After tripping over a few horror stories about insurance coverage being declined or withdrawn due to performance mods I've read about here, I knew I had to do a bit more research. One guy at Tire Rack was obviously a bit eager to sell me a suspension kit, as he proceeded to tell me that he had worked in auto insurance for 17 years and had "never heard of" an insurance problem resulting from suspension mods. That included all his time at the Tire Rack, how ever long that was. Sounding entirely too convenient for comfort, I decided to call my insurance company, USAA. I was told that tires, wheels and shocks were not a problem, but any suspension mods that raised the car or lowered the suspension would have to "go to underwriting". I've corresponded with others who assure me that asking permission from underwriting is the "kiss of death" for anything you might have in mind. That's the "NO" department. I've read plenty of posts about people that informed their agent and saved their receipts, pictures, etc. Some claimed there were no problems, and others have horror stories of being notified weeks later that their coverage would be dropped if they did not undo the mods and have the car re-inspected. This "no man's land" of insurance coverage makes me pretty uneasy, so I'd like to hear from people that know specifically that the UNDERWRITING department said OK to custom spring, struts, engine mods that upped the horsepower, or what have you. In particular, I'd like to hear from drivers with clean records, about the type of car they wanted to mod (can be a big factor), the location of the insured vehicle, miles driven, and age of the insured. I would love it if we had a resource that you could reference and thereby have an advance clue as to the specific mods you could get by individual insurers. Or it might turn out that it had much more to do with other factors (age, location, miles driven, auto). While I'm at it, I've picked up on another "vibe" that I'd like like feedback on. Many performance mods are garish, brightly colored things that scream out for attention from insurance adjusters in the event of a claim. If you look at a wreck, and see red springs, pink shocks, and something else that's purple, I bet that really sets off alarm bells for an underwriter. For people persuing a "don't ask, don't tell" policy about mods to their vehicle, I'd bet that there would be a big benefit to finding parts that performed well but looked as stock as possible. -- CL. +-----------------------------------------+ | Charles Lasitter | Mailing / Shipping | | 401/728-1987 | 14 Cooke St | | cl+at+ncdm+dot+com | Pawtucket RI 02860 | +-----------------------------------------+
because youre basically screwing with the manufacturers specs. theres no guarantee of the warrantability, suitability, or quality of installation. very easy to take a perfectly "safe" accord and turn it into a rolling time bomb. is the car paid for? in full? why would the insurance *want* to cover a 3" drop kit, supercharger, or turbo? its hard to believe someone would install this stuff and not want to "test it out a bit". and unless that means getting track time (insurance wont cover racing track accidents, duh), it would mean testing it out on the onramps, offramps, freeways, etc. for that answer, youll need to look maybe at a miata group, and find out who insures them. they mod out their cars all the time, do track events, etc. and im sure a lot of the cars are daily drivers. they should be able to steer you toward "race/mod-friendly" insurance companies. if i was going to mod my 98 CX, with a supercharger, drop kit, etc... id likely go with basic liability insurance. insurance companies know that mods actually *decrease* the value of the average car, and they insure cars for full coverage that are worth full value. try the miata groups. and malt liquor bottles, LCDs in the headrests and dashboard, etc. also depends who is at fault. if the car isnt paid for and is still under factory warranty, dont do *anything* (aside from maybe wheels/tires) that cant be easily undone. a FOAF had to pay for $3000 in tranny work out of pocket, because she thought a 6" lift kit would look good on her tahoe. tranny blew, and the dealer said the lift kit and oversize tires/wheels were the cause. undue stress on the drivetrain, etc. mitsubishi motors did research online to find out who was racing their lancer turbos, and when the owners needed warranty work done, it was flat-out denied.
