Revo Trial - A cautionary tale!

[omg!]

Having read loads on this forum about Revo I decided to give it a try as I thought I had nothing to lose by having the trial. I thought it was pretty good but taking into account the cost of the remap, increased insurance premiums and the risk of the dealer seeing the remap and invalidating my warranty, I decided against it.

Then I was told that the car does not remap back to stock after the trial, although I had been lead to believe it would. It seems that the car returns to stock levels, not stock. Thats fine, I guess, but to make things worse Revo tell me that other tuners can see that the map is not standard! I thought that the remap was supposed to be invisible. So if other tuners can see it, so can the dealer and the insurance company!

So, it appears that I may have invalidated my warranty and may have a fight with the insurance company if I ever try to make a claim.

To be fair, Revo do say on their website that the car will return to stock performance levels. I should learn to read more carefully and critically!

 

[DPJ]

You should read This thread thoroughly.

 

[MancBen]

.... this is a worry for me too. (Currently deciding which re-map to go for on my recently purchased 04 LCR)

Another thing..... Would I be playing devil's advocate to suggest that on the return to 'stock levels' you may be seeing slightly less performance than on the original SEAT map ? I suppose that might highlight the performance of the re-map

sorry... just thinking out loud

Ben

 

[omg!]

.... this is a worry for me too. (Currently deciding which re-map to go for on my recently purchased 04 LCR)

Another thing..... Would I be playing devil's advocate to suggest that on the return to 'stock levels' you may be seeing slightly less performance than on the original SEAT map ? I suppose that might highlight the performance of the re-map

sorry... just thinking out loud

Ben

Yes, that thought did occur to me, but I am sure a reputable company wouldn't do such a thing! He said optimistically!

 

[omg!]

You should read This thread thoroughly.

Thanks.
Thats a thread I didnt see before I had the trial, unfortunately.
Even if they will reflash with a stock code, they should make that clear from the outset, on their website and at the dealer. They make a big thing about it reverting automatically and specify that no return to the dealer is necessary! That's a bit misleading in my opinion.

Its a 170 mile round trip for me to the nearest Revo dealer and its still not clear that they will do it free. Had they made this clear to me, I wouldn't have bothered with the trial.

 

[m0rk]

Having read loads on this forum about Revo I decided to give it a try as I thought I had nothing to lose by having the trial.

Thats a thread I didnt see before I had the trial, unfortunately.

didn't really do that then....

why do you want it flashed to stock? is there a problem?

There must be hundreds (if not thousands) of cars running about with trial code on......

 

[omg!]

didn't really do that then....

why do you want it flashed to stock? is there a problem?

There must be hundreds (if not thousands) of cars running about with trial code on......

The problem is that when I emailed Revo about this they told me that other tuners can see that the map is not standard. Therefore, so can the insurance companies and dealers, possibly invalidating both. We all know that they will try anything to wriggle out of their obligations.

I didn't read that thread because I had the trial before it was started. I only just found out about it not returning to stock.

 

[m0rk]

were you bothered about your insurance while having your 5hour trial?

The burden of proof is on the insurance company or dealer (who don't have the ability to check btw) to state that it was doing anything out of the ordinary.

 

[omg!]

were you bothered about your insurance while having your 5hour trial?

The burden of proof is on the insurance company or dealer (who don't have the ability to check btw) to state that it was doing anything out of the ordinary.

I was willing to accept the risk for 5 hours.

If another tuner can see the map isn't standard but an insurance company can't, its not beyond the realms of possibility for the insurance company to have a tuner look at it.

 

[LiCkWiD]

Just a thought, why not contact your insurance company. Tell them you're giving consideration to remapping your ECU and that a trial is available. If you then decide it's not for you, what is their view on the fact an equal-performance map has been applied to your ECU instead of the factory-standard one?

Phrase it as an enquiry before you make a decision, one way or the other. If they are of the opinion that a non-performance adjustment to the ECU is not an issue; then go ahead and admit the change in car.

 

[Jonny_Paul]

Personally i think this is alot of panic over nothing, i know we cant read a map at our dealership, and the likehood of an insurance company reading your map...i doubt it very much too.

I would not worry over this and just enjoy the car.

 

[A16NS V]

I had Revo on my previous car (A4) and forgot to turn it off with the SP1 at one service. I paniced all day incase they blew my waranty but I didn't here a peep!

 

[S3 AKR]

Guys, if you're going to play around with your car and then worry about it afterwards why do it in the first place ? If you'd done your homework you would have known that the code doesn't just magically disappear! Hindsight is a wonderful thing I suppose.

Other tuners can only see the code as they have the kit that drills right down into the ECU to be able to rewrite it and diagnose it at such a deep level. Your local dealer has a much less advanced device that just looks for error codes and allows certain settings to be changed so a dealership will not pick it up.

Also, I have a friend with a very large breakers yard in Essex and he says that he has never had to send an ECU to an insurance company from any car he has recovered. The insurance assessors don't have kit or knowledge to check cars that they are inspecting either so again, I wouldn't fret here.

That said though, my insurance company know about my car as I'm old and wrinkly and don't get loaded more than a few notes for Revo and I'd prefer to stay legal but I often wonder why I bothered telling them.

 

[kempos]

i got my 02 ibiza done by revo, i was told they were still developing the sps systems at the time so mine went to dealers with code on 3 times and they said nothing even on a warrenty claim

 

[muttly]

i wouldnt worry bout it!!.. insurance is a load of bollox....sometimes its jus best to keep ya mouth shut n forget about it.. your not planing on crashing ya car anyways are ya.. lol

 

[MancBen]

i wouldnt worry bout it!!.. insurance is a load of bollox....sometimes its jus best to keep ya mouth shut n forget about it.. your not planing on crashing ya car anyways are ya.. lol

.... sorry mate, but that's a load of bollocks

 

[daniel_owen_uk]

Guys, if you're going to play around with your car and then worry about it afterwards why do it in the first place ? If you'd done your homework you would have known that the code doesn't just magically disappear! Hindsight is a wonderful thing I suppose.

That's a little harsh IMO.

The revo site says that the trial of their software last 5 hours.

Well after those 5 hours you are still using Revo's software.

Whilst they have cleverly worded the "returns to factory level perfomance" part, there is no escaping the fact that it's a little misleading.

 

[omg!]

That's a little harsh IMO.

The revo site says that the trial of their software last 5 hours.

Well after those 5 hours you are still using Revo's software.

Whilst they have cleverly worded the "returns to factory level perfomance" part, there is no escaping the fact that it's a little misleading.

At last! Someone gets the point I was trying to make.

Thanks

 

[schnipps]

It would worry me, i had it reflashed and revo taken off completely. I would always have it in the back of my mind if there was revo code on the ecu, as for people saying dont worry insurance will never find out, thats rubbish. Is it worth the risk. See how much they would charge to flash it back to stock it might be worth just paying it to put your mind at rest and then just forget about it.

Also the there is a difference between revo turned off and stock seat code, i know i had revo disabled for about 2 weeks then reflashed back and it was noticeably different when flashed back to stock.

 

[mark sheerin]

I've done 110 thousand revo powered miles so I even drive round with a revo sticker on the back of my car. Which stays there when its seviced by the dealer.
never had a problem or a reported vag com flag in any service only the usual oil changes and discs..pads..other wear and tear consumables...oh and allways informed the insurance.
I couldn't imagine doing it any other way... sneaking about undercover and risking invalidating my insurance....
I would say if you can't get insurance cover then don't chip the car.
As for revo damaging the car....I would doubt it with the sp1 as the ecu watches for trouble anyway but I would worry more with sp3 and 4 bar