Serious car mods: Insurance Downsides?

"With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username" (with-a-g) 05/04/2015 at 20:40 • Filed to: ask oppo

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I’m not talking Pep Boys stick-on fender vents, I mean doing things that have a tangible benefit, but might cost a pretty penny, especially when applied to a 20+ year old model that just fell off the Kelley Blue Book radar.

Examples:

seam welding

replacing all control arms with lighter/stronger materials

LS-swap

etc.

There are lots of examples of non-trivial mods of this sort, and I certainly don’t need to go into them all. But once you’ve done it, your car is much more valuable to you than it is to anyone else, especially your insurance company. What happens to a $2000 blue book car with $20000 in mods? Do you insure it as a “show car” with some insane 1000 mi/yr driving limits, or can you insure for stated value, raising the eyebrows of actuaries on the lookout for moral hazard, or what?

GeorgeyBoy > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 05/04/2015 at 20:46

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Depends, probably best to contact your agent.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 05/04/2015 at 20:47

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You car is worth to the insurance company, well, what it’s worth. I shouldn’t have to tell you that if you take a $2000 car and add $20000 in mods, the car is worth basically still $2000. Mods do not add value.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 05/04/2015 at 20:50

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An LS3 Miata is not a $2000 car. That’s got to be able to be captured in an insurance calculation somewhere, right?

Your boy, BJR > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 05/04/2015 at 20:55

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According to most insurance companies it is. You’re never getting back what you put into some Miata in mods. Its still a 1995 Miata as far as insurance is concerned.

Clown Shoe Pilot > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 05/04/2015 at 20:57

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NOPE. A 1995 Miata with a built to the hilt Ls3 engine, fully uprated suspension, welded seams, etc shows up in the insurance database as “1995 Miata”.

Now, you COULD get it covered w/ an agreed value policy through a specialty insurer. That’s a far more complex operation, and there will be terms and conditions that could make using the car a PITA.

E92M3 > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 05/04/2015 at 21:03

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State Farm will allow you to have an agreed value policy. Obviously if your car books for $2k, and you want a $20k policy it’s going to cost more to insure. If you can fall under their “collector car policy”, and don’t drive more than 7500 miles a year it’s still cheap.

Hagerty is even cheaper but they don’t want you putting a ton of miles on the car.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > E92M3 05/04/2015 at 21:10

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Thanks for taking me seriously. I figured everything is negotiable; it probably involves independent appraisals, etc. I’ve just never looked into it.

E92M3 > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 05/04/2015 at 21:25

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Neither asked me for an appraisal. I did have to email pictures to Hagerty. Just an example I have a $10k policy on my 51 F100, and it’s $163 for the year. State Farm was $300 a year. You can’t use the vehicle as your primary vehicle to get these rates though. John Doe could still daily a his custom Fox Body Mustang and have an agreed value policy, but it would cost considerably more.

fourvalleys > E92M3 05/04/2015 at 21:37

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If you qualify for a “collector car” policy, most don’t have a specific mileage limit anymore. However, be prepared to have exclusions for what kind of driving you can do in the car. Most policies specifically exclude commuting and “running errands” - although some will allow occasional commuting. They just don’t want you to use your classic car for anything your DD could be used for.

On that note, most will require you to be 25+ and pretty much all of them will require you to have a car less than five years old in addition to your classic (so that it’s less likely to break down and leave you to drive your classic instead). If something happens, you do not want to be fighting your insurance company.

So if it isn’t obvious, there are a number of reasons the policies are so cheap. Mine is $161 annually with zero deductibles, and I started it when I was under 25 (at that rate).

wiffleballtony > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 05/04/2015 at 22:29

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You made my evening, thanks.