$1700 for 20 minutes...

Xited · #1 05-16-2011, 06:20 AM

Hi All

Called a local tuner today for a quote to do a remap on my 2004 3.0d... sounds like it's worthwhile from what i was told and another person on the forum is happy with the mod... i asked the guy how long it would take... he said 10 mins to read the car one day and 10 mins to update the next day as software needs to be downloaded overnight.

Now people are free to charge what they like, but i just can't get why the price is what it is. Certainly for what you pay and what you get performance / result wise it seems reasonable, but just the idea that you are paying so much for so little actual work - just doesn't sit right with me. Not having a go as such as people can charge what the market will pay but makes me keen to get the hardware / software myself and do it for $200 for people... i'd make a fortune...

Is it normal to pay $1700 for 20 mins or should they be doing other things as well? They said they use a standard map - won't put my car on dyno etc...

flying · #2 05-16-2011, 06:44 AM

hell no. 1700. maybe i'm off here for not having had D work done, but my 600hp ford lightning is around 450 for dyno pulls and tuning. even my indy charges around 500 for a remapping of my X5 from a performance company in germany, they read the car, email them the file, and they email back a new tune to install usually a day later...
maybe somebody will prove me wrong though

sunny5280 · #3 05-16-2011, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xited

Hi All

Called a local tuner today for a quote to do a remap on my 2004 3.0d... sounds like it's worthwhile from what i was told and another person on the forum is happy with the mod... i asked the guy how long it would take... he said 10 mins to read the car one day and 10 mins to update the next day as software needs to be downloaded overnight.

Now people are free to charge what they like, but i just can't get why the price is what it is. Certainly for what you pay and what you get performance / result wise it seems reasonable, but just the idea that you are paying so much for so little actual work - just doesn't sit right with me. Not having a go as such as people can charge what the market will pay but makes me keen to get the hardware / software myself and do it for $200 for people... i'd make a fortune...

Is it normal to pay $1700 for 20 mins or should they be doing other things as well? They said they use a standard map - won't put my car on dyno etc...

One day I was following a TV repair guy around and I watched him perform a 10 minute task for which he billed the customer a couple of hundred dollars. I had the same reaction you did...how could he charge so much for such a short period of time. So I asked him about it and his answer was "It's not what I do that's worth the money but knowing what to do."

Jordo · #4 05-16-2011, 09:25 AM

As I agree the price is way high. And I would think you would have a line around the block if you charged only $200. But I think it's paying for the R&D time it took to figure out what works and what didn't.

Xited · #5 05-16-2011, 10:23 AM

Yep, fair points and I agree you pay for the result not the time. However, the tuning guys buy the map from a third party - this is where my question lies - what is the mark up? Do they get the software for a couple of hundred or is it like $1000 and they only make a few hundred themselves.?

Case in point, had to buy a new mechatronic for my car - BMW quoted me $6000. I called ZF and they quoted me $2200 for the exact same part. Told BMW and they reduced their price to $3300...

They still made $1000 but probably more given the volume they buy... So when I see markups like that it just makes me sick... feel really sorry for those people that think only the dealer can supply parts...

Hope my rant makes sense...

wallyx5 · #6 05-16-2011, 10:41 AM

Typical pricing to flash the ECU is around $600-1100. Shop around and you can find a better deal.

Xited · #7 05-17-2011, 04:18 AM

Calling a few more places to get quotes - will let everyone know how it goes - hard to compare apples with apples though...

Paul@evolve · #8 06-02-2011, 10:56 AM

Hi Guys,

First post here and we will be becoming sponsors of your site very soon, but thought I would add some thoughts.

Firstly for a 3.0d that is a ridiculous price, please shop around!

Secondly regarding the cost of tuning in general.. it sounds like your guy is a dealer, in that he buys the tunes in from.. well, who knows where (hence the overnight thing, he was sending the file off to be made. A read and write on your vehicle should take no longer than an hour or two maximum, including creating the file).

The huge costs come in the form of gaining access to these modern ECU's, and the tools to be able to do it. Both are extremely expensive if you want to be able to tune the latest cars. Your guy will probably take a very small percentage of what you paid him (although for that kind of tuning that is still waaaay overpriced).

Modern ECU's are heavily protected with various encryption methods to stop tuners being able to alter the factory settings, so new vehicle tuning is often very expensive due to the cost of creating both the tune itself and finding the ability to get through the encryption.

Of course after a while the prices drop as they become less popular and you have paid for the large initial outlay. Some people still ride the wave and charge crazy money for what are common files, just in the off chance someone will pay, but in most cases those guys disappear after a year or two... forums and the internet have happily allowed enthusiasts to review bad vendors!

We look forward to being part of this community in the future and being able to offer technical information for those interested,

Thanks

Paul