23 replies to this topic

[davehutchinson]

Right this is the only other modification I can do without invalidating my insurance. I'm looking at buying a set after Xmas but I need to know if they lower the car at all. Also what kind of cost am I looking at fitted? Also where can I get them fitted? cheers

[Jim Mitch]

Lower by about 3cm - that sort of measurement anyway. AmD (Bicester) fitted mine - about £1250 (inc VAT and fitting). Well worth the money though.

[Thorney]

They can lower the car by as much as you want (ride height is adjustable) but on average its between 3-5cm. The only people I've seen fit them are AmD but any decent specialist garage could do it. You can even do it yourself just make sure you get the car geo checked afterwards.

[davehutchinson]

Hmmm so in theory, in the unfortunate event of an accident, I could twiddle a few dials and all is normal I wouldn't normally say such a thing but considering the insurers want an additiona £600 just to add the VXT spoiler to the back I need to be careful!

[Thorney]

I'd change insurers they sound complete muppets

[davehutchinson]

This is Tesco I'm with, unfortunately being 20 with no NCD means I only had a choice of about 2 insurers, the rest either wouldn't insure me or wanted £10k + Edit : I have been in an accident before with Tesco and apart from looking over the damage I'm fairly certain they didn't look over anything to do with the internals of my car. In all honesty, what's the likelyhood of them ripping the car to bits in an accident?

Edited by davehutchinson, 14 December 2003 - 10:37 PM.

[Thorney]

Depends on accident I guess. I'm with Tesco (Audi) and they were OK about the mods (I'm 34 though). Brakes I justified were an added safety feature so they weren't extra. I'm surprised they're asking so much. Suspesnion change (proper performance stuff like Nitrons etc) shouldnt be any more as it helps the car. Maybe its 'how' you're telling them?

[davehutchinson]

Yes, I got away with the brakes on the same lines, didn't even need declaring. Suspension is apparantly fine unless it lowers the car at all, might just do it anyway to be honest, I find it highly unlikely that they're going to go around it with a tape measure!

[Thorney]

Well I'm not going to advocate misleading an insurance company (no insurance is bad) but, in theory, in the event of a problem the Nitrons can be adjusted to run and standard ride height.

[davehutchinson]

No need to worry there, I'll probably just wait, upgrade the CD system and speakers, Vauxhall sports exhaust (if allowed - increased noise might make the car "feel" faster to Tesco) and leave it at that until I change for the turbo. It doesn't seem worth the extra money on insurance for such small mods, it would actually be cheaper to insure the turbo than to fit a spoiler or an induction kit on my NA!

[cheeky_chops]

Given that the average insurance assesor has never seen a VX, let alone had a claim on one, i would be surprised if they didnt look under the bonnet for the engine.... Agree with Mr T thought, keep it all ship shape with them and.... What am i saying - ive got an induction kit and precat removed and i havent told them Mental note:- Must also change to AON to include track insurance asap....

[davehutchinson]

Given that the average insurance assesor has never seen a VX, let alone had a claim on one, i would be surprised if they didnt look under the bonnet for the engine....

Agree with Mr T thought, keep it all ship shape with them and.... What am i saying - ive got an induction kit and precat removed and i havent told them

Mental note:- Must also change to AON to include track insurance asap....

Now that just made me laugh, are you going to notify them or not bother? I'd like to keep it all above board but is a spoiler really going to cause me to crash more often, honestly now! Or perhaps the £900 they wanted for the Viper + £800 increase on my excess, clearly that extra 3hp is going to force me to drive like a lunatic

[DJG]

The insurance issue is a pain in the neck, on the one hand it is highly unlikely that anybody would ever notice or look for the less obvious mods e.g. induction kit, pre-cat removal etc. If you bought the car used and the pre-cat had been removed or it had been chipped how would you know? If your car is smashed up and taken to a body shop the vast majority now video and photograph the damage and pass this on to an online assessor they definately do not go looking for mods. On the other hand if the car was damaged at a point where mods like an induction kit would be more obvious then you could have problems, the insurance company can cancel your insurance, not because they are trying to claim the mod caused the accident but because your insurance details were given fraudulently, there is a section that specifically asks if the car has been modified and also a bit informing you that your insurance will be cancelled if all facts are not disclosed. Basically it's a gamble, very unlikely you'd get caught but what about a huge accident with a possible settlement in 6 figures then they might start digging a bit more especially if you've asked about mods in the past.

[cheeky_chops]

Absolutely. If you took the standard engine out, put different cams, ported the head, lightened flywheel, different pistons etc etc. then put it back in, and it ran 190bhp how are they going to find out?? Its "looks" exactly the same as the original. But putting a sports zorst may be noticed?? Or 18" alloys?? My induction may be noticed, but its damn difficult to even see, let alone a assesor knowing what a VX looks like! With your record and as you've asked them about all these mods, i'd keep your nose clean(ish)

[davehutchinson]

I guess I'll just do the Viper Nice and easy! Last thing I want to do is risk my insurance in the even of an accident.

[Jase_MK]

I paid about an extra 20 quid for the viper. Messing with Elephant's online quote thing showed that viper and exhaust would add about 50 quid onto a £700 policy.

[Ratspants]

I should probably raise this in a seperate thread, but since we seem to be toying with insurance at large: How best to describe to an insurance company the fitting of the front and rear spoilers from a turbo onto an n/a? Elephant suggests that it is £30 cheaper to declare it as a non-standard body kit rather than declare it as a seperate front and rear spoiler. Would an assessor even notice that the spoilers shouldn't be on that car given that almost all VXs coming out of hethel for some time now have had them fitted as standard?

[MonkeY_1972]

on the same insurance vein (not that I'm suggested they're a bunch of blood-sucking vampires or anything ... has anyone done so many mods that the standard companies won't insure you, and you had to use a specialist company (i.e. insure as a kit car type thing)...? I seem to recall from Top Gear someone had modded a MR-2 to look like a Ferrari (body kit, leather interior etc etc) having spent like £30k on (yes, what a waste of money); he'd had to insure it as a kit car & it turned out to be stupidly cheap (£300ish)... I was planning for the New Year... brakes, nitrons, supercharger etc. etc.. (vx220 NA)... but i don't want to do all the mods if it's going to add £500 a year to the insurance :/

Edited by MonkeY_1972, 17 December 2003 - 02:02 PM.

[jules_s]

on the same insurance vein (not that I'm suggested they're a bunch of blood-sucking vampires or anything ...

has anyone done so many mods that the standard companies won't insure you, and you had to use a specialist company (i.e. insure as a kit car type thing)...?

I seem to recall from Top Gear someone had modded a MR-2 to look like a Ferrari (body kit, leather interior etc etc) having spent like £30k on (yes, what a waste of money); he'd had to insure it as a kit car & it turned out to be stupidly cheap (£300ish)...

I was planning for the New Year... brakes, nitrons, supercharger etc. etc.. (vx220 NA)...

but i don't want to do all the mods if it's going to add £500 a year to the insurance :/

Ditto

Footman James want another £100 to insure me on a turbo

and another £125 for a milltek on my NA

just who can explain the logic in that ?

[Thorney]

Give Footman James another call and ask to speak with Wayne. He increased my excess when I modded rather than premium.