I'm admitting now that I am an idiot. My motor blew b/c of an oil leak from my turbo.

Now thats taken care of, I have a quick question. Am I covered at all with my auto insurance?

Please don't hate.

 

did you have full coverage??? I don't know about repairs..but on thefts my buddie kept all reciets for his turbo setup and got re embursed...but I'm leaning towards no because it sounds like its your fault? sucks man

 

Yes I have full coverage.

Yeah, I am almost sure it was because of an oil leak. I have the receipts from my turbo kit and all, but I just don't know.

This just happened yesterday. I have the policy in a different city so I can not take a look at it... I will just call the insurance tomorrow.

 

maybe its me but this sounds unheard of? Hi I didn't change my oil and my car blew up, can you replace my engine?

 

Thought I would state some info here. Kids often put lots of money into upgrades, but don't realize they are NOT covered by most insurance companies. If stolen or totaled, the insurance company will only pay high book.

When we moved to Co. last year we had to change insurance carriers. I checked 5 different companies, and only one would insure after-market upgrades. They would not insure for accidents if the car had been lowered over 1", or if nitro was installed on the car. If you lied, and totaled the car, they had the right to not pay out on the policy. The policies were the same with insurers in SoCal when we lived there.

I finally found one company here that would insure the car for book value plus the upgrades, but I had to buy a "rider" policy to cover the upgrades. At the time the policy was written I had about $5k into the brakes, tires, rims and suspension, so the upgrade policy was written for that amount. This winter, after I go through the engine, I will have to increase the coverage. I have to keep a file with all receipts, and the insurer took copies for the file as well as file photos of the car.

As I stated, the car can't be lowered beyond a certain point, the engine cannot run boost or be built beyond street legal specs. Insurers are not stupid-they know if you build a boosted/extreme engine you will be racing on the street, it's only obvious.

When we were in SoCal, three times punks tried to steal the car. So far in Co. they have tried to steal it twice. And there are as many stupid idiots on the road here I worry about totaling me out- I haven't been in any type of fender-bender in 20+ years, but it's always the other idiot that totals your car or hit/runs you while you are parked.

Just some thoughts. I won't spend $$$ to upgrade a car I can't insure- sooner or later it will be stolen, or some ******* will total my car, it's just a given. I can't justify spending $$$ to restore/upgrade a car knowing I could lose the entire investment in a second. It's different with a track-car, at least you know you run the risk of losing the car every time you race at the track, that's just part of the game.

Some of you may want to reshop your insurance if you're investing money in your car, and may need to realize if you build a race grade or boost an engine you may not be covered if you total the car or it's stolen.

I realize most kids don't think about this type issue, but I have read posts on the net from tuners that had $10K+ in upgrades, and lost every cent when the car was stolen, so the loss of the car busted them flat financially. I have to wonder about the $50K tuner cars you see pictures of (it's easy to spend this much!). That car gets stolen, and some owner is really crying in his beer! Wrenchy

 

run ur car into something and blame it all on the accident.

 

we have full coveragecustomization insurance available here through state farm, but i don't know the details. (as far as lowering, boost, etc etc) i just keep reciepts and copies like wrenchy said. even if i'm buyin somethin off eBay i tell the seller i need a receipt. it's just the smart thing to do.

 

I have regular fullcoverage from state farm and they cover my mods (have done it and discussed it with state farm b4)

 

yeah if u had full coverage and wen u bought the turbo did u get a reciept to mail to ur insurance company anythin u upgrade ur car wit will be covered onli if the company is notified....

 

I know all of my previous mods were covered by State Farm. I went to one of the clerks that worked there, she took a few pictures, and I gave her a list of prices with receipts, and any labor costs that pertained to it. I haven't gone back with the turbo yet, so I can't tell you about it there.

 

turbo's on hondas in CA arent even legal unless its the greddy kit and they dont even make a kit for accords.

 

Hey All,

I worked in property and casualty insurance, including auto, for 4 years until I went back to school. The insurance coverage has nothing at all to do with whether or not your car is street legal to drive. There are two different elements here: 1) will they pay at all, i.e. will they provide coverage, and 2) what is the value of your claim, or how much will they cover?

For the second one, how much they will pay, depends on the insurance you have (full coverage) and the contract specifics (what carrier/company, state farm, allstate, etc.) and how much documentation you have to support any value claims. They will always take depreciation unless you can prove everything was freshly installed.

The big one here is coverage. Will they cover it at all? That depends on exactly what happened. Insurance for damage to your vehicle requires a sudden accidental loss... and any problems from wear and tear are specifically excluded. For example, I once had a claim where a guy put diesel in his gas tank and destroyed his engine. Brand new toyota truck, had to pay $8k for a new engine for him. However, if you don't replace your timing belt and it goes out, destroying your engine, then that would probably not be covered by insurance. The point is, insurance does cover you being stupid, but it doesn't cover basic maintenance on your vehicle.

So... I hope I'm not too late, but if you can tell me exactly what happened and how it happened then I could probably give you a better idea of your chances. pm is probably best.

