S€amo

concerned with warranty issues. What do people do re insurance. Say nothing or declare.
In the event of an accident, insurance will probably be void but would examiner ever find out? What is risk reward relationship?

IBD SV

I am confused, prob b/c I didn't read my policy that well and just pay the bill each 1/4. Why would my insurance policy be void if I chipped?

Rich_W

only warranty. And only warranty in terms of realted systems... like if you blow your turbo or head gasket for example.

If your A/C or radio breaks... that has nothing to do with it.

IBD SV

that was my impression. I was confused when he had mentioned insurance related issues.

S€amo

Eg. 3.0 is about 35% more expenive to insure than 1.8T. When asking for insurance here, there is a tick box for any mods done. Some companies just reject mods full stop.

skylight

Good post. Interested to see what people say - not something I've ever had to think about, but it's an important question. Chipping surely affects insurance quotes, though if they're advised (and you pay, of course!) I wouldn't have thought it invalidates anything. A risky issue though, so you're right to ask.

I was in fact in the middle of writing you a return email, which I've now sent to your work address. Not sure if you can access that now. If not I can send it to another one if you like, though there's nothing urgent.

IBD SV

See this is interesting. My insurance company asked for the VIN number and that was it. So There was not section for me to list mods, in fact no one asked nor did they send me anything that gave me the hint that they needed disclosure of any mods done.

ex-quattro PETE

out because he modified his car, which in turn caused him to drive too fast or lose control and cause an accident, whatever.

It's a long shot, but it's an interesting point. I've never heard of something like that happen to anyone.

Basically, you're turning your car into a "sports" car, and the insurance company would like to know about it because they charge higher rates for sports cars, given that there is a higher risk of you being involved in an accident.

skylight

Power and risk is what insurers go by. The more danger you're perceived to be, the more insurers want to wallop you. Being young and male (read, having high testosterone) is just as penalizable as having high horsepower. The more brooom brooom factor there is, the less they like you.

In Ireland (where Séamo and I are from), as well as Europe, private insurance companies want to screw you for every penny you got. Having gotten insurance here recently in France, I rang the private company that I used to have insurance with in Ireland. Here they wanted to nearly DOUBLE my policy simply because I was "single" (i.e. not married)!!! They also INSISTED that I have indoor locked parking, and drive less than 4,500 miles per year, otherwise I could add another 30 per cent. Before any of this, it was already over USD 1,200 more than what semi-state insurance companies were offering me (and they didn't care where I parked, or who I lived with!). So private insurers are very fussy.

So modding and upping the ante with the engine is definitely something insurance companies can care about - particularly ex-post-facto: AFTER you've been involved in an incident. They could easily turn around and say they didn't realise the car was that powerful, and you were quite simply too big a risk for them to responsibly take on, and therefore run away from any coverage of costs, because they "didn't know" the full facts.

Séamo's asking a good question here. I'd be interested to hear those who've had experience and in fact actually ASKED their insurance companies what they think.

ex-quattro PETE

Some will refuse to cover your damages (and damages you caused others), if you caused an accident and had different size tires (different from what the car's manufacturer recommended).

Here in the US, I don't think the ins. co's are so dilligent to check on these things, or at least I've never heard of any such case. But I wouldn't be surprised if there was a note in fine print somewhere on the policy that would let them get off the hook if the car was modded.

The ins. policies are so lengthy here that most people never read them. Kinda like with the credit card policies...