A Firsthand Experience with the APR Plus Warranty

[signde]

I've seen a lot of questions and conjecture about APR's Plus warrantied tune as to whether it would actually cover anything. I did a lot of searching online before I purchased but could find no firsthand report of anyone ever having to use it for warranty coverage. I recently did end up in a scenario where I needed to use it so I wanted to share my experience.

TL;DR - Audi denied, APR paid

We all know the water pump in these vehicles is pretty crap. At 9k miles, my RS3 got a low on coolant warning. Knowing it was likely the water pump, I called APR first. APR rep said Audi should take care of it but if not, no problem, they would. Took it into the Audi Dealer for warranty service and specifically called out the water pump. They ran a pressure test and could find no leaks, said bring it back if it happens again. Sigh, okay.

In the next 3 months my car goes low on coolant several times. Took it into my local APR dealer for 10k service, had them inspect - coolant residue everywhere, it is definitely leaking. Send pictures of obvious leak to my Audi service advisor, he says bring it in, they have to check it themselves. Take car back to Audi dealer. They concur it is leaking. Car is scanned, comes up TD1, they try to push it through anyway, Audi denies coverage due to ECU tune. They want $2k to replace the water pump:



At this point I tell them to call APR and they will pay for it. About a day later, Audi dealer texts saying APR is unwilling to pay the dealer's rates for parts and service, advised to take it to their shop. LOL, okay, I can actually sympathize with that because $1700 for a water pump is outrageous.

After all that, all I did was setup an appointment with my local APR dealer. They replaced the water pump, no charge to me, no questions. I never paid a dime. My only real cost was the minor inconvenience of shuffling around with the Audi dealer.


I hope this helps put the kabash on some folks who have poo-poo'd the APR Plus warranty with conjecture that it has too many loopholes and would never actually cover anything. Not only is my car APR Plus tuned but I've got TCU tune, full stage 1 bolt ons, midpipes, catback exhaust and again I was never questioned, they just took care of it. All in all, I'm glad I chose the Plus tune.

[Jon B.]

How exactly did the tune cause the water pump to fail? What a joke (Audi). I'm glad to see it got taken care of by APR. I believe the closest APR dealer is about the same drive for me as the Audi dealer. Definitely worth a look whenever I'm looking for a tune! Thanks for the info OP!

[fkp007]

I've seen a lot of questions and conjecture about APR's Plus warrantied tune as to whether it would actually cover anything. I did a lot of searching online before I purchased but could find no firsthand report of anyone ever having to use it for warranty coverage. I recently did end up in a scenario where I needed to use it so I wanted to share my experience.

TL;DR - Audi denied, APR paid

We all know the water pump in these vehicles is pretty crap. At 9k miles, my RS3 got a low on coolant warning. Knowing it was likely the water pump, I called APR first. APR rep said Audi should take care of it but if not, no problem, they would. Took it into the Audi Dealer for warranty service and specifically called out the water pump. They ran a pressure test and could find no leaks, said bring it back if it happens again. Sigh, okay.

In the next 3 months my car goes low on coolant several times. Took it into my local APR dealer for 10k service, had them inspect - coolant residue everywhere, it is definitely leaking. Send pictures of obvious leak to my Audi service advisor, he says bring it in, they have to check it themselves. Take car back to Audi dealer. They concur it is leaking. Car is scanned, comes up TD1, they try to push it through anyway, Audi denies coverage due to ECU tune. They want $2k to replace the water pump:



At this point I tell them to call APR and they will pay for it. About a day later, Audi dealer texts saying APR is unwilling to pay the dealer's rates for parts and service, advised to take it to their shop. LOL, okay, I can actually sympathize with that because $1700 for a water pump is outrageous.

After all that, all I did was setup an appointment with my local APR dealer. They replaced the water pump, no charge to me, no questions. I never paid a dime. My only real cost was the minor inconvenience of shuffling around with the Audi dealer.


I hope this helps put the kabash on some folks who have poo-poo'd the APR Plus warranty with conjecture that it has too many loopholes and would never actually cover anything. Not only is my car APR Plus tuned but I've got TCU tune, full stage 1 bolt ons, midpipes, catback exhaust and again I was never questioned, they just took care of it. All in all, I'm glad I chose the Plus tune.

Awesome service from APR.

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[RSpeeds]

I'm surprised to hear that they would deny the waterpump. I guess you can tune them to run differently than stock.

