Finally got to talk to the service manager and was told that if the car had been tampered with that the warranty on the computer would be voided and it would cost $35-75 to reprogram, and if nothing had been done it would cost nothing and the warranty would still be intact.

 

They can't void the warranty on your computer because a Superchips was used. Total FUD. The one and only way your warranty can be voided by using aftermarket components is if it can be proved that the aftermarket part directly resulted in damage to the vehicle. So if you had an aftermarket air filter and your brakes failed, they'd have a really, really tough time proving that the air filter resulted in failed brakes.

http://www.superchips.com/customer_s...category_key=9

But don't just take their word for it because they're trying to sell the tuner. Do some research on Magnuson-Moss which is a federal law covering this issue.

Now, I'll caveat this by saying, if you go for service at a mod-unfriendly stealership and they are trying to deny warranty you're gonna have to be willing to go to court to get it resolved. Unfortunately, they've got more money and technical experts than you've got and you're going to have to have a pretty clear-cut case of unrelated failure and mod. If you blow something in the motor because you over-revved it, they're probably gonna win if you had a Superchips.

 

Oh yeah, I know all about M&M from the subaru forums and their horrendous warranty (how can you sell the car with an application to join SCCA but deny warranties for abuse?). I know the service manager was being a total jerk so I am going to call a few more stealerships and since I am purchasing the truck today I can get the name and number of the previous owner to call and confirm or deny the use of the superchips.

 

I'm guessing you're buying from someplace other than a stealership. I'd make it a condition of purchase that if the previous owner didn't re-flash back to stock and you have to take it in to get it re-flashed at the stealership that the place you're buying from covers the cost.

The other option is to not worry about it unless you're planning to mod it out. If you're not going to get a Superchips for yourself, you won't have to worry about the Superchips erroring out with a "not stock program" message which you'd then have to get the truck re-flashed. If it still has the Superchips tune in it, and you take it in for service and they reflash the computer as part of the service, then you'd just be back to stock anyways and then have to decide if you liked it before or after the re-flash.

If however, you're going to be modding things like the cam or whatnot, then I'd definitely find out if it still has the Superchips tune. That could really throw you for a loop possibly.

 

Well I was thinking of getting a superchips, so if I get one and try to flash it I will got an error that says "not stock program"? If so then I may go ahead and get one as originally planned and if I get that error then I know I need to go to the stealership first. If I take it to the stealership for the tire size update (has the srt10 rims on it) do they do a full reflash or just change a part of the original program?

 

I wouldn't even go that far, alot of the dealerships will flash it when yougo in fora tune up for free, So if I were you I would call up one of the dealerships and tell them that you just bought a used vehicle and would like to bring it in for a complete tune up (which I would reccomend anyways) andto get any updates for the computerand they should reflash everything. Thats why superchips alwayssaysthat before you bring it in forany maintainace work or warrantyto set the programing backto the stock setting because the dealerships will overide theirs. This way you dont have to tell them that there was ever any other programingon it and potentially void anything.

 

Just FYI, the Superchips will let you change the tire size in order to correct the speedo and odom. So, if you're definitely planning to get a Superchips, then save your money from the stealership. I've heard of people paying anywhere from $75 to close to $200 to get their programming changed for different tire sizes.

I forget the exact error, but yes, if you try to use a Superchips on a vehicle that doesn't have default programming for the truck, it will give you an error like that.

And truckin151 is right. If you go in for a tuneup, which is a good idea, they'll typically reflash it. Granted the truck only has 16K on it, but you have no idea what the previous owner did with it.