Hi there, I have got a 2003 fabia and bought it with aftermarket rims. I have taken them off as insurance companies would charge a lot more with them on! Was wondering if anyone wanted to swap them for some vrs rims in which I can claim nothing to the insurance company as they are standard! The rims are AEZ 17" xylo. Thanks

Is it these?

Is it these?

yes!!!

fair enough.

I don't actually want them but now theres a picture up it might help someone else decide that they do

Is your car actaully a VRS though? It'd be one of the first it it's a 2003?

If it's not -a VRS I'm afraid the only insurance friendly answer will be a set or teeny tiny steel wheels as even OEM fabia VRS alloys will still be classed as a "modification" so won't offer you any saving?

im surprised about insurance implications - normally its only performance enhancing mods that increaes premium... Have you tried a broker - Chris \Knott or Adrian Flux for example?

im surprised about insurance implications - normally its only performance enhancing mods that increaes premium... Have you tried a broker - Chris \Knott or Adrian Flux for example?

really?

I've lots count of the amount of companies i've had refuse to quote when I answer "and is the vehicle modified at all?" with the word "yes"

Even when it was at the beginning of my driving life before remaps and bigger brakes:

"oh sorry sir we don't do modified cars"

"even if it's just different alloys?"

"nope sorry - good bye"

CLICK

:(

but yes if you haven't already i'd have a conversation with your insurer first (although maybe wait until morning to give them a call)

i mean if a swap or purchase of new wheels ends up costing you say £100 but the increase to your insurance is only £50 you odn;t have to be a rocket scientist to work out which to do

Mine is a 1.4mpi classic, i thought with manufactured rims on there it would be ok?

I still have about 6 months left on my insurance, so ringing about for new quotes at the moment is a bit pointless for me! :/

Get onto Adrian Flux, their modified policy is cheaper than any standard policy I got quoted on and I can do pretty much anything that doesn't change BHP without a change to my premium.

Get onto Adrian Flux, their modified policy is cheaper than any standard policy I got quoted on and I can do pretty much anything that doesn't change BHP without a change to my premium.

Love that, I am with Tesco at the moment and down as a named driver (being 18) for £1100 and excess is silly amounts!...will Adrian Flux be able to match that you reckon?

On gocompare.com a lot of insurance companies wouldn't do an instant quote recently because I declared reversing sensors!

I've only had one car with different alloys and that was a BMW525 with BMW540 alloys - the insurance company said there wouldn't be an increase in premium because they were still BMW wheels and still the same size.

I thus don't see how you could fit 16" vRS alloys to a "1.4mpi classic" unless your present insurance company has specifically said they'll allow it. That car came with steel wheels as standard and 14" alloys (+£300) as a manufacturer option. Thus you'd be changing both the material and the size...

None vRS Fabia with vRS alloys would be classed as a modification I'm afraid, no way around it. The insurance company will always ask you if there are any changes from it's standard specification. As the vRS alloys were only fitted to the vRS it would be classed as a change to the standard spec of a 1.4 MPI and your premium would be hiked. Any change to your vehicle which either alters it's performance or makes it more desirable to thieves (ie - shiny new rims) is classed as a modification.

FabiaBen - welcome to the crazy world of insurance prices mate - I was paying well over a grand for my first car (a 1.2 Corsa) about 9 years ago. I'm 31 now and am still paying nearly £600 a year for my vRS and that's with a clean licence, 7 years no claims and an advanced driving qualification with the police. Prices are high here because Liverpool is admittedly full of scallies who steal cars for a living while the rest of us work hard, so Kent is going to be a lot cheaper than here I'd imagine, but I wouldn't expect miracles from Adrian Flux - they haven't found a decent quote for me yet.

PM'd

Adrian Flux and the like are only any good when you have been driving a few years and have a few NCB i find.

Matt

Insurance companies even charge more when you improve the braking performance legalised highway robbery.

On the bright side, you can pick up a set of 14 inch steelies dirt cheap ;-) and flog the wheels for profit

Well I've been insured with Adrian Flux since I passed my test, which admittedly was a few years after 17 (no point in driving at the time as I was in the city and cycled everywhere). I Can't say they will do you a better quote than anyone else but every time I've gone around insurance companies at renewal time then taken the best quote to Flux, they have done it cheaper. I'll be haggling them again in January

Insurance companies even charge more when you improve the braking performance legalised highway robbery.

Yup an extra £7 for Brembo 4 pots on a fabia vrs....

i challenged them and said you must be having a bubble, it stops in half the time.... their reply... it makes it more stealable!!!

bellends

The angle that is being missed in many posts is not the increased likelihood of an accident because of the mod or even the reduced likelihood because you have, say, better brakes. The premium is set not only by the level of risk but also by the cost of rectification should that risk marerialise.

When you wrap your heavily modded 1.4mpi pride and joy around a lamp post the insurance company has to return the car to the condition it was in before the damage. If you have swapped 20 quid steelies for a set of £500 alloys, added a body kit, taken the interior from the top of the range and put in a £1500 sat-nav/ICE then they all have to be replaced. I guess you would be pretty pi$$ed off if they didn't. And even more pi$$ed off if they wrote the car off and only paid out the value of the standard car.

Cost of repair rockets if non standard manufacturer parts are fitted - that bargain one-off body kit you got from ebay will be very expensive to replace. Likewise non standard alloys - damage one, design no longer available, have to replace all 4!!

A guy at work wanted to add his 19yr old son (full licence) to the insurance on the family people carrier (bog standard diesel Ford Galaxy). Best premium he could get was £7500. Nothing to do with performance but everything to do with the size of the claim if he totalled the car along with 7 occupants.

All well and good but most insurance companies only pay out for the standard car, even with mods declared.

matt

You have to agree a price for the car including mods. I could insure my mods through elephant for an extra £79.

Back to the point though...if anybody is interested in buying the rims Message me!

Thanks all for the advice, shows how Naive one can be LOL!