Posting this in the coupe side of things since you guyz mod the most...

I'm in the auto insurance claims industry & have worked in 4 different states.

You should know that when an insurance company insures your ride, they do so by the VIN. Usually w/o any inspection. Most policies will afford you anywhere from $1000 - $1500 custom parts and equipment coverage. Any mods beyond that need a specific endorsement. Those endorsements are fairly inexpensive, but well worth it. If you have heavily mod'ed your ride, follow up w/ your agent or ins company's underwriting dept to make sure you're properly insured. (Even if you purchase a veh used w/ mods. If it aint OEM, it's considered custom.)

Note: If your car is totalled, it does not guarentee dollar for dollar return. In that case, your car is valued as a whole. (just like if you purchased your ride part by part, it would cost you like $70k)

I've seen so many tuners loose a lot of money. It's not that we're screwing them, it's that they are underinsured and underinformed. Your agent is not an insurance specialist, they are salespeople.

Late...

thanks for the heads up man, way to be looking out for your fellow G drivers.

Great point.

Modding insurance is something that needs to be more available in my eyes.....

ok, so lets say i have around $7000 in mods on my car...

wheels........... $3100
electronics..... $1500
perf. parts...... $2400

should i talk to my insurance agent about adding these items on to my policy? do i need reciepts, etc for these items? pictures? what if they are mods that aren't emissions legal (ie headers and cats?)

What will happen if someone stole your "custom" wheels? Does the insurance just pay the price of OEM wheels?

actually list price on the OEM wheels is somewhere around $800 (one of mine got damaged in an accident and that was what was listed on the invoice from the body shop).... so you might be better off if they gave you the value of an OEM wheel lol

"Yea, hi, i've got some test pipes on my car that are only for off-road use, you'll still insurance me, right?"

lmao

the jump in premium won't make it worth it except for possibly electronic stuff.

I was in an accident in august of 2005. I broke 2 axles passenger side and bent both of my aftermarket wheels (MSRP ~500-550 each). My insurance company (allstate) paid for both wheels/tires on the car....and I had NEVER called my agent or insurance to inform them of my aftermarket parts. typically full coverage means full coverage unless there's some fine print within your coverage documentation....

Its all up to the adjuster, the adjuster himself stated, 'if you had stock wheels on and had damaged those, allstate would pay for some replica 18s rather than pay the $800-900 per wheel cost from the dealer. In his own words 'you didnt have brand new 18s on there, therefore we will NOT pay for a brand new set of 18s from the dealer, we will get some replica's for $250 and slap them on'

This was the reply I got after I told the adjuster 'I just did allstate a big favor and saved them a bunch of money w/ these aftermarket wheels, OEM wheels cost more than my aftermarket one's do...' thats when he said they'd buy some replica's or reconditioned ones.....

so YES i did get paid for my rims/tires I had on there, but if you have stock items on....you COULD get F'd over and get some replica/reconditioned crap....ESP. you guys w/ the 05-06's who have the forged Rays 19s...those things go for like $1000-1400 EACH from the dealer....you think your insurance will fork out the 4k for them????

First: Find out how much CP&E (custom parts and equip) is built into your policy.

Consider what would happen in a "loss". If you ran over a curb and trashed all four wheels, you have a $3k loss. But your ins company would use the price of the OEM as a baseline to star from. If your stereo was stolen, it would appear your built in CP&E would cover it fine.
I'm not familiar w/ your ride, but it would have to be one hell of an impact to trash all of your perf parts.
So... In regards to individual losses, you're prob fine. But if your car were to be stolen or totalled, you'd be better off endorsing the equip.

One, you'll need to prove you had custom wheels. (pics & receipts)
Second, figure out how much CP&E is built into your policy.
Third, they should use the OEM as a baseline...then you'll have the CP&E on top of it.

If your custom wheels cost less than OEM, it's a non-issue.

You're right...sort of. Insurance is a gamble in it's self. I deal w/ all the losses. There are plenty of people who never use it. If one person pays lower premium to have a $1000 or $2000 deductable and never uses his coverage, he's a genius. But just wait until he has a $2500 loss & get's a $500 check from the ins company.

The thread is really intended for the people that really "pimp their rides".

Yeah they'll insure it-- then spike up the regular coverage because I'm 18 with an already fast car with 30 more horsepower.

On top of that i just got shot up 400$ per 6 months due to everyone else getting speeding tickets

Example of under informed. Your wheels cost less than OEM, so no need to endorse them. Of course the company will pay for the cheaper parts. The insuring agreement usually reads they will pay "up to the cost..." or something like that.

This thread is intended for those If you have custom equipment, and it is worth more than OEM.

Note: Some policies have language that allows for aftermarket or used parts that appear the same as OEM.

edit: no offense intended in regards to "under informed" It's your adjuster's fault for not fully bringing you up to speed.

most of the guys i know with REALLY heavily modded cars (Marchesano springs to mind) have gone with exotic insurance, which as i understand it allows for much higher coverage levels (60,70, 80k in mods) but only a few thousand miles per year of driving.

99atlantic, i don't know if you were making a joke at me, but i though that i asked a valid question. if my Crawford cats were somehow damaged in an accident, and since i already have the almost new OEM ones that came on my car sitting in the garage, i'd want new aftermarket cats and not another set of OEM ones. i see no reason to make a wisecrack there.

shredX, didn't mean to thread-jack, but you brought up an interesting point and i wanted to discuss it briefly. thanks for the insights.