Know this before buying a spartan tuner

[LFD132]

First of let me say that I have had nothing but good experiences with spartan since I bought my tuner. Anytime I have needed help Mick was always quick to help me so this is NOT a bash spartan thread. With that being said I was not aware (as other may not be) that I would be charged 325.00 to tune my new truck. I returned my old truck to stock before I sold it. I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 1600.00 the first of this year for the tuner and the accessories to have to turn around and spend an additional 325.00 7 or 8 months later. I could understand a small fee for changing vehicles, but I think 325.00 is a little steep. I have seen this discussed on here before, but I thought it applied to people selling their tuners. I would think once you buy the license you would have it as long as you owned the tuner. I know this was not explained to me upon buying the tuner which may have made me decide to wait since I was planning on trading my truck. This leaves me with the choice of paying the fee, or selling the tuner at a substantial loss which I am not interested in doing. So for those planning on buying one or trading their truck know this in advance. Once again I am not bashing (maybe venting), just putting this out for those who may not know.

[derrick36]

Originally Posted by LFD132

First of let me say that I have had nothing but good experiences with spartan since I bought my tuner. Anytime I have needed help Mick was always quick to help me so this is NOT a bash spartan thread. With that being said I was not aware (as other may not be) that I would be charged 325.00 to tune my new truck. I returned my old truck to stock before I sold it. I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 1600.00 the first of this year for the tuner and the accessories to have to turn around and spend an additional 325.00 7 or 8 months later. I could understand a small fee for changing vehicles, but I think 325.00 is a little steep. I have seen this discussed on here before, but I thought it applied to people selling their tuners. I would think once you buy the license you would have it as long as you owned the tuner. I know this was not explained to me upon buying the tuner which may have made me decide to wait since I was planning on trading my truck. This leaves me with the choice of paying the fee, or selling the tuner at a substantial loss which I am not interested in doing. So for those planning on buying one or trading their truck know this in advance. Once again I am not bashing (maybe venting), just putting this out for those who may not know.

I get that financially it sux, but I don't know what else you needed explained. Everything seems pretty clear on their site:

"There are a few things to consider before purchasing a used tuner. To keep from having to purchase another license $699.00, you must ensure the first vehicle was returned to stock. This can be done by selecting exit from the Gauge screen. Next go to Tuning, I Accept and then to Status. If it has a vin # beside license then it's still lock to the other vehicle. For those that have a strategy flash tuner you will have to backup a system log while the unit is connected to the original truck that was tuned. We will open the log file to verify that the truck was returned to stock. If it was, the cost for the license and tunes will be $325."


Tech Support - If I purchase a used DashDAQ will I be able to tune my truck?


That tells me that no matter the situation, you cannot take the tuner from truck to truck without purchasing the license.

My guess is even though you purchased a new truck you could just as easily be hooking up all of your friends with Super Duty's and they would have no way of knowing.

It seems like a pretty smart business move to me. The same $325 that I just paid a few months ago hurt just as bad, but it was worth EVERY penny.

[DSL_PWR]

I agree completely. If it is YOUR truck and you are not selling your tuner then it should not cost you to tune YOUR new truck. They should have a lower license purchase price or something besides charging you full price to tune the new truck.

I could understand if you are selling then someone else needs to purchase the license but I think goes a little bit too far.

[LFD132]

Originally Posted by derrick36

I get that financially it sux, but I don't know what else you needed explained. Everything seems pretty clear on their site:

"There are a few things to consider before purchasing a used tuner. To keep from having to purchase another license $699.00, you must ensure the first vehicle was returned to stock. This can be done by selecting exit from the Gauge screen. Next go to Tuning, I Accept and then to Status. If it has a vin # beside license then it's still lock to the other vehicle. For those that have a strategy flash tuner you will have to backup a system log while the unit is connected to the original truck that was tuned. We will open the log file to verify that the truck was returned to stock. If it was, the cost for the license and tunes will be $325."


Tech Support - If I purchase a used DashDAQ will I be able to tune my truck?


