Tyrnnus

This is a post I placed on Audi world:

So I spoke with Eurocode yestruday to purchase the tune, pulley, and Alu Kreuz for the awesome deal they have going on. Just in Time as I take delivery of my car tomorrow after lunch.

Email back from sales rep saying that APR will not accept the order for the ECU flash because I have a dealer 4 miles from my home in Canada.

This seems to be the sticking point, as APR says that I as a Canadian must purchase the flash through a Canadian distributor.

First off, the reputation for the local dealer is not great for service or pricing. When you consider I am getting the Alu Kreuz for the price of tune and pulley the price difference is $600 more from the local guys.

Secondly, my neighbour is an audi mechanic and we are going to do the installation together.

I have been lurking on these boards for 4 month while waiting for my car and have read excellent things about APR so this situation surprised me to say the least.

I have spoken with the sales manager @ APR and he is adamant about using the CDN dealer.

Anyone have any helpful suggestions? $600 bucks does not break the bank it is more that as a Canadian we are always forced to pay a higher price locally.

sakimano

I dont' get it...aren't you going to get raped on customs etc. when you try to bring the **** over the border from EuroCode? That might make up the $600.

Also, how are you going to get your ECU tuned by EuroCode...they're going to just ship it to APR, who will ship it to EuroCode who will ship it to you who will have it get hung up at customs with all of your other ****. Maybe I missed something and you're driving to EuroCode (in California) and have them do all of the install stuff.

I just think it's easier to go through your local dealer, but I think it's gay that APR is telling you who you can and can't buy from. Tell Keith to make an exception because he owes sakimano. He'll know what you mean.

seinsmeld13

This is not an unusual situation. A friend of mine owns a franchise and if he does any business outside of his franchise territory he has to pay the local guy a cut. That cut is high enough that is not worth his time to do so. Pay the going rate and get it done locally. If you have issues down the road they will be there to help you.

Chestlock

This was settled some time ago.

Arin from APR wrote:
We cannot ship internationally unless it's through one of our dealers as all to often our customers will get their products stuck in customs and or have to pay extremely outrageous importation fees seemingly out of nowhere.

We don't want your ECU to get stuck in customs for days. We also don't want some hidden several hundred dollar fee to pop up. Because of this, we need to ship everything through our dealers when it's outside the US.

They may also have a contractual arrangement of some sort with their dealers...


Edit: For those out west, RPI Equipped (Vancouver) is an authorized APR dealer, and they offer US pricing. They also follow all APR sales. Just ordered an exhaust and intake through them

sakimano

so APR exhaust is 2.5" with an xpipe crossover? Could prove a good choice for the B8.

Chestlock

Having ridden in B8 S4s with Milltek (res), APR, AWE(res), and Stasis(stock DPs) exhausts, the APR definitely suits my requirements best.

Want a quieter but gurgly V8 sound that screams under WOT? Get the Milltek
Want an louder, exotic, Ferrari/Tubi-type sexy-awesomeness sound? AWE
Less exotic sounding (than AWE) but still very satisfying, quieter under cruising, louder under WOT? APR
Want more cabin drone? Stasis. Sounds great from the outside though.

The clincher was APR's customer service and quality of product in general, plus the look of it. I do prefer the more exotic sound of the AWE, but a bit too loud for my liking in the cabin. Great for driving to work, less so for the 6000km roadtrip.