make me annoyed I have to wait and deal with all that, but I understand it’s out of their control.

Whenever I go in person or talk on the phone they’re very polite. Like I said it’s just them not keeping me informed as to what’s going on is my #1 concern with Brink.

And with um’s response it was the “cut n dry” response, they could’ve said it more politely. I understand they can’t just go “ hey some guys car got f’d up...get him a free tune, or a new car or whatever. Just say “sorry guy”and that’s ok.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

More on the story...

so they ordered a salvage ecu, apparently they got in the wrong one..so they reordered from another yard and got the correct one in, programmed at dealer.....still not working So they ordered a brand spanking new ecu from Vw, had to wait a while because Vw was having issues with their flashing server or something and VW GERMANY had to get involved(I called dealer to verify...true story)

Today they called me and said it’s done at dealer and ready to get flashed after that pick it up. Well, fans still aren’t working, they tell me it could be the fans and or the ac compressor(which I just replaced the regulator valve on). So they finally decide to check the fans, apparently the larger cooling fan was toasted, so they replaced it. NOW IT ALL WORKS FINE...what a surprise...

Anyway they flashed it w UM and say all is still well. They say fans turn on, ac is cold. I told them I won’t be able to go back today and possibly not tomorrow but before I even think of driving an hour each way test drive it and let me know that it really does work and blows cold ac.

Now I have to clean up the guys audi(again) for return.


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## JaxPlanet (Sep 17, 2018)

It is good that you are being so considerate after all they put you through.

I admit that I wouldn't be so considerate. I would give them a reason not to treat their next customer the same, like reporting them or, at the least, letting them clean their own loaner.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

JaxPlanet said:


> It is good that you are being so considerate after all they put you through.
> 
> I admit that I wouldn't be so considerate. I would give them a reason not to treat their next customer the same, like reporting them or, at the least, letting them clean their own loaner.


I work at a coal power plant...you would just die if you saw the interior of this car before I just did my best facsimile of an interior detail and give it a quickie exterior wash...

U’d think it’s one of those abandoned cars that get posted online from the Middle East. It’s nasty how my highlighter yellow microfiber towels look...

If it was my car I loaned out to somebody in “normal” dirty condition, and they returned it that way I’d be like super sayan level 3 pissed. I’ll admit I don’t keep my car show car clean but this is beyond dirty. So I gave it a good cleaning the best that I could during my time off at work.

Imagine this....but it’s an Audi A6



As far as reporting them, I’m not gonna go out of my way and badmouth them, but I’ll definetly leave a detailed account of this event as a review for future customers to see. I’ll definetly let others know not to go there if they ask me about them, or ask anybody asks me where to go I’ll for sure point them elsewhere.

In all honesty the guy coulda had some other thing on his mind, it was Friday afternoon, most likely the last car of the day when he went to work on it the 1st time. Every time he and everybody else in the shop spoke w me they were very polite and apologetic, but nonetheless it still took 2 months to fix the problem - some their fault, most not(shipping/wrong parts/dealer wait time etc).

All in all I’m just glad(just hoping to be honest...) I’ll get my car back this weekend. Guy said the shop is closed Thursday to Monday because the 4th of July holiday weekend but he gave me his number and said we can meet somewhere and swap cars. We’ll see what happens.

If it’s not good as finished I’ll be looking for a lawyer because I believe it’s just beyond ridiculous if it’s still not fixed, or if they try and charge me for anything additional from the tune I already paid for being it was their fault in the first place.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

Sooo...1 hour, 3 vacuum canisters full(Stick vac) and half a bottle of interior cleaner later...


Top is rear seats and rear sill panels
Middle is dash/center console and 2 front seats
Bottom(Pikachu yellow) is a new microfiber towel


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

9 weeks later!!


ITS FINALLY HOME!!!

After picking it up from the shop still had a problem. Cruise control not working, their shop is not open this weekend because of the holiday so had to go to the dealer it had been in and talked to the service manager and explain the situation because the advisors were telling me “sorry were busy today and can’t get you in to reactivate cruise control”. He took it personally to the back and had them activate it, 10 mins later I’m done and on the road.

So surprise leftovers...if anybody needs one, or knows somebody who does. I have the 2 salvage ecms that we’re programmed and “found bad” and they’re actually fine because it was the fan that ended up being not working.

Also got the receipt from the new VW ecm that is currently installed and programming total was $1140. OUCH!
Hopefully dude remembers next time to put a charger on the next flash before spending another $2000+(2 salvage ecms, 1 new ecm and programming for the 3, a cooling fan and an ac pressure sensor, and shipping back and forth to UM in CT) to get it fixed again


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

So..
I haven’t had the car for such a long time and since I’ve been driving that Audi, I can’t tell really any difference between stock and tuned.

Is there a way anybody know for sure to tell if it’s tuned or not? (Aside from getting a scan to check)

I’ve heard one way to tell is to rev it up at idle, stock will stop at around 2-3k rpm and stay there, tuned will rev out to redline. Don’t know if it’s true or not, never free revved it stock but it does currently rev out to redline.


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## 2.5T\/DUB (Aug 1, 2020)

Wish you could go back in time and go with Integrated Engineering. I've had all of their tunes, all by self-tune using their OBD2 link and never had an issue. I dyno'd after all installed and the greatest jump in power by far for the NA 2.5 was +45HP and +38TQ, a feel-able difference in power, granted I also had their TCM tune for 7200rpm shifts, no cat, open 2.5inch exhaust, and a ProMAF.

UM is a great company for turbo tunes, not sure about NA's, sucks you had difficulties with a dealer.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

I would’ve considered or but I don’t own a laptop. And I know they used to offer the “ship you a laptop with cable and you can do it yourself the tune”(or whatever the real name of it is), but i couldn’t find that option. 

Plus I never expected to lose my car for over 2 months. So I expected the lower price for UM to be worth it. It may be, just came with lots of headache. I know NA cats don’t gain much, but it’s the overall difference not just strictly the power gains. Technically I could get bigger injectors, fuel pump and build up the internals, then custom tune it’s free just be around a low end turbo kit power at best, and I’d likely be at the same price or higher than an off the shelf turbo kit(assuming I could find one still) and base turbo tune.

In the end, I really just want to get it around stock gti power and know I had (by working on it myself) getting it there. If I wanted more, id’ve bought a gti(not that I didn’t try).


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## 2.5T\/DUB (Aug 1, 2020)

There hasn't been any turbo kits available in years for the 2.5, excluding the EBAY kit which is pure junk. Powering up a 2.5L is way more fun than a GTI/GLI's 4-banger, sounds better as well. The stock internals can handle plenty of boost. If you are mechanically inclined, instead of spending all the money and time on internals, strengthen your ignition and fuel delivery and build your own turbo kit for 9-10psi. Our cars are cold weather cars, so any NA tune is going to lose power when the ambient temps are over 80 degrees, but with a turbo you have constant power.


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## nekkidlad (Oct 4, 2013)

2.5T\/DUB said:


> There hasn't been any turbo kits available in years for the 2.5, excluding the EBAY kit which is pure junk.


Like I said...assuming I could find one. But I don’t want to go turbo anyway. I’m just going for a fun daily car, not a track/street monster.



2.5T\/DUB said:


> Our cars are cold weather cars, so any NA tune is going to lose power when the ambient temps are over 80 degrees


Texas for the....uhhh....not win...👎


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## 2.5T\/DUB (Aug 1, 2020)

HaHa, yeah no doubt, I'm from East Texas, spent 7 years in Houston and 10 years in Dallas, it's nice not dealing with 90+ degrees 10 months out of the year anymore..


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