New Insurance Initiative for Modified Cars
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so how about all them lifted trucks out there? I myself am in an OEM upgrade mode,dropped my car an inch.CarNut said:
so your bascally telling me that if a lifted Chevy avalanche rear ended me, both of us will have our insurance policies revoked and be SOL? dont make much sense to me.
besides the fact that even stock an F-150 bumper would miss the bumper and smash the tails and hatch on a stock RSX? Also considering half of those 150's get lift kits, you get the picture.CarNut said:
This is a problem in general with the auto industry today. Its also why you noticed starting in 2001 that new models of cars became taller, raised floors, higher doors before the window starts etc. They demanded cars be redesigned this way because of the popular SUV's out there. I have read a few articles out there how they wanted to increase weights of cars to compensate the weights of SUV's, what a joke, besides, their research found the opposite was true, reducing weight of the SUV's saved more "lives" than increasing the weight of cars.
It goes both ways though, lowering cars is a problem, but so are the lifted trucks.
Tire width can be a problem too, especially if you go outside the limits of specs for the rim width. 225s on the stock 16s can become unstable in cornering due to flexing, and if the insurer could prove that was the cause? theres a chance they claim can be revoked. It happened to a friend of mine back in Alberta, rolled his car but insrance denied his claim because he had "oversized" tires on his rims and tire failure led to the roll.
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Agreed about ride height and vehicle weight. I confess that I am annoyed at the popularity of SUVs... Many people who have them simply don't need them. I really don't understand the "prestige" or "status" that comes from owning such large vehicles when you don't have any real off-road or hauling requirements. Someone who could just as conveniently drive a sedan or wagon will easily pay upwards of fifty-sixty grand for large SUV. They could pay the same for a BMW/Mercedes/Lexus/Acura/Infinity/Audi or other luxury brand and have all the "prestige" and "status" they need plus a more fuel efficient vehicle that will get them around town just as well as an SUV.Zolutar said:
As for "oversized" tires, the real issue is putting them on the narrow stock 16" rims. A 225mm wide tire is at the narrowness limit on the 6.5 inch width of the stock RSX rims - according to most tire manufacturers. This means that there is more "flex" or tire deflection at the sidewall since it forces the tire inward toward the rim lip at a steeper angle. Thus a tire that is judged too wide, such as a 245mm wide tire, would fail as you described above. However a tire shop should never even consider mounting such a tire on the stock rim - they should know better. Insurance companies set their rates for vehicle and driver based on stock tire size and performance level. If you buy a wider tire you can see how they interpret the modification (anything different from stock) as the cause of the accident...
I few years ago someone tried to steal my SiR, they failed due the alarm I had. When the car was towed to the dealer they broke the OEM front skirt. I didnt relieze this till I picked up the car. The insurance company called me and said they would'nt cover it because the car was too low. THE SUSPENSION WAS STOCK......the conversation got out of control and the insurance agent "had to discontinue our conversation". I was f'in pissed to say the least.
I'm still trying to find out if what is going on here is really new. I had a long chat with my insurance company about a simple intake modification and the consensus is basically this. When an accident occurs and it can be proven that the cause was a direct result of a mechanical failure then the insurance company will look to someone else to cover the cost. Usually it is the manufacturer who gets nailed for this but for these custom mods it is not since the car was changed beyond the factory specs.
The amusing part was the insurance company said it was OK to go ahead with the mod so long as Acura said it was OK and it didn't void any warranties. In a sense they were asking for Acura to take responsibility for it which would never happen since they didn't design or install it and have no interest in taking on additional liability.
In the end it isn't really all that likely as the number of accidents caused my mechanical failure are few and far between. It could cause any claim with the insurance to be slowed down though.
The autonet article is interesting but uses an extreme example to prove a point. The cars structure was modified with the roll bars and he told them he was racing on the weekend. I suspect the insurance company was not very impressed with that. Look at it this way, suppose you are not a certified mechanic and you repair your brakes. Shortly thereafter, an accident was caused due to a brake failure. Guess who will be responsible? There is nothing new with that.
