VMPTuning.com F150 Tuning Issues; Justin at VMP Tuning Horror Story from poor customer service to damages on my F150 due to running rich. Must Read Story....

After several months of searching for tuners for my F150's new mods, I wanted to try something different other than Power Hungry Performance (whose tunes have been on my truck for 2 years without a single issue, highly reliable!)

VMP Tuning (VMPTuning.com) was recommended to me by several individuals on several mustang and f150 forums as a forum of tuning my 04 F150. Turned out to be a 2 month horror story resulting in further mechanical damages to my F150.

I had requested simple tunes for my 04 F150 to work with my 4.56 Gears, Troyer Underdrive Pulleys, Banks CAI Intake, and Magnaflow Dual Exhaust with X-pipe.

Note: My 2004 Ford F150 was perfectly find before attempting VMP's "Fault" Tunes and was running great from the day it was "customized" with added lift/tires/wheels/gears and pulleys.

Timeline of my Drama Fiasco

• Sept 15, 2011 at 9:31am: Emailed Justing requesting to order custom tunes for my F150
• Sept 15, 2011 at 10:50am: Responded back with $399 plus tax for X3 with 3 Custom Tunes
• Sept 15, 2011 at 11:02am: Emailed back with time to order tunes
• Sept 15, 2011 at 11:21am: Responded back and was told it would take 1-2 weeks
• Placed my order one Sept 29, 2011 at 9:26am: Received my invoice.
• October 17, 2011 at 10:35am: he emails me to let me know its on the way (over 2 weeks but I was still patient)
• October 20th I received the tunes. Installed the 87 Performance Tune that day.
• Friday Oct. 21, 2011 at 6:10pm: I emailed Justin to tell him that the 87 tune caused my F150 to stall several times while driving on the highway in rush hour and would through the Emission System Light.
• Sat. Oct. 22, 2011 at 12:28am: He asks for the strategy code
• Sun. Oct 23, 2011 at 1:40pm: I reply to him with the strategy code and also tell him that after trying the 93 tune which he also included, it caused further damage to my truck. Start throwing code P0300 and P0306. All caused by the 93 Tune.
• (From here to the 27th we went back and forth on the strategy code which I provided to him several times, my EDGE Tuner displays when it loads so I knew what it was.)
• Oct 27, 2011 at 6:33pm: I emailed him to tell him I got the truck back from the shop in great running shape with a $530 Repair bill for fouled plugs, bad coil and system flush to make sure the truck was running better. I was hoping he would offer new tunes or a solution but nothing.
• Nov 10, 2011 at 7:20pm: I request my money back since I hadn't heard from in almost two weeks; his excuse was that he was in Vegas at SEMA (once again still no solution to my tunes, eh could've checked the tunes he sent me, adjusted and resent me new ones)
• Nov 23, 2011 at 5:32pm: He finally confirmed his shipping return address so I could mail him back the package. Had to wait 13 days for this!
• I mailed out the SCT Tuner and he received it on 11/30/11.
• Another 2 weeks before he actually decided to refund me. I got email today (12/12/11) saying I was refunded a partial amount of $270 along with this response where he claims his tunes are correct and flawless and my truck which I take care of like my 2nd baby is the issue.

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To counter his remarks on this damage being normal wear; My 04 F150 had it's plugs changed at Downs Ford on 2/19/2010 at 59,161 miles. When the damage to the truck was inflicted by these tunes, the truck had 77637 miles on it when the spark plugs were replaced yet again.
Based on his remarks, how does normal qualify for Spark Plugs to go bad in just under 20,000 miles?

He also did not mention any further dataloging or effort in helping me especially with his slow responses. I have him 2 months and he didn't offer any solution just stringed me along. Its funny how He responds super fast to sales (as you can see by the first few emails) but once your a customer with issues, he brushes off your concerns....(I'm glad I did all this by email to have it all in writing.)

If you searh VMP Tuning, there's complaints of this company right on the first page: (stupidly me I should've done this first since I do this for every other company before I shop): Google Search


Please note: That anyone who had recommended them to me holds no blames or concerns, I should've done my own research into this company. If I had stuck to my gut I could've order re-tunes from Power Hungry Performance and had them by now. (Truck has been running on their tune for over 2 years without a single issue.....I guess I'll just do that now and see how long it takes, at least I can trust their tuning to be reliable).


I know I am not going to get a full refund nor get reimbursed for the damage that my truck inflicted on itself according to Justin at VMP Tuning; so I just wish to let everyone else know of the b.s. that I went through and to avoid them if you choose, I personally do not recommend them.


End of my insanely long rant....now off to reach out to Power Hungry and get new tunes with hopefully the partial refund VMP Tuning felt I deserved after all this...

 

 

 

So in all of this....were datalogs ever done to adjust the tune for proper a/f ratios?

Even with any email tune this needs to be done if you'd like them to be close to being spot on.....that's why sct programmers are nice to use for their datalogging capabilities.....

 

Sorry to hear of your misfortune man. I had a bad tune from PHP so it does happen. If it makes you feel any better, I ordered an 89 custom tow tune and it is amazing, runs better than it ever has so PHP delivered! I fouled my plugs on my first PHP tune, so it does happen and will ever so often. I do not care for his comment on how his tunes were fine. Something way wrong and when he said that's the same tune he sends out, that makes me feel like it's a cookie cutter. Bill makes his for each individual truck so I like Bill for for that. AND I have never had trouble getting a hold of Bill and Cody. That Live Chat is a godsend and every time I needed help I got a hold of them as long as it was within hours.

