I always chuckle when i hear people complain or are concerned about mods. I modify everything! There are always the "potential" for any situational circumstance. If youre uncomfortable with potential then play it safe and dont do it. Go buy the total manufacturer warrantied hot car. Ftype r, svr, demon, z06 etc.
But if you have tweeked cars in the past, your wife is "augmented", you remodel or change your house then by all do it, you wont be disappointed imo.

 

I cannot stand quietly any longer. I had an Ecu tuning group tune on my 2013xfr. Same claim undetectable. The tune was great but when my car went in for a new gauge pod at about 15 k miles, the dealer plugged to the obd port and whammy. My Ecu was bricked. Dealer computer read unrecognixed software and no warranty on ecu. Dealer was kind enough to not make to big a deal out of and called in regional tech to try and revive my Ecu. No go. 1300 out of pocket. On my f type I went with VAP because they allow you to retain a tuner to set your car back to stock or whatever version jaguar expects to see when plugged up.

With this sdvantage my car Is recognized to be factory and can accept updates. If I then go to reload my VAP tune, and it fails to load, I can coordinate with VAP to restructure their tune with whatever updates jag loaded.

Be be clear my dealer knows I carry a tune and we work together to not cross each up. Be also clear if the tune causes a failure related to the tune it is on me. My dealer just helps me help myself to avoid any repeat of losing an ecu. Lastly know all mods to the Ecu are seen in file mod records. Stop hoping for the miracle of turn lead to gold.

 

with all the above said, I never held Ecu tuning group liable because I am a big boy and they went out of their way to send a laptop in overnight at no charge and I was back on tune with my new Ecu. Jags even got on the phone with my dealer tech trying to help. Ecu tuning group has great service, but the sales pitch is overstated.

 

Well, I guess at this point, Im just not able to take the risks involved. ETG thank you for your response to my questions. I do appreciate your honest reply regarding the tune!

 

Hi Stwsam, great to hear from you, and to hear you're enjoying the tune from a power perspective! You came in a little strong there lol, but we always appreciate the feedback.

When it comes to the issue you suffered with the replacement of your cluster, we're sorry you had so much trouble with the dealership. Issues like that do put a kink in the fun of owning an XFR.

But unfortunately there's no preventing an issue when they mess with the immobilizer data incorrectly. Whether the car is tuned, stock, or flashed back to stock, messing with the immobilizer does put a damper on things. This is something we stress heavily when performing work with our franchise dealer partners. Nevertheless, we're happy you found a product that suits your needs like Veizu. And we're also glad to hear you're back on track with modding again! Enjoy your F-Type!

Fun Fact: An ECU cannot be "bricked" by plugging up to the OBD2 port... #TheMoreYouKnow

 

Not a problem NoScurdyJags, we're here to help!

 

i was going to mention this but you already did. To brick a module you pretty much need to be trying to run a software download and not have a battery charger maintaining 12.50 volts or greater. (or loose internet connection in the middle of a download will do too )

 

Its pretty stupid how it doesn't download the patch first and then just run it offline. Why does it need a constant internet connection? lol.

 

The tuning tool I got from VAP operates entirely offline. Files are emailed back and forth and the uploading and downloading to the ECU requires no connection.

 

Question. Aren't most tunes undetectable at the dealership but detectable by Jaguar? How would Jaguar the dealership find a tune except for these cases where they tried to update the software and couldn't because it was different from what they were expecting.

Also, is it difficult to revert to stock before going into the dealership? That's what everyone in the Subaru world does but of course the stock tune is saved on our Accessport which makes it quick.

 

As mentioned elsewhere when the dealership hooks up their diagnostic equipment (SDD) they will see a code showing that the ECU has been diddled with, even after you put the stock tune back on. The code doesn't tell them exactly what was changed, it just tells them that the software was altered at some point.
With the VAP tune you get the stock tune back as part of the package, and you can (and should) flash the ECU back to that tune before you take the car in for service or warranty work. I suspect the ECU Tuning Group set up is the same.

 

So what can you expect the dealer to say when they see that code? What do they do?

I think that is the most important thing to consider for people looking to tune.

 

I wasn't complaining about tuning or modding. My car is tuned, with lower and upper pulley, completely modded exhaust from the headers back. I just wanted to clarify it could confuse some n00bs who will think undetectable means undetectable by everyone.

 

Even with VAP (at least in my case), returning back to OEM still has the ECU throw a P167F code. Which is a "Non-OEM programming detected" code.

 

And VAP acknowledges that.

 

Maybe I'm doing it right after all. I just was not cognizant of this when I went into the tune.