[joe_100]

I have the APR Plus Warranty. Hopefully I'll never have to use it but your experience gives me some peace of mind. Thanks for the write up!

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[AudiRS#]

Wonder how much your APR dealer would charge for the water pump work they did?

Side note, i wonder if APR would pay “audi rates” if there is a local audi dealer but NOT an APR dealer in a person’s area.

[signde]

Wonder how much your APR dealer would charge for the water pump work they did?

Side note, i wonder if APR would pay “audi rates” if there is a local audi dealer but NOT an APR dealer in a person’s area.

i asked when i picked the car up, they said customer pay would have been $1100. this shop charges $114/hr. i think he said total invoice they billed APR was $800. APR was able to drop ship a water pump cheaper than my shop could source and i supposed they have some cheaper negotiated rate for labor with being an APR dealer.

i'm not sure how that would have worked if there are no APR dealers in my area. i probably would have pulled a karen with APR and said audi is going to fix it, i'm not about to drive X hours to get the car fixed, unless you want to pay to have it hauled back and forth. no idea how far that would have gotten me. the apr plus terms do say if you have a break down or need repairs to take it to the APR dealer so i may not have had much of a leg to stand on. i have seen later comments by APR employees on other subforums here say it's not uncommon for them to let audi dealers complete repairs under APR plus.

overall i'm very disappointed with my audi dealer's attempts at fixing this issue so i'm actually glad my APR dealer did it. my local audi shop put forth what appears to be the bare minimum effort diagnosing the issue the first time around and wouldn't even admit the water pump was at fault until i had my APR dealer do their own inspection and provide photo evidence.

[kingbrd1]

Thank you for this. This reaffirms what I’ve hoped from APR. I had plus on my golf R, in the next month, I’m intending on doing this to the RS3.

King


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[signde]

Thank you for this. This reaffirms what I’ve hoped from APR. I had plus on my golf R, in the next month, I’m intending on doing this to the RS3.

King


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good news for you is the price is a lot cheaper now.

[kingbrd1]

good news for you is the price is a lot cheaper now.

When I saw that before thanksgiving that absolutely made my day. And that they kept the pricing was even better. More potent car and nearly similar pricing to what I paid on the R last spring.


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[Dominick's S4]

Your APR plus warranty just paid for itself. I'm glad to hear APR honored the plus warranty with no push back. The part I do not like is that you basically have to get a TD1 in order for APR to honor their warranty.

For what it's worth, my water pump was leaking and I blew off the dealer hassle, sucked it up and had it changed at my local shop for $1,000.

[AudiRS#]

The part I do not like is that you basically have to get a TD1 in order for APR to honor their warranty.
.

Since APR wants to pay to get it fixed at the APR dealer anyway can you just start at the APR dealer and avoid the TD1 or will APR not cover it until Audi says no?

[signde]

A while back I found an interesting thread about APR Plus on the B9 RS5 forum with some back and forth from Arin on the matter.

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...1#post14251033

Make sure to read all the way up until post #216.

There is verbiage that says take it to a licensed repair facility if it’s not possible to take it to an APR dealer.

While they strongly encourage you to go to the APR dealer first, Arin says you can have repairs done at the APR dealer or the Audi dealer, just make sure Audi calls APR first before tearing the car apart. This does conflict a bit with my experience - they were not willing to let me have Audi do it but honestly I can understand that as the dealer rate was absurd.

Also funny to see he specifically mentions the most common things APR has replaced are water pumps.

[Dominick's S4]

Since APR wants to pay to get it fixed at the APR dealer anyway can you just start at the APR dealer and avoid the TD1 or will APR not cover it until Audi says no?

No.. APR will not cover it unless the dealer refuses to repair under warranty.

[StocktonBomb]

Interesting and comforting to those with APR+. $800 isn't much, I'm wondering how easily they'll cover an engine or transmission replacement. Still, it's good to see a company stand up to their guarantee.

[chi_marketing]

Interesting and comforting to those with APR+. $800 isn't much, I'm wondering how easily they'll cover an engine or transmission replacement. Still, it's good to see a company stand up to their guarantee.

There you go

[signde]

Interesting and comforting to those with APR+. $800 isn't much, I'm wondering how easily they'll cover an engine or transmission replacement. Still, it's good to see a company stand up to their guarantee.

according to Arin@APR's comments in the RS5 forum here, he's said they've replaced everything from water pumps to engines.

also APR plus is only $700 more now, APR slashed prices last year. $700 for stage 1, $1400 for stage 1 plus. kinda stings as someone who shelled out 2k for that just 1.5 years ago but it's already paid for itself so it's water under the bridge.

