First off, then, many thanks to the creator and facilitator of this forum: I can't believe my luck in actually finding a dedicated community such as this! Hopefully I'll be able to offer something (anything) that's constructive in time to come, but for now would beg everyone's forebearance in this request for technical advice.
We own an April 2007 Passat diesel 140 SE auto. She's about to notch up 19,000 miles. She's no trouble at all and isn't so much a car as a family pet (aaach, sentimentality!) She's in fine fettle (hand washed, never car washed, loads of polish etc) but a couple of weeks back, a stone flew off the wheel of another car on the motorway, slammed into the Passy's bonnet and then nicked the windscreen.
The chip on the bonnet paintwork is noticeable so I've looked around for a local outfit that might specialise in this sort of work (we live in Cumbria, not far from Carlisle.)
Hunting through the local newspaper ads I came across something called "Chip-It", which seems to be the local franchise of a national operation (I'm not sure of this?)
Chip-It offers three services, Chip-It (which I thought related to paint chips, but doesn't), Paint-It (which, it turns out, does relate to that) and, er, Tint-It.
What caught my eye were the promises made for "Chip It", viz: "Save 20% on your fuel bills with diesel power plus", and then the details: "20% more MPG / 35% more power / 35% more torque". And a "special offer" of "Free Installation of any Diesel engine chip" worth £50.
Considering that our previous petrol engined car rarely managed anything better than 27mpg, the 42-44mpg we get from the Passy still seems incredible to us (and an automatic, too.) The car also flies along with the DSG 'box and "just" 140bhp. (If it is bhp, I'm always lost with PS's and wotnots.)
If there is indeed some kind of magical add-on out there that WON'T screw up the Passat or invalidate the final year of its manufacturer's warranty, and provide the kind of improvements mentioned above, then it seems a tempting proposition, especially as I'm going to contact Chip-It with a view to using its, er, Paint-It service.
Trouble is, I know nowt about hi-tech land, and though I've meandered the Internet in search of info about chips, and in some cases, fish as well, I'm still not sure.
So! Does anyone here have any experience of "Chip It" (assuming it's a national company) and, more to the point, has anyone had any experience of "chipping" a 140 diesel like our Passat, and did the results match up to the kind of stats listed above????
Sorry for length of this post but advice from those far more experienced than I or my wife would be much appreciated -- bearing in mind our own car ownership days began long, long ago, when we carried a hammer everywhere with us to bang on the starter motor housing of our Ford Anglia 105E. Hi-tech? Absolutely not.
Thanks in anticipation.
