[LesBaer]

Originally Posted by TSloper

GM can see if you have programmed the ECM by looking at the segment checksum. It could be circumvented but HP Tuners has chosen not to do this. I don't know why. I'm speculating it would burn some bridges they may have with GM folks.

Even if you revert back to factory programming the checksum history is still there. So there is really no way to hide it.

Most places are not going to be able hide that you tuned 100%, in fact I don't know of any that have done that before. I don't even know if or how they would know that they're 100% certain on a brand car that just came out. When you bring in your car for service, assuming you have flashed back, they have to go out of their way to find out that you have tuned. Yes, it tracks the number of flashes. That's the easiest way for them to know. The techs at a Chevy dealership aren't sitting there waiting to check every single Camaro or Corvette that comes into the shop though. I've talked to techs before that didn't even know how to find out how many times you've flashed back to stock, forget anything else. They're trying to take care of your issue/maintenance as efficiently as possible to get to the next car, especially for something routine. Most of them are looking at SUVs all day long (depending on where you go). They want you in and out. I've even forgotten to flash back a few times and never had anything said to me - and that car had visible cosmetic modifications, exhaust, CAI, and catch can installed.

You have to be really careful who you go to for a tune because they could do a lot of damage. People like Jannety, who the other guy mentioned, are reputable Camaro experts. I've been using one of his former employees for years since his shop is right around the corner. A tune can also get you to pass emissions testing when that time comes. I've used a Diablo Trinity before and it was good, but a lot of the "chips" you see on the internet for sale are complete garbage. The majority of them don't do anything. You also have no idea how well they're made and if they could cause a problem just by being plugged in and malfunctioning. You won't blow up your engine using a Diablo though. There might be others that are ok, but I wouldn't take a chance on a canned tuned unless I knew it was good from others who have had used it for more than a short period of time. Every engine is different to a degree too. You might notice when they put your car on the dyno that your stock benchmark results don't match up with another person's on the forum and that's normal. That's the main case against using a canned tune vs. a custom tune.

Now if you have to bring in your car into the dealer for a blown engine as the result of a tuner being negligent or screwing up, you're going to pay for it. Don't bring it to some fast and furious wanna be shop, or use the email method where the guy you think you're working with isn't the actual guy you're working with. Sometimes a good local shop is the best thing for your piece of mind and your car. Make sure the person is "available" to handle you as a client within your (reasonable) expectations. There was one really brilliant tuner who was responsible for getting Jeep SRT8's into the low 8's years ago on the drag strip. Almost overnight he couldn't keep up with demand and had taken on too much work. As you can imagine things went south in a hurry.

The last piece of advice I can give you is join a local car club and find dealers in the area that are tuner friendly. Treat the dealer like you would an auditor - don't give them any unnecessary information. I wouldn't tip my hand to them. Mercedes Benz for example has been rumored to put owners into a "status 5" (I think it's 5 at least) on their computer system if they find out you're tuning and not say anything until you file a warranty claim. It's really hard to tell if what you hear about things like this on the internet are true or not. I have a close friend who works at a Chevy dealership, so I plan on finding out before I do anything, personally. I do plan on tuning though - just not sure if I'm going to bother getting an extended warranty.

As long as you're not going overboard and being recklessly aggressive with what you're doing, a good dealer will never bother you. Just wait to tune until you've had the car for a while and put a few thousand miles on it so you know it doesn't have any serious unrelated engine or mechanical problems that a dealer can use your tune as a scapegoat for and you should be fine.