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Other businesses that have taken the plunge have had different ways of addressing the warranty issue. According to Superchips' Turvey, businesses that operate older vehicles will wait until the manufacturer's warranty has expired before carrying out the remap, while those with more compressive fleet management set-ups have other ways around it.
"Some fleets will wait until a certain mileage or age before carrying out the work, so the warranty no longer applies.
"If a fleet is maintained by its own workshops then they can use their own initiative. So if, say, a door lock fails, then that's obviously nothing to do with the remap and the warranty isn't an issue."
Rupert Pontin, chief car editor at RV specialist Glass's Guide, remains sceptical about the fallout of remapping on a vehicle's resale value: "I have yet to see any evidence that contradicts the assumption that this activity damages the residual value.
"To remarket a modified vehicle, the changes need to be declared at the time of sale. As a result, to a trade buyer this means they must also declare these changes when retailing the car."
The modification is, however, reversible, so vehicles that have undergone it can be put back to their original settings before they're sold on. Fielder continues: "Come remarketing time, everything can be reversed to the manufacturer's standard, or optimised further."
Being upfront
In fact, Fielder is so confident about the technology that he believes it could actually have a beneficial knock-on effect on a vehicle's value when it is defleeted. "As this becomes more broadly accepted, we may find that, at remarketing time, the vehicle is worth more because it has lower CO2 and it's more efficient, but I think we'd need a few van cycles before we'd know for sure," he says.
The commonly held belief is that any sort of modification is likely to play havoc with your insurance premiums and end up costing you a lot more. However, if you're investing in a remap with the sole purpose of improving economy, you're upfront with the insurance company and it's professionally fitted, then there's no reason that your premium should increase.
A spokesman for Aviva told BusinessCar: "Any time you make a modification you need to let your insurer know. However, chipping for fuel economy - that's something we would be happy to support. If you're chipping for economy then generally this won't have an impact on your premium.
"You still need to let us know, but on a general basis, it's fine. It's about being upfront and disclosing the facts. Obviously, some people will chip to get a bit more power as well, which could incur a additional premium, and some people may carry out other modifications at the same time, but just let us know."
Turvey says that, even when a power increase is involved - as it can be simultaneously with an economy remap - insurance firms won't necessarily up your premium. It just depends on the company, so the advice is simply to be honest and talk to your provider before you do anything.
"Some [insurers] say 'great, just let us know', while others say 'no more than a 30% power increase'. That's fine, though, because what we're looking for is extra torque rather than a large power increase."
BusinessCar magazine ©2019
Business Car Magazine © 2020 | Business Car is part of NS Media Group.