That tells me that no matter the situation, you cannot take the tuner from truck to truck without purchasing the license.

My guess is even though you purchased a new truck you could just as easily be hooking up all of your friends with Super Duty's and they would have no way of knowing.

It seems like a pretty smart business move to me. The same $325 that I just paid a few months ago hurt just as bad, but it was worth EVERY penny.

Don't know how you can say that this applies to my situation, I didn't buy a used tuner. Maybe you did in that case then it applies to you and I could see how it would since you never originally bought a license.
If you can show that you returned the truck to stock then it would be pretty difficult to tune all of your friends trucks.

[derrick36]

Originally Posted by LFD132

Don't know how you can say that this applies to my situation, I didn't buy a used tuner. Maybe you did in that case then it applies to you and I could see how it would since you never originally bought a license.
If you can show that you returned the truck to stock then it would be pretty difficult to tune all of your friends trucks.

What I'm getting at is how do they know that you bought a new truck? You could give them any vin#.

The $325 makes it so it applies to all situations(buying a used tuner, switching the tuner you already have to a new truck, etc).

Maybe I'm missing something, but the $325 makes sense in both situations to me...

[LFD132]

Originally Posted by derrick36

What I'm getting at is how do they know that you bought a new truck? You could give them any vin#.

The $325 makes it so it applies to all situations(buying a used tuner, switching the tuner you already have to a new truck, etc).

Maybe I'm missing something, but the $325 makes sense in both situations to me...

First off they know whether or not you put your truck back to stock. The tunes are locked to the VIN of the vehicle you install the tuner on the first time. It can not be put on another vehicle hence the reason you have to buy another set of tunes. They have your VIN number when you purchase the tuner new or when you buy a set of tunes if you bought the tuner used. I think it is reasonable to charge a small fee when you change from one truck to another, but 325.00 is a little excessive in my opinion if you bought the tuner new from them or one of their dealers.

[derrick36]

Originally Posted by LFD132

First off they know whether or not you put your truck back to stock. The tunes are locked to the VIN of the vehicle you install the tuner on the first time. It can not be put on another vehicle hence the reason you have to buy another set of tunes. They have your VIN number when you purchase the tuner new or when you buy a set of tunes if you bought the tuner used. I think it is reasonable to charge a small fee when you change from one truck to another, but 325.00 is a little excessive in my opinion if you bought the tuner new from them or one of their dealers.

Ok, I get what you're saying but their pricing strategy for moving the tuner from one truck to the next(regardless of how/where the tuner was purchased)still makes sense to me.

Isnt it the same thing they do with computer software? If I go buy microsoft office, my license would be for 1 computer. I couldn't go buy office from best buy and install it on 4 computers at my house unless I bought a volume license. When you bought your tuner you essentially paid for 1 vin to be tuned, not 2 or 3 or however many more super duty's you purchase in your lifetime.

[LFD132]

Originally Posted by derrick36

Ok, I get what you're saying but their pricing strategy for moving the tuner from one truck to the next(regardless of how/where the tuner was purchased)still makes sense to me.

Isnt it the same thing they do with computer software? If I go buy microsoft office, my license would be for 1 computer. I couldn't go buy office from best buy and install it on 4 computers at my house unless I bought a volume license. When you bought your tuner you essentially paid for 1 vin to be tuned, not 2 or 3 or however many more super duty's you purchase in your lifetime.

If I buy microsoft office from best buy I can install it on usually 2 to 3 computers just like most software out there since most people have more than one computer. Like I have already said, a small fee is one thing. I am not asking to tune multiple truck for one flat fee.

[11SuperDutyKR]

Here's my personal imput...If you're trying to save money and buy a used tuner, then the full relicense fee should apply($325)....BUT if you paid full price from the beginning to install on your truck and now you're going to install the same tuner you bought originally on a new purchased truck, then you should have a much smaller bill or fee...MAYBE half the price? I know this solution would be great for PR, since H&S(competition) has free downloads, etc.

[derrick36]

Ok, my bad. I get it.