I'm in Ontario, Canada, and the way insurance here is, if you do any major modifications to your car, you will render it uninsurable*. Is this a problem elsewhere as well? I figure it must be, insurance companies everywhere get very skittish about fast cars, so making them even faster must cause problems.
* there are still lots of modded cars, but I suspect the owners just haven't told their insurance about it. They will get a nasty surprise if they have an accident and find out they have voided their insurance with the mods!
I'm in Ontario Canada too, and am not sure what the issue is with modded cars & insurance.
You can certainly do litttle things like swap rims/rubber and maybe bodypanels, and minor stuff under the hood. But if you stick a blower/turbo on your stang then they might get nervous. I don't know if you had an accident and the investigator sees you wreck has a big blower sticking out of the hood & tubbed slicks in the back, would they void your policy?
If you spend $10K in mods & don't tell the insurance company, and your car gets stolen,,, then they obviously aren't liable to recoupe that extra money.. My last Jeep was lifted with big mudders on oversized rims, etc.. I bought it used that way, and was surprised when insuring the thing, the inspector gave it a visual inspection & didn't seem concerned at all the thing was modded..
I figured the U.S would be worse, if anything, so I'm surprised to see it's not.
Greymustang - Most insurance companies are now requiring inspections by their mechanics on older vehicles, the agent I spoke to last week said they were looking for things like superchargers and suspension lowering. He said they would not insure such a car.
Team MF Member #069 Posts: 8567
Joined: 5/21/2004 Status: offline
Most of the time the insurance companys will not cover your mods, unless you find a way to work it out with them. In reality if the company knows nothing of your mods and you are not paying more in premiums then they should not cover the mods. You can also check into whats called an agreed value policy, basicly you and your agent come to an agreement on what the car is worth, and your premium is then based off that number, there are somtimes restrictions on how much the car can be drivin though. Check out Hagerty, and I also know Allstate does this.
I think the issue is more with the liability insurance...they base rates on a cars power and 'sportiness', surely, we all know a 5.0 costs more to insure than a 4cyl. If you boost that power, you make your car, in the eyes of the insurer, more likely to be involved in an accident.
I live in New Jersey a friend of mine that got in a wreck with his show car, didnt get anything but what the car was worth and were talking 15 grand of modding and the accident couldnt of been any less of his fault.
Team MF Member #069 Posts: 8567
Joined: 5/21/2004 Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: jaykav99
I live in New Jersey a friend of mine that got in a wreck with his show car, didnt get anything but what the car was worth and were talking 15 grand of modding and the accident couldnt of been any less of his fault.
Then he had the wrong type of insurance on the car, I am telling you guys, anyone with a show car/highly modded car needs to look into an agreed value policy. There are a few companies that specialize in this sort of thing. I used Hagarty with both my Nova and my Superbee, and paid only about $350-$400 per year for a $20,000 agreed value. Like I said there are some driving restricions (it can't be your only car), but it can save you tons of money.
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Mods and insurance - how is it where you are? - 
