How true is this? I don’t want any warranty issues down the line. I’m weary of believing this since they might be just trying to sell me on the tune.(no hate on d3)

 

I got a tune from them on my 22' IS350 and both time I've been to the dealership for maintenance checkup etc no words were said. So go for it at your own risk.

 

thanks - how was the tune? Did you see a noticeable performance upgrade? Also did you return the ECU back to stock before sending it to the dealership?

 

For me I dont really feel much of a difference beside the car being more responsive when I floor it or manually shift and no I didnt return the ecu back to stock. I just kept the tune on it.

 

There's normally a "flash counter" in the ECU's, so the tune won't leave anything, but that counter could be a dead giveaway if anything bad happens..

 

do service techs/dealers check ECU flash counters often? Especially in a warranty situation?

 

For big warranty jobs, like an engine or stuff like that, they could yes. I've seen it in the past where claims would be denied due to the car having been messed with.
I just saw on Facebook a GR86 that got denied an engine claim because they found pics of the car doing drift and donuts. Manufacturer offer a warranty on stock vehicles that weren't abused. so modifying is always a risk, depending on the mods.

 

I would say it is possible they could use that counter as circumstantial "proof" of engine firmware loaded way too many times, thus showing that someone messing with it, but I am not seeing how it is an automatic proof that it was...
On the other hand, videos of doughnut/burn outs is def direct proof of abuse and a lot easier to stood up as evidence in court.

 

It's clearly not an automatic claim deny, but something that could have an impact on the outcome of a claim for sure.
You gotta pay to play, just need to keep that mind!

 

It will be automatic if they can find a solid case to deny it and the evidence was posted by the owner. It is both true of dealerships as well as the manufacturer. It is a business that sells good cars, not a charity.
Their cars are well engineered to take in everyday "abuse", but they are not impossible to destroy if you are really careless... or if you really set it as a goal. So the business needs to protect itself from such cases, which they do.

For example in my case they denied a claim under warranty for the replacement of a wheel bearing because the other side wheel had a curb rush.
I did not talk to the corporate that time, as it was cheaper to just do it myself... especially given how much Lexus service was quoting me...