Good luck.

 

you'd have to check with the insurance company. no one here is going to know the details of your policy or the inner workings of the company...
I dont think you're entitled to a free engine replacement due to stupidity/lack of maint...but some douche brought his prelude in, the car was burning oil, had a trans failure (auto trans...fluid that came out smelled like gear lube ) and the insurance covered all labor and a new trans on the condition that the guy purchased an engine to be installed by us.
I think its freakin ridiculous, the car was beat, primered, riced to hell and back...and the idiot gets a free-be ...yay for the USA

how the hell did diesel ruin a gas engine?
if anything it'd just quit running...empty the diesel and refill with gasoline...

had a buddy that worked at honda tell me about some dumb kid who put diesel in his dads S2k...car wouldnt start. it didn't damage the engine...they pumped the diesel out and put in some premium, replaced the plugs and started the bish up...

 

Hey, 97 LX-

I really have to question this. I was specifically told by numerous insurers they would not insure a car that was modified beyond a certain point (depends on the carrier). I was specifically warned about modifying to nitro or lowering the car beyond a certain height.

When I increased the base policy to include the mods I was in the insurance office, and ended up talking directly to the reviewing underwriter because the woman writing the policy could not explain to him on the phone the mods I had made. This was part of the review process to get the modifications covered.

He specifically asked me about lowering, engine modifications and boosting, stating what other insurers had already stated-they would not write a policy if the car was boosted, the engine was modified over a certain HP rating, or the car had been lowered over 1". When I owned a pickup my policy specifically stated the policy was voided for any/all accident claims if the suspension was lifted over (3"??) I think.

The point was the policy-coverages had nothing to do with "full" or not "full coverage", it had to do with the fact they would not write a policy on a car that was not street-legal, or had parameters set for how much the car could be modified. When I got the written policy the modifications were specifically listed, with an obvious footnote the policy was void for any other modifications.

You are implying your company would write a policy for a car that was not street-legal as long as you purchased "full coverage"? I am really not trying to get in your face here, but I think it's important people know what they can insure and what they can't insure, instead of just believing all is covered on the car because they want to make extreme modifications and want to belive the car is still covered. It's one thing to make a claim for a stolen stereo you have receipts for, vs. an accident claim where the police report says the car was running non street-legal on the engine.

Are you really telling me your company would insure a car for any/all modifications, whether or not they are legal, and had no stated policies as to the extent of modifications?

I am just wondering- I would really hate for someone to build a bunch of illegal modifications into their car, wreck the car, make a claim and have the insurer deny coverage becuase of a police accident report stating the car was running illegal/extreme modifications.

My experience with insurance companies is they will find any way they can not to pay out on a claim, and I have really heard some stories in my lifetime. Wrenchy

 

tsiah - not sure man... didn't really know much about cars then. it might've been the other way... might've been gas in a diesel.

wrenchy - you are absolutely right.

first off, i don't work in insurance anymore, I'm a grad student. second, i am in ca, so the insurance laws are much more in favor of the consumer out here than they are in co.

i am not saying that any insurance company would cover just any illegal thing. what i am saying is that often times the insurance company will tell you they don't want to pay it but they may still be obligated to. It really depends on the wording in the policy contract. my point was only that there is some chance for coverage even if you do not specifically report and "schedule" (as it is called in the industry) modifications on your policy... it just depends on the contract specifics.

i guess the real point is... the guy can read his policy and get a way better idea than from asking people online. just gotta look at it like youre a lawyer - try to find holes in the wording where they would be stuck paying for you.

also.. the power of insurers to deny coverage is much higher before you ever get a policy. they can say, no we won't insure this or that. it gets much tougher for them if you modify the vehicle while you are already insured... again, depending on the contract, you may not even be obligated to tell them.

 

state farm will issure thigs like rims and audio up to a point as long as you have your receipts under normal full coverage policies. If the value of the add ons are way over the bluebook value they will only cover if the car is appraised for a certain value and the policy refelcets the appraisal as far as what you pay for your policy.

some insurance companies insure nothing even if you have receipts.

 

Yep- The insurer reviews the mods and decides what they will/won't cover. That's why I advise young tuners to 1) Check if the insurer will cover "cosmetics"/how much (streos/rims/bodykits, etc) BEFORE they add $$$$ onto the car and 2) Check how far they can "push" engine/tranney mods before the car can't be insured at all. If they go beyond these limits (or don't check) I advise them they need to be ready to lose every cent they have in the car.

Someone posted a note a week ago RE them being pulled over and written up for a replacement Honda engine in their car (non-stock). If I remember, he was from **** Cali, and was worried over the state DMV reviewer passing off the car. My guess is good luck, I bet they make him pull/replace the engine (many other states are like this now).

Now, check out this scenario. Instead of being written up, he was in an accident, and the police note the illegal mods on the report. Many of my past policies deny coverage if the car is running non street legal.

SCREWED? You bet- he now loses his car, and maybe pays for the other car as well! Think- before you go nuts on mods, review what you can get away with. Wrenchy