slay2k

Hmm..

I'm in the process of acquiring a nismo kit. My ins. agent told me that neither the business policy I'm using nor any personal policy he's dealt with has ever covered aftermarket modifications...

So basically, if I get into a crash and it's MY FAULT, I'm completely responsible for everything I've done to the car ?

What if I decide to put a turbo on it down the road ? What kinda BS is this =\

Anyone in my area or has had any similar kind of experiences, who can share some wisdom on this ? It would be much appreciated.

PS - I got $1k deductible anyway, I guess for a $1k body kit it doesn't make a damn bit of a difference... but what about other things?

slay2k

Hmm.. must I always bump topics to get a reply around here ?

I mean, am I the first person to think about insurance !? What about on Turbochargers ? Nobody is gonna insure those ?

Heat

Well dude, from what I've heard you CAN insure anything that you add to your car as long as you keep proof, (invoices, receipts).

My cousin has an eclipse which is heavily modified engine wise and body wise. When he got into an accident his insurance covered everything on the car. It also depends on your policy and your agency. Call different places and ask around.

Mr Fairlady

iTrader: (1)

yeah man,..if its attached to the car body wise--its insured...but depending on what it is...You will get payed for the cost of Factory Stuff..and if you have a real shitty INS company and they might not cut you a check but make you order real OEM parts!

SO watch for that...but then again.I bet a stock Z bumper polyurathane is about the same $$ as the REAL NISMO bumper...so its all good!!

When I wrecked my Old 00' INTEGRA--it messed up the front a little-I then went and messed it up a little more just to make sure they coulnd't repair it so I'd get all new Stuff and not repaired old stuff!Then when I saw the price of the STock stuff..it was about the same amount to get the JDM INTEGRA front end--so I went w/ it--got a phatty JDM front end out of that deal!! And my wheels--1 was taco'ed and others we're little knicked up and they even gave me 1 whole rim--($230) and appearnace Fee's on the other ones!
SO I cam out Great

only way that you would get screwed would be if you bought like a Full Carbon Fiber bumper and hood and some Fenders!!kinda like the TRACK ALTEZZA(super street)then that would be WAY MORE then stock price stuff...so you could probably take out a seperate Policy for something like that though.
I wanna insure my VOLKS just in case!! I've never curbed a wheel but incase someone hits me again... I'll get the cash back!

dczoner

iTrader: (1)

The trick isn't the insurance agent. Its the body shop. If you ever get in to an accident, then you don't want to take it to your dealer - they're gonna put on OEM parts (they pretty much have to). Take it to a smaller shop in your town, order the body kit that you want, then they'll bill it to the insurance company as "body panel". Most shops will even put "OEM Body Panel" if you want them to. They just want the insurance business, because if they find out how much a kit costs vs. an OEM part, they'll order the kit (which is almost always less than OEM), do all the work, bill your insurance for body work - they make a profit, you pay only your deductable, and your insurance pays the same as they normally would.

slay2k

Nice, thanks for the input finally

I guess it doesn't help that I have a $1,000 deductible. That's pretty much the entire price of the body kit. But I guess I'd be screwed either way - if I put it on or don't.

Then again, Jersey is like the worst ****ing state for insurance... and thankfully I have it through a business policy. If it was personal, I'd be paying 2-3 times the amount I'm paying now.

Body kit is the least of my worries... I'd like to get some nice wheels down the road, and eventually maybe a turbo or SC. If I get those, I _definitely_ want them insured... and then a body shop won't make the difference since it's not a stock option.

I'm sure there's a way to do it, even in my shitty state =(

Any other suggestions ? =0

TonyZXT

I'll run this by my step-mom (an insurance agent) I know she has delt with this before, because she asked me if I was going to do a bunch of mods if I got a Z. She said something about cops targeting people with "additional equipment" and saying that some ins. companies have people who insure mods under a higher risk catagory. Looks like we can thank all the ricers out there who drive like idiots in their civics and get into wrecks for higher ins rates! I'll get back to you on this within the next couple days.

Red6

iTrader: (2)

It depend on the insurence company. I heard farmers and allstate will insure everything that is bolted on the car.

