Stupid ebay stupidness!

[njc110381]

Hey guys. I'm on ebay looking for a power upgrade chip for a Ford Ranger pickup. I can search for Ford Ranger and it gives all relevant results, but if I type in Ford Ranger chip or even Ranger chip it comes up with power boxes for everything. Is it me doing something daft or is it the site being rubbish? :unsure:

[farmshooter]

Dont buy a chip of ebay, they dont do your car any good, spend some more money and have it re mapped properly, loads ofcompanies out there that come to you to do it, and you will see real performance/economy/tourque. All the chips from ebay do is trick your car into thinking its getting colder air than it actual is making your car run rich, doesnt do it any good and reduces economy

 

FS

[Gnome of the Woods]

All the chips will list most if not all cars somewhere in the listing so they come up whatever you search for.

[njc110381]

Dont buy a chip of ebay, they dont do your car any good, spend some more money and have it re mapped properly, loads ofcompanies out there that come to you to do it, and you will see real performance/economy/tourque. All the chips from ebay do is trick your car into thinking its getting colder air than it actual is making your car run rich, doesnt do it any good and reduces economy

 

FS

 

 

Oh right. Thanks! Can you suggest any companies that do that sort of work? If not I can do a Google search but it sounds like you know what you're talking about!

[NickP]

There are a few remapping companies out there that do this, have a look at superchips bluefin and Alive Tuning who offer remap devices that you download the ecu data, upload to the company and they send you back the tuned ecu data for you to plug in the unit back and upload to your car, better if you still have warranty as you can put them back to standard if you need to go for dealer service

 

also there is a company called tuneit who i looked at for an older car of mine, but this is a plug in box that you do under the bonnet

 

either way or option you go for a non ebay remap will be £300+

[farmshooter]

but its 300 quid well spent, rather than 50 quid of ebay that could damage your car, as said in the above post, another one to look at is celtic tuning, but with blufin you get the option of having a handset that you get the comapny to load maps onto, but then you plug it in and switch them yourself, this means you can have diffrent maps for diffrent situations, e.g. of road, towing, economy or performance and they are all taylored to your car

 

this guy has alot of good reviews on serval of the 4x4 forums - http://bellautoservices.co.uk/

 

hope this helps

 

FS

[Seamus]

I've used Celtic Tuning several times for mine and my business partners cars (ranging from a Merc C class, an Audi RS4, a 1.9TDi Astra, a Discovery 3 and a 2.0TDi Audi). Never had a single problem with any of them, we also got a discount for them doing 2+ cars at the same time.

 

It really does transform them (the Astra is ridiculously funny to drive)!

[al4x]

It will need to really transform it, he is buying a ranger after all

 

seriously if its near new then thats one thing but on an older one I'd not bother, increasing the strain on everything won't help reliability long term

[njc110381]

It will need to really transform it, he is buying a ranger after all

 

Just out of interest, what vehicle that I may want do you like? Landy is rubbish, Ranger is rubbish? Please don't say L200. I've spent more on the repairs of my last L200 than I've spent on three Land Rovers!

[al4x]

OOOh rubbed a nerve

 

seriously though assuming from your posts of poverty that you aren't going for a new ranger have you driven any? I've used a 2004 one a bit and yes they can be had cheaply but they are agricultural at the best and economy was seriously worse than my L200. Thats a big factor these days and when you bear in mind the boxes can only do a certain number of things they can't perform miracles. Making them run leaner and upping the turbo pressure on older vehicles to me doesn't help them last. Only you know what you are after but they aren't overly reliable and definitely not economical, If you don't drive far then it may be an option the main point was though if you don't like certain things about it straight away you won't cure all the issues with a remap or ebay plug in box. You get what you pay for with second hand vehicles, my first L200 was well abused and cost me a bit the second has cost me a service with nothing needed in 10K over 6 months. Would I recomend them then yes but in your case you've had one and won't go back but the Ranger isn't a patch on them, possibly look at the Isuzu or an older Hilux in that case as both beat the ranger hands down. Fundamentally though buy on condition if you can find a 1 owner well looked after version of any of the above its worth paying extra for to start with to have a vehicle you don't need to work on to get it up to scratch

[njc110381]

I think you're right generally Al4x, I've just been unlucky I think.

 

The Ranger seems nice. Certainly the one I've put a deposit on is nice. It's got a very good service record and I think by the condition of the bed and inside that it was used as a tax avoiding company car rather than a workhorse. I really do hope it turns out ok. It certainly drives well.

 

Regarding the L200's I owned I had some strange luck. I bought my first from a really dodgy little dealership with no service history. It was cheap. That one did me very well and I never had any bother with it that was out of the ordinary. A couple of niggles perhaps but generally it was a good truck. Then I bought the second privately and it was a heap. My mistake I'd say as it really was poor but anyway... Then there was the third. Bought from a franchise dealer with twenty something thousand miles on the clock, full dealer history and extremely well looked after. I decided that was the best move after the last one and spent a fair bit on it.

 

The less I say about that one the better.