BAZ you havent been ripped off at all... I'm glad that the tuner and yourself have sorted out the difference and on the next tune all will be square.
all the other forum members who have replied to this thread that you have been ripped off do not know the full story as it was not explained properly in your first post - a lot of important factors were left out which Jim only just brushed on.
as many have mentioned it is a licence fee you are paying (which in turn the tuner's are) to licence the ecu to their tuning cable (whether it be HP's / EFILive or others). On top of this the original charge of $200 included the licencing fee (which at the time cost me $150) and the $50 was travelling 100klm's round trip and to turn of security and a few other pieces just so we could test out the gearbox and the active select to see if it was working. You were well aware that you would need to pay another licencing fee with any other tuner used as the licence is on the cable not the ECU. You were quite happy to pay this and i am sure that you will be hard pressed back then and still now to find someone to do the following for that price (only cause we did the engine/trans loom this price was agreeded on)
Now the second tuner charged you X amount as there is also dyno time involved in his charge alond with the credits etc.... so is not a bad price. (most tuners in sydney will charge around the $1000 mark to dyno a LS style engine etc...)
no with the talk of EFI tunes and HP tunes not compatible - this is only if a custom OS is loaded ..if it isnt a custom operating system then either tool can be used to tune the car
As for being aware of all you problems with the original setup etc... it was pointed out to you and also the mechanic that alot of the parts purchased (long before we were even involved) were not the exact parts best suited for your job. VE engine loom to have ecu in the engine bay (which was not wanted) , ECU programmed to suit a VZ 6.0L with 4 speed auto, brand new 6 speed auto transmission with no tune in it....
I flashed in the corvette BASE tune to both the ECU and the TCM for free of charge and is normally a $200 charge .... the tools and software used to do this are very expensive and you recieved the service free of charge. This was needed as you were aware after we found out you wanted to run the factory gear shifter to run active select (which normally needs the factory BCM approx $700 and harness approx $800) this is why we had to go the corvette route.
So i dont feel in any way you were ripped off and if anything i feel a little ripped off for the amount of time spent travelling back and forth to the workshop to fix the little bits and pieces (when we were originally only used to supply fit the engine/trans harness and active select box).
Annoys me that people just jump onto forums and start complaining about a service they recieve and ask for others opinions when they dont provide all the facts to the forum members or before they have taken the problem up with the parties involved. Then only to have half of the members come out and say "he's screwing you" or "your getting ripped"
I noticed GAV and TENROCCA came back with very relevant and non biased responses which is good to see. They gave you the explanations that summed it up well with out going off on the "rippoff angle".
I know forums are a community thing and there is free speech but i hope before any more threads are posted with complaints etc.. that all avenues are explored behind the scenes before anything gets posted .
Also is a good lesson for newer kit car builders (and all other conversion people) to follow ... that is do you research on everything... speak to the people who are actually going to do the work on your car and get their opinions etc.. on things.. dont just go off what others have said done as it may not be the best thing (especially buying parts from a Holden dealer who tells you you need all this when they have never fitted in a conversion - all they want is you hard earned money and once they have it they dont give a F$%K what is missing or wrong)..
well there is my RANT and i know i will more than likely get roasted/flamed for it but it is what i experienced with this Job and also my opinion.. take it or leave it