[Jerryrs3]

Kudos to APR, I know some are harsh on them...but they still are a good company...and I'm happy you got your car fixed without having to pay...👍👍👍👍

[GT-R & S4]

Kudos to APR, I know some are harsh on them...but they still are a good company...and I'm happy you got your car fixed without having to pay...👍👍👍👍

This is good to know. I am soon taking ownership of a '20 RS3 that is stock, but may be interested in the APR+. And as far as those goes, besides the peace of mind of the warranty, how much of a performance gain is it? I see on the APR web site the stock 400 HP at the crank increases to 459, and torque increases from 354 to 451. Also, any other conservative modifications, such as intakes? A friend who owns a TT RS recommended I go with a catless midpipe. The good thing is, I do have a European car repair shop in my town, and they are an authorized APR dealer.

[signde]

This is good to know. I am soon taking ownership of a '20 RS3 that is stock, but may be interested in the APR+. And as far as those goes, besides the peace of mind of the warranty, how much of a performance gain is it? I see on the APR web site the stock 400 HP at the crank increases to 459, and torque increases from 354 to 451. Also, any other conservative modifications, such as intakes? A friend who owns a TT RS recommended I go with a catless midpipe. The good thing is, I do have a European car repair shop in my town, and they are an authorized APR dealer.

catless midpipes are a great upgrade. that was one of the first things i did and it ramps up the exhaust note about 15%-20%.

i have full stage 1 bolt ons from APR - intercooler, intake, inlet, midpipes, and the apr plus tune. my car put down 407 to the wheels on a dyno dynamics dyno last year. adjusted for AWD drivetrain loss that's over 500 at the crank. my draggy runs are in the 3.3 - 3.4 range 0-60. so i'd say pretty damn good gains for warrantied tune.

also, at the risk of being pedantic, it's "apr plus", not "apr+". the latter is too easy to confuse with "stage 1+", which is the next level of tuning up from apr plus (which is the same as stage 1, 91 octane map).

[GT-R & S4]

catless midpipes are a great upgrade. that was one of the first things i did and it ramps up the exhaust note about 15%-20%.

i have full stage 1 bolt ons from APR - intercooler, intake, inlet, midpipes, and the apr plus tune. my car put down 407 to the wheels on a dyno dynamics dyno last year. adjusted for AWD drivetrain loss that's over 500 at the crank. my draggy runs are in the 3.3 - 3.4 range 0-60. so i'd say pretty damn good gains for warrantied tune.

also, at the risk of being pedantic, it's "apr plus", not "apr+". the latter is too easy to confuse with "stage 1+", which is the next level of tuning up from apr plus (which is the same as stage 1, 91 octane map).

Once I find a reliable local European car repair shop in my town, I'll order the catless midpipes. At this point I am undecided if I'll modify it beyond that or not. I'm hearing too many horror stories about Audi dealers denying warranty claims. And the one dealership in my town I would put them in that category.

As for being padantic, you're not, as I need to learn the correct terms when conversing with members on here. I've been a member of a lot of car groups, from GT-Rs, CTS-V/ATS-V, C7 and C8, Lotus, Maserati, as well as three previously owned Audis. Each one has their own acronyms and naming conventions. You're not a member of the club if you don't learn their lingo, ha-ha!

[signde]

Once I find a reliable local European car repair shop in my town, I'll order the catless midpipes. At this point I am undecided if I'll modify it beyond that or not. I'm hearing too many horror stories about Audi dealers denying warranty claims. And the one dealership in my town I would put them in that category.

it's not the dealers. it's audi corporate. at the end of the day audi HQ authorizes all warranty repairs as they are the ones footing the bill. the service department would love to do the repair work, they get paid if they get to do it.

my dealer knew i was tuned and tried to push it through anyway. it was HQ that required the scan and then denied the claim.

keep in mind the water pump is not a huge deal. even if i had to pay out of pocket at my local indie shop it would have been an $1100 job. other than that, these cars are solid. i read every post in this forum, twice over, front to back in the months i waited for my car to be delivered. there really isn't a whole lot else to worry about. almost three years later i still read all the threads here and nothing has changed.

i feel safe enough that this year i am about to toss my last year of APR plus and go stage 1+ and e85. i have no concerns.

APR plus is always there if you are gun shy about it. i have no regrets going that route, it was well worth the money for me and the as you can see quite a good bump in performance over stock.