Have you checked UPS rates lately? Holy Cow, I shipped a small box "3 day" back east, and with $600 insurance coverage it cost me $55. yikes!

 

Why yes, yes I have... 5 minutes ago, 8# box going from Yorkville, IL to San Jose, CA.

UPS Ground
Billable Weight: 8.0 lbs.
4 By End of Day
Wednesday
June 18, 2008 15.49 USD

That's the retail counter rate. Maybe the box weighs more (I'll be surprised if it even tips the scales at half that) and/or maybe he shipped a faster service level than I was expecting. But if it went ground, and weighs 8#, that's at least $15 shipping profit (and likely more based on the 35% discount tier I was at when I used to ship with UPS). It's not a deal-breaker... just echoing what Bill mentioned in one of his posts above about being a 'real shop' that focuses on performance... getting into the "shipping profit" business is not consistent with that philosophy in my estimation... and it's a little annoying... like when you were in college and you went to pay your tuition and found out there was a $78 "Library use fee" and a $142 "Campus improvement fee." That's all I was pointing out in my previous post.

 

Our apologies! We charge a flat rate of $28.95 to ship these anywhere in the lower 48. As we've skimmed two hundred bucks for your pocket (and out of ours!) from the suggested list price for these, we were confident the overall deal was still rather good.

Nonetheless, I'll inquire with my warehouse folk and see if there's any room to move on this shipping charge. It's such a turbulent arena these days, as costs skyrocket due to diesel at five dollars a gallon in some regions!

In any case, Enjoy, and most of all...thank you :)

 

Thanks for the info on the flat rate. Robin didn't know the shipping at order time, and learning that it was $28.95 wouldn't have caused me to cancel... my 2 cents (3 after inflation)... how about $1020.00 shipped as an advertised price? The "+ S&H" is an annoyance to the consumer space much like the "$29.99" is... we all know that we won't get it unless it's shipped (with the obvious exception of locals), and we all know that $29.99 is really $30. So if the "marketing" games as I describe above don't actually mean anything, why bother with them? That's a rhetorical question, but (anyone) feel free to answer it... I've never met anyone who didn't realize that shipping costs someone, nor have I met anyone who got excited about saving a penny on something priced a $29.99.

If nothing else, my last few posts (and this one) are cheap therapy for my frustration with marketing games that almost every business on the planet has bought into.

And, as before... I'm eagerly awaiting the tuner. I need to go whoop some hide off the stock Redline at the corporate apartment I'm stuck in until next week.

 

Just shipped a small box UPS (3 day select $26.15 + Service options $7.20 + Fuel Surcharge $7.32 = $40.67)

 

I am still wondering about the warrenty issue here. It says you can return it to the stock config in a snap, but is there any way for the dealer to tell I was using a tune if I take my ride in to get something fixed or whatever? I really wanna snag this tune, BUT it is not worth voiding out my warrenty. I am just curious how well this thing covers its tracks. I have never purchased a tune for a vehicle before so I am still trying to learn how everything works.

 

I would also like to know if the computer in the car will show an over boost that a tech might find.

I know that my powerstroke's will show an over boost code when using a programmer.

 

The tuner doesn't "cover its tracks" ... it simply flashes back and forth between stock (which it captures from your ESM and stores) and custom. Unfortunately, with changes made to ECM logging in the past couple of years (almost certainly for GM to deal with the very issue of tunes), they are now recording timestamps to each ESM flash... some have indicated that this ECM logs the last 10 flashes). All this means is that GM _can_ tell when the ECM has been flashed, but no what was done to it. However, that's certainly enough for them to argue in favor of voiding warranty if the vehicle owner can't substantiate that GM-authorized flashes were done as part of some service need. And GM's records certainly aren't going to show this service being done. Bottom line is... you ARE risking a voided warranty situation. If that is your overarching concern, you shouldn't get the tune. However, there are certainly "performance enthusiast friendly" dealerships where either 1) they're not going to look for an end-to-end history every time you have a warranty claim, or 2) they're going to realize you've been flashing it and not really worry too much about it. #2 is probably going to be harder to find... and if your warranty claim involves your crankshaft sitting on the ground in 2 pieces, likely impossible.

 

My bigger concern about this tune is the 93 octane gas! I now know I can boost Cali 91 to 93, however with high gas prices and buying additives to the tank I doubt if I will try the tune!!!Most hand held tuners I have had adj. for 89,91 or 93 octane. Both my other cars are supercharged and dyno tuned. Mr.Hahn IMHO Cali drivers are going to need your product to work great on 91 not just ok.

 

So Bill just needs to turn the "use lower grade fuel" knob up in the tuner? Uh... while we're asking for him to magically unleash energy from lower grade fuels that just isn't there, we probably ought to up the request to... say... 85 octane, or maybe used KFC grease.

I sincerely doubt that Bill is holding back on a super boost to the tune he offers now because he's in collusion with the gas companies to drive 93 octane fuel sales. You get what you get... and if 91 is what you can buy, you get a tune that does the best it can with the reduced chemical energy. Which, by the way, is better than the stock tune on the fuel with reduced chemical energy.

Sounds like you're just trying to talk yourself out of buying a tune. Nothing wrong with that decision... but base it on something reasonable.