So when I bought my TT it had a FVD Stage 3 ECU in it....plus the associated upgrades.....I have since added to them and recently puchased a FVD Stage 4 ECU to replace my existing Stage 3. I do NOT have the original stock ECU.

Put the Stage 4 in the car and ........... nice......noticable increase in performance....more boost.....used to spike at 1.0 and hold steady at .9....now it holds steady at 1.1 and spkes 1.3. Probably a 30 hp increase.

While the increase in HP is nice......I probably wouldn't have paid what I did for the ECU just for that increase alone.....my reasoning was that I could sell my existing stage 3 ECU for maybe $1000 and offset the money I paid for the stage 4....that would make the price for the increse in H.P. worth it...

When I sent the stage 4 out to be "re-programed" for my car.....they couldn't switch the Vin from mine to the new one.....I was told this in not uncommon....but they WERE able to override the imobilizer or whatever so that it works in my car. BUT, it still shows the previous owners VIN. All the other info has been updated from my Stage 3 ECU.

In talking to another tuner the other day...I mentioned this and my plan to sell the stage 3 EVU and he mentioned I should keep my old ECU in case I ever sell the car.....as during a PPI it might raise a red flag not having the current VIN # .........


My question is this.......

Would this be a red flag for you? If you were having a PPI done on a TT and the owner told you all this....would YOU find it odd or unusual? I know I personally would not....but I know all the facts.....I am always honest and straight forward when I sell something.....but I don't want to ever encounter any reason for anyone to doubt my car or milage or whatever.....and maybe have trouble selling my car someday.....but then I don't want an ECU that's worth $1000 just sitting around gathering dust either.....

Opinions?

Chris

 

I think you're kidding right........your car is so far from stock, a little thing like having someone elses VIN ECU ....will have little or no (additional) effect

On the other hand......$1000. (if you could get that) seems pretty small in the whole scope of things. Yep, their are people that keep the whole pile of OE parts.....and put the car back together for re-sale (and sell the mods seperate).....that would be the way to go if you really were trying for best return when you flipped it.
Waste of time IMHO.......I stopped looking back a long time ago....mods are definately not 'smart' money......not the point.
So, your question.....would that be a 'red flag' to me?........naw, the whole car (by now) is a red flag .

PPI on a Stage 4........well

 

Hahaha, thanks Greg.......I agree with everything you said...... this person I talked to said it would raise suspicion with some of his customers.....so I figured I would get some more opinions.....as far as a PPI on a stage four? Absolutly! More than ever. I would want to verify engine hours and overrevs.....cylinder pressures, etc......the basics.....

Chris

 

It would for sure raise a red flag for the most, regardless of what the story behind it is. Who would want to buy a car with a brain that belongs to another. IMHO. Come up with a solution to get that fixed, or buy a blank ECU and have the dealer reset it to your car an sell it as a stock and sell your moded ECU separately....

 

Really? Even when ALL you had to do to confirm this is call ANY major tuner who would confirm that often times when reprogramming a ECU you can't change the vin?

Chris

 

Honestly the ecu will not depreciate much more. I would definately hang on to it and sell it later when the car is sold.

 

who will know the ECU's VIN doesn't match the car? and who cares if the car runs and passes smog? if i was buying a modded 996tt, it would be at the bottom of my list of concerns.

 

The ECU shows the overrevs, the engine hours, codes, vin, etc. When you take a car to get a PPI, if they are doing there job, they will look at all this......with this Stage 4 ECU, they will note that the ecu has a non matching vin number. Doesn't effect smog. But I was talking to a tuner the other day about it and he felt that it might be a "red flag" someday when I try to sell it and that maybe I should hold on to both....since the Stage 3 does have my VIN on it. Me personally? As a buyer, it wouldn't matter to me as long as I can verify that in fact the seller is telling the truth. But I really don't feel like hanging on to multiple ECU's if most people don't think it's a big deal.

As far as buying another.......I believe they are around $2000 to buy a "New" one........and that seems like a waste of money to me.....

Chris