Tuning Kits and Insurance

Zorba

Hi all

Thinking of putting a tuning kit on my car and i'm thinking i probably do have to tell my insurance company but what sort of increase in my insurance can i expect, or has anyone experience of this ? I've over 7 yrs no claims so my insurance is pretty low for the car i drive so don't mind it going up a weee bit.

Guy:Incognito

Bit ot but i was doing a couple of online quotes recently and noticed that Quinn have added a section on their quote system for adding mods. Id assume u might be able to go onto their site, get a quote without mods then go back and change the details to add the mod and see how much it changes.

chris85

Zorba wrote: »

Hi all

Thinking of putting a tuning kit on my car and i'm thinking i probably do have to tell my insurance company but what sort of increase in my insurance can i expect, or has anyone experience of this ? I've over 7 yrs no claims so my insurance is pretty low for the car i drive so don't mind it going up a weee bit.

If its a performance upgrade then may change but depending on the upgrade im sure it will be low enough.

If the upgrade is something cosmetic like body kit or alloys then you dont have to tell your insurer but if crashed and damaged they will only cover for stock parts to be replaced.

You should be ok with 7 years no claims

astraboy

Zorba, usually engine/power mods will increase insurance. I had a modified car before, kit, alloys, sound system, all declared on my insurance(hiberian) without an increase, probably as these don't increase performance. Better off declaring in case of a crash or your stopped by the cops.

Henry Ford III

chris85 wrote: »

...If the upgrade is something cosmetic like body kit or alloys then you dont have to tell your insurer but if crashed and damaged they will only cover for stock parts to be replaced.....

A popular misconception.

Any mod that might make the car more more attractive to a thief needs to be declared.

chris85

Henry Ford III wrote: »

A popular misconception.

Any mod that might make the car more more attractive to a thief needs to be declared.

Really? Did not know that. Sorry OP for bad info from me

Zorba

Stekelly Thanks but i'll steer clear of quinn, they gave me a quote 2 yrs ago for 1600 quid third party fire and theft when i already had a quote for 900 fully comp !! so god knows what they'd try with an engine mod.

Thanks for the other replies the tuning kit actually increases the horsepower and torque of the car thus making the car faster, just wondering what to expect !

Guy:Incognito

Zorba wrote: »

Stekelly Thanks but i'll steer clear of quinn, they gave me a quote 2 yrs ago for 1600 quid third party fire and theft when i already had a quote for 900 fully comp !! so god knows what they'd try with an engine mod.

Thanks for the other replies the tuning kit actually increases the horsepower and torque of the car thus making the car faster, just wondering what to expect !

I wouldnt be so quick to dismiss any company, ring every company every year. The prices fluctuate. The dearest company on eyear could very well be the cheapest the next, and vice versa.

TBH I only meant to use it as a guage to see what sort of increase it brings over a standard policy seeing as you cant check with others till tomorow anyway. Costs nothing to get a quote.

Zorba

Ok well the tuning kit is more than i thought it was going to be for a start so have to think about it, also rang insurance company told them i was thinking about getting it and they said they'd need some sort of letter from the garage that's going to fit it before they could tell me whether my insurance would go up or down or stay the same !

Surely there must be someone who's fitted one of these things ?

Neilw

Zorba wrote: »

Ok well the tuning kit is more than i thought it was going to be for a start so have to think about it, also rang insurance company told them i was thinking about getting it and they said they'd need some sort of letter from the garage that's going to fit it before they could tell me whether my insurance would go up or down or stay the same !

Surely there must be someone who's fitted one of these things ?

They usually want an engineers report to state the car is still roadworthy after the modified parts are fitted. Shouldn't be a problem if the parts are good quality and fitted correctly.

Neil

mvpr

Out of interest, what car is this, and what kind of power increase would you be making?

Zorba

Neilw wrote: »

They usually want an engineers report to state the car is still roadworthy after the modified parts are fitted. Shouldn't be a problem if the parts are good quality and fitted correctly.

Neil

Hmmm didn't actually think of that

mvpr wrote: »

Out of interest, what car is this, and what kind of power increase would you be making?

Ok firstly i'd like to say i'm no boy racer would just like a little more power from my car and want to keep the same car. The car in question is a diesel mazda 6, it currently has 136 hp and 310 torque, but if i spend near 600 quid on a tuning kit i could get 159 hp and 367 torque which i think you'll agree would make a nice bit of a difference.

Thing is i found a site in germany where u can get a similar kit for 199 plus postage but you'd have to fit it yourself and i assume i'd have to then bring it to some garage to get them to test it for the insurance company !

skibum

I have a 1.9 TDi Golf insured with Hibernian, and asked them how much would my premium increase by if I installed one of these, they said no increase! Nice cheap and very effective mod, very happy with it, afte almost a year with it there have been no problems.

Zorba

skibum wrote: »

I have a 1.9 TDi Golf insured with Hibernian, and asked them how much would my premium increase by if I installed one of these, they said no increase! Nice cheap and very effective mod, very happy with it, afte almost a year with it there have been no problems.

That's exactly what i was thinking of putting into my car but cos of my engine type mine is of the more expensive ones. Can i ask how much u paid for yours ?

Neilw

Steer clear of the cheap "tuning boxes" sold on ebay, all they are is a resistor in a box which fools the ecu into thinking the fuel is colder and therefor injects more diesel. Very crude.

Neil.

Zorba

Yes i'd be a bit wary of buying a tuning kit off ebay. The cheaper tuning kit is from a german company, can't remember if they have any sort of warranty with it though, maybe i'll just have to save up !

skibum

Zorba wrote: »

That's exactly what i was thinking of putting into my car but cos of my engine type mine is of the more expensive ones. Can i ask how much u paid for yours ?

I got mine last year from the parts for sale section of vagdrivers.net, I think I paid €150 for it. Don't go for the cheaper types available on ebay etc, as they are ****e and will screw your engine / turbo.
There should be some good forums for mazad's where you could get all the relevant info you need from the horses mouth.
If you do go down that route or get it remapped, tell your insurance as when I was talking to the guy in hibernia he confirmed that if you have undisclosed modifications it could invalidate your policy.

I also got my brakes upgraded while I was at it, got much bigger disks and callipers installed, those two mods have turned an old tub into a much more enjoyable old tub