The amusing part was the insurance company said it was OK to go ahead with the mod so long as Acura said it was OK and it didn't void any warranties. In a sense they were asking for Acura to take responsibility for it which would never happen since they didn't design or install it and have no interest in taking on additional liability.
In the end it isn't really all that likely as the number of accidents caused my mechanical failure are few and far between. It could cause any claim with the insurance to be slowed down though.
The autonet article is interesting but uses an extreme example to prove a point. The cars structure was modified with the roll bars and he told them he was racing on the weekend. I suspect the insurance company was not very impressed with that. Look at it this way, suppose you are not a certified mechanic and you repair your brakes. Shortly thereafter, an accident was caused due to a brake failure. Guess who will be responsible? There is nothing new with that.
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umm I'm sorry but what do I do with this solocanada.ca site? it jus gives me a bunch of useless links.
Hi I need insurance realy bad, my insurance co. that I have right now only knows what the car looks like when I started my policy and for the time being it stops me from getting a no insurance fine from the police but doesn't help me if something happens to me out on the road going from show to show. So typical story I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't, I have phoned all over and got one quote for $8000.00 per year in which that conversation ended quickly. So I don't know if I read your article right do you have your ins. co. up and running or are you just doing surveys.
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The insurance is apparently taking off. Check the following link: http://www.casc.on.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=8606
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um the site doesnt work?
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Depends which insurance company you are with on the type of mods you are allowed. I work for State Farm... they do not allow any mods that change how the car came from the dealership. In other words, no suspension, intake etc etc... its just bullshit. But in all honestly, I may work here but I think they just don't want to tell me what they really allow just cause I have a rsx. They can't do anything if you change your rims... I see it all the time where people have claims and they give us their recipts and we cover everything that was damaged. But they are big on no engine mods... so just be careful. What they don't know can't hurt you. Just don't be dumb about it.
Hmm I was with state farm and now I'm with belair
I got rear ended back in July, u can see pics in my album, and my entire back was done, springs shocks sway tires bumper hatch taillights. Everything. And on top of that I got hit so hard illy car went up and went under the crv In front of me and messed up bit my headlights bumper and hood. The insurance adjuster from belair did the apprasial and asked if I lowered te car, I was being dumb/honest and said yes, he gave me a look and decided to not report it. Cuz aparently they could have dipped from some $ cuz if it was stock, the damage in the front wouldn't have been that bad. Anyways, long story short, I took it to my cozs shop and he helped me save a lot of money. Also the insurance adjuster said I don't need a lot of parts, mist of it could b repaired but he decided to write it as néw parts anyways. (headlights, hood, front bumper with lip rear bumper and lip, 2 rear tires, and the taillights) those were all fixable but he
wrote it as new parts, so I basically got over 1000 just there and paid a bit back to the shop for repairing it.
Guess I got real lucky with the adjuster, but not just that, belair does
provide an amazing service
I got rear ended back in July, u can see pics in my album, and my entire back was done, springs shocks sway tires bumper hatch taillights. Everything. And on top of that I got hit so hard illy car went up and went under the crv In front of me and messed up bit my headlights bumper and hood. The insurance adjuster from belair did the apprasial and asked if I lowered te car, I was being dumb/honest and said yes, he gave me a look and decided to not report it. Cuz aparently they could have dipped from some $ cuz if it was stock, the damage in the front wouldn't have been that bad. Anyways, long story short, I took it to my cozs shop and he helped me save a lot of money. Also the insurance adjuster said I don't need a lot of parts, mist of it could b repaired but he decided to write it as néw parts anyways. (headlights, hood, front bumper with lip rear bumper and lip, 2 rear tires, and the taillights) those were all fixable but he
wrote it as new parts, so I basically got over 1000 just there and paid a bit back to the shop for repairing it.
Guess I got real lucky with the adjuster, but not just that, belair does
provide an amazing service
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