You will get some bashing posts, but I understand where you are coming from. However, his tunes are not terrible, you just had the misfortune of a bad tune. I agree 20k on plugs is nuts, that's not normal.

 

Nope no datalogging was done...he string me for 2 months without a solution to the point where it caused damages on my truck and I just flat out to get my money back since he couldn't be bothered to start that process.

I agree with you guys. My mustang has tunes from American Muscle and I haven't had a single problem with them, spot on. Too bad they don't tune Ford Trucks anymore or I would've gone with them.

 

In the last few weeks I've gotten mixed response from people, some who say VMPs tunes are good and I was the misfortune and others who've had a bad experience like me. Either way a full refund would've been nice and I would've chugged the $500 in damages and got new tunes from Bill and Cody at PHP. That's more of the reason why I'm upset.


Thank you. I agree Bill's tunes are worth the waiting time.

BTW: Whats the proper process to re-order tunes from him? I've been out of the loop with their site for so long and just want to make sure I do it right to make it easier on them and me.

 

Yeah sometimes it can be a crapshoot unfortunately. For Bill there is an order form on the Gryphon page IIRC. It took about 2-3 weeks from the time I ordered the tune until it was ready to download. Corey is having health issues, so it might be a bit longer. Family is more important than $$ in my book so don't be surprised if it's a bit longer.

 

^^^ Oh ok thanks for the heads up. This one right? https://fs21.formsite.com/Power_Hung...m45/index.html

I agree family is definitely important, hopefully it's not too serious.

 

If you're keeping the sct and ordering calibrations only

First fill out the order form for sct tunes...... https://fs21.formsite.com/Power_Hung...ure_index.html

Or

If your ordering a monochrome gryphon plus tunes..... https://fs21.formsite.com/Power_Hung...m35/index.html

Then become a member....www.forum.gopowerhungy.com and post your info and hex code here... http://forum.gopowerhungry.com/give-...-ecm-tcm-code/

Please fill everything out and read the instructions on the forum or i'll keep on bugging you....

 

Thanks I'm on it, you were actually just helping me on there. Will submit the form in the morning for new tunes for my current gryphon tuner......i returned the sct tuner for a fraction of a refund (wish I had known) could've sold it and bought the new color gryphon tuner.

Thanks.

 

Sounds to me like you're blaming the tuner for a failed coil on plug. There is no way a tune is going to destroy a coil on plug. Sorry you believe otherwise, but it's one thing to have mechanical problems and another to blame someone for causing the issue. I had an aftermarket coil on plug go out after 12,000 miles, so I went back to the stock units.

I've used VMP for my F-150 and my GT500. Justin is a stand up guy in my book. I don't know many vendors that would have taken the programmer back.

 

Truck was perfectly fine before tuning, I know my truck, as soon as I put the tunes on, the first 2 caused it to stall while driving and the third made it run too rich, how's that my fault or my trucks? Either way I'm going with PHP since its the only tuning company I trust for my F150...he may be good at GT500 tuning but I wasn't impressed with his lack of help with my issue. I may be the one bad egg out of a case but it still sucks.

 

Look, I'm not trying to pick a fight, but what is a tuner supposed to do if you don't give him data logs to review your complaint and troubleshoot an alleged problem? He can check the parameters he put into the tune, but if he sees nothing wrong, should he just start randomly changing parameters based on an uneducated over rich complaint?

How do you know it was too rich? Not even a data log will show that issue, unless you have a wideband O2 sensor to monitor the air/fuel mixture. Your air/fuel mixture is controlled, primarily, by your MAF sensor. If the MAF is off, the PCM can't properly interpret air flow. Do you have a CAI? A tuner cannot tune for an aftermarket CAI without data logs. I don't know why a tuner would modify the MAF transfer function if you're using the factory air intake.

The other variable in the air/fuel mix is the O2 sensors. A bad COP is going to be dumping raw fuel into the cylinder and without the sake of firing it off, will cause the 02 sensor to interpret an over rich fuel mixture and compensate accordingly. If you wait to long to get it fixed, it will destroy the O2 sensor and possibly the catalytic converter.

I'm not trying to convince you Justin is a good tuner, but rather put facts out there that your claims are based on your opinion and not backed up by factual evidence or data. I'm not saying you didn't have a bad experience, just trying to inform readers of your post that no tune is going to correct a mechanical issue and no tuner can fix a problem without data.

 

Hi,

Thanks for your input, he never made any attempt to ask me for datalogging. As I stated, the first two tunes would make truck periodically stall out while driving, how's that mechanic?

The 93 tune was running so rich(noticed after I started throwing the codes) that my Chrome exhaust tips were BLACK! Explain that one?

As I stated my truck was perfectly fine before the tunes, all highway driven, hasn't even been truly off-road yet. Been trying to get GOOD tunes before I did.

yes I have a CAI and I told him the make of it.


I have gotten my Mustang mail-order tuned from Bama at American Muscle and never had to do any datalogs so I'm not sure where you are getting that from.

Thanks for your input again and I understand your opinion, but you don't own my truck, nor do you know how I drive it or take care of it or know the crap I'm dealing with.