Hi all,

Having seen a few treads on remapping, I have a general question. I take it that a remap would be classed as a modification and would be of intrest to an insurance compay?

I'm only asking the question, because I'm a bit worried that this may not have been considerd by some with remapped cars.

If a vehicle has been mapped, is there a way for a potental buyer to know?

Again worried that buyer may find they are uninsured if things go wrong. Intrested in your views.

Very much of interest to them Ray, they class it as a power increase and how much they kick you in the nuts depends on the percentage power increase.

I would think unkowingly buying a car that has been remapped is a bit of a grey area if you genuinely don't know.

Well basically when selling a car you can't lie but at the same time I don't believe you need to disclose more than you are asked.

So if somebody comes along, sees your car, likes it and buys it and it happened to be remapped then I guess the old "Buyer Beware" comes in.

However if he had asked "Has it been remapped?" and you said no - then it is you who is in trouble.

It's the same with cars that have been involved in an accident - only if asked would I mention.

Don't get me wrong I'm not somebody who routinely sells "dodgy" vehicles.

It is just I firmly believe in only telling when I'm asked.

When I traded in my 2000 Megane for my 2004 307 at no point did the dealer ask about the Renault's history.

I'd actually had a prang in it - somebody had driven into the back.

The repair was perfect - to the point where I got over book value on the trade-in.

If I'd been asked if it had ever been in an accident I wouldn't have lied.

If he didn't ask...

Anyway, sorry I digress - so I'll stop now

If you do your research as a buyer and drive a few before you buy it will be obvious that the car is remapped. As a seller I would have the standard map put back on.

Many insurers will not touch remapped cars or cars with any form of modification come to that.

When I renewed my insurance I spoke to, and got quotes from, some of the 'mod friendly' insurers and to be honest I wouldn't touch many of them with a very long barge pole.

I'd be interested to know which insurers those with remaps have gone with and how they rate them?

I find this a bit scary. Someone spots a car they like at the right price. They test drive it and are well please with the way it goes. They buy it, have an accident to find that they are not insured. Then get sued.

In the good old days, a pair of webber carbs bolted to the intake manifold was a good giveaway!!

It's why I always answer "not as far as I am aware" to the mods question with insurance

It's why I always answer "not as far as I am aware" to the mods question with insurance

I'm afraid ignorance isn't a defence and won't make a blind bit of difference.

Seems to me to be yet another black mark against a private deal.

I'm sure there would be comeback from a trader, is the sale was misrepresented!

If a stolen car is purchased from a trader there is some comeback.

When I purched my Octy last year, I was in ore of the of the advancement of the modern vehicle over the last time I got a new car (10 years).

So I guess, if someone were speeding at the time of an accident they will know by plugging in their PC to the car.

So no doubt they could find out if the car has been remapped.

Talk about big brother!!!!!

Edited 4 October, 200817 yr by Ray_Green

Well I've just been quoted £715 fully comp on my vRS TFSI with a 250bhpremap, EVOMS and Coilovers... so I won't need to worry when I start modding... That was through Adrian Flux...

I hope this thread highlights issues that some people may miss. Sorry if it's a bit boring. :(

Edited 4 October, 200817 yr by Ray_Green
My crap spelling

The only reason I wanna be fully covered is, because how bad would you feel if you hit a pedestrian or a car with a family in, causing death and you knew you weren't gonna be covered.

Just my 2p...

To be safe you could have a Skoda dealer write the latest software to the car, I would have thought this would overwrite any map?

To be safe you could have a Skoda dealer write the latest software to the car, I would have thought this would overwrite any map?

Thats great if you know about these things! I have come from plugs and points and landed in the world of remapping.

If this thread warns a few people then it has achived its aim

All remapping companies will offer to remove the map for a nominal fee (about 10% of the original) when you choose to sell the car. The ones ive enquired with do anyway.

‘Non-disclosure’ on insurance is a really tricky area. The law has been unchanged for a long time and is arguably too harsh on consumers and allows an Insurer a lot of ‘wriggle-room’ eg to avoid claims through a non-disclosure unrelated to the accident itself.

For consumer contracts working practice has been kinder and more lenient for many years, but until/unless the law is changed it can be difficult to follow.

The earlier advice of “tell the truth” is fundamentally sound !

The best overall guide I’ve found about disclosure and the consequences of not doing so is issue 46 - non-disclosure in insurance cases

I have a REVO remap on my 2L TDI and have informed my insurers. I have changed insurers since to Chris Knott, who are OK about remaps, etc. This is reasonable but my original insurance jumped about £100 after I got the remap.

I do have a switch so this can be put back to normal, however, I would inform someone should I sell!

Also, the insurers could I suppose check to see if any mod had previously been registered with any other insurers?

I didn't go the remap route, but went down the magic box route. I went for DPT (Diesel Power Tuning) which puts the car up to the manufacturers top spec for that particular engine, so my 140PD went to a 170PD, with torque up from 320Nm to 380Nm. (as recommended by Quentin Wilson....) vRS PD teritory? They will also give you a 2 week free trial. Nobody has ever asked the installer I used to take it off........!

Very noticable that you need less throttle, seems to be using less fuel, though only part way through first tank after filling up.

Insurance, Hastings Direct said thanks, you now have 7 days to find an alternative provider. Great....

Contacted Advance Insurance, who are recommended by DPT on their website, and have covered me for slightly less cost than my 530d (before it was remapped).

I'm happy.

‘Non-disclosure’ on insurance is a really tricky area. The law has been unchanged for a long time and is arguably too harsh on consumers and allows an Insurer a lot of ‘wriggle-room’ eg to avoid claims through a non-disclosure unrelated to the accident itself.

For consumer contracts working practice has been kinder and more lenient for many years, but until/unless the law is changed it can be difficult to follow.

The earlier advice of “tell the truth” is fundamentally sound !

The best overall guide I’ve found about disclosure and the consequences of not doing so is issue 46 - non-disclosure in insurance cases

That's an excellent article...

In answer to the question

"What if you bought a second hand car & didn't know it was mapped?"

that article makes it pretty clear that if you didn't know, then you're innocent.

I didn't go the remap route, but went down the magic box route. I went for DPT (Diesel Power Tuning) which puts the car up to the manufacturers top spec for that particular engine, so my 140PD went to a 170PD, with torque up from 320Nm to 380Nm.

Insurance, Hastings Direct said NO thanks, you now have 7 days to find an alternative provider.

Edited above to highlight why mine's staying standard, I seem to be in a bad postcode for insurance, so I don't want to be restricted in my choice of insurers.

It's a shame as the results seem to be impressive, better MPG, less gearchanges ...

It makes me wonder if the insurers have really calculated the risks properly?

Edited above to highlight why mine's staying standard, I seem to be in a bad postcode for insurance, so I don't want to be restricted in my choice of insurers.

It's a shame as the results seem to be impressive, better MPG, less gearchanges ...

It makes me wonder if the insurers have really calculated the risks properly?

My postcode isn't good either, but now my company have changed the way they pay my fuel, if I can get the car to do a few % more mpg, then it will pay for its self and the insurance in less than a year (20,000 business miles a year, car costing 9p/mile, given 14p/mile means 5p difference, which means £1000, which is more than enough to cover the cost of the DPT & my insurance - don't worry as I also get a lump sum to pay for running the car as well.)

The guy I delt with at advance, Matt, has sat down with several insurance companies, and explained what this particular product does, but only he seems to be able to arange the insurance, other brokers with the same insuance companys don't seem to have access to what he can offer. Matt was very helpful.