Insurence companies that are smaller and have cheaper rates most likely will only replace your car with stock parts. I know this from experiece it happend to my last motified car.

I was in a 3 accidents in a two month period (all were not my fault). My smaller insurence company replaced my aftermarket front/rear bumpers and carbon fiber hood with stock oem parts. I had to pay extra cash to get them replaced with the aftermarket parts again.

Stock OEM parts from my experiece were cheaper then aftermarket. This was the case for my 7th gen Toyota Celica and Im sure it is the case with the Z. Especially if your buying a real nismo kit.

I had hook ups for wholesale pricing on aftermarket parts and still the wholesale price was more then oem. It hit me hard in the pocket book to get my car back to its bad self again.

It was back to normal and bam guesss what a SUV spun out control and hit me at 70mph. It totaled the car and by no means wa it my fault. I got nothing but the blue book of the vehicle.

I put alot of money on this car and I got screwed. I lost alot of money so dont take your chances get good insurence. Ask ask ask.

Driven

One more variable for you ...if you're in an accident and it truely is the other guys fault you won't run into as much trouble as if you were at fault. If you are smart you will report the accident to the police, but try and resolve things directly with the other guy's insurance agent before going to your own. The other driver is responsible for any and all damage regardless of whether it is OEM or not and as long as you can substantiate it's replacement or repair costs...they are on the hook. You'll likely even find that your insurance will stand behind you on this if they have to subrogate for you...but they may only pay you back the OEM parts cost in the meanwhile (depending on their policy for coverage)...but they will go to bat for you and try and get you all you deserve...but now it's on your record. "at fault or not." It is typically to your advantage to try and resolve these things on your own before involving your insurance company because you may "buy time" before they run a random license check and find you were involved in an incident. Don't ever believe anyone that tells you "if you weren't found at fault it won't matter on your insurance rates"....the fact of the matter is all incidents count against you but may not "show" in your rates. It is, however, another strike against you when you do have your second incident and they want to either drop you or bump you into a higher risk program. Food for thought.

Red6

iTrader: (2)

There is also hit and runs and shared insurence claims. Dont forget being a good driver that still accidents happen beyond a persons control.

Also dont buy in that other party will just pay out to fix aftermarket parts or pay you for them in a total. They other parties insurence will fight you all the way.

Im fighting in a court battle as we speak about this. Insurence compaines are in bussiness to save cash not customers. Both parties Insurence will find every reason to get out of paying for damages to save money.

Driven

Above is true in that whatever dollars they save is dollars they've earned....BUT: If their insured is at fault and this is agreed...if you have a $1,000 carbon fiber (airplane) spoiler on your car which is surely not OEM....they have absolutely no grounds in arguing you are only entitled to the OEM spoiler that may have come on the car after their insured rearended you at 20 mph in a truck and crushed it. Yes, they may argue you are some percent at fault for just being there (bunch of crap!) but they cannot argue that their insurace policy "only covers for OEM parts"....my point is that they have to replace or repair with like quality and if there is only one manufacturer makeing that style carbon fiber spoiler....that is what gets plugged into the damages line along with whatever else got crushed.

I used to sell insurance...know a number of underwriters....not to mention have been in my fair share of accidents with a tricked out Jeep with lots of extras. Always come out even or on top cause I knew the arguements.

Quadry

I am an insurance agent and as long as you have receipts, most companies will cover it. It will be an additional premium and most companies have limits on the amount of additional coverage you can add. For most it is $5,000. I insure a lot of people who put additional equipment on their cars, whether it is wheels or tv's. Just ask your agent and if they don't know, they can check. It helps if your agent loves cars as much as you do. I get to see amazing cars almost every day and I feel bad when something happens to one of them. I am sure your agent can answer most of your questions. Good luck.

slay2k

Thanks guys.

Quadry - unfortunately my agent insists he can't insure anything aftermarket... and since this is a business policy which gives me a very good price at the moment, I can't argue with him.

He's told me he tried to insure his own Escalade with $6k afermarket wheels and couldn't do it.. sounds fishy. =\