hi all am loving this car great build, performance and still averaging 43 mpg cant beleive it! Anyway,

I will be getting the remap and exhaust but not till next april as get another years no claims and warranty expires so was wondering if these other mods would cause insurance probs any ideas? cheers

Lowering by 30-40 mil (via springs)

Uprating brakes to larger drilled disks and better pads

am now seeing this car as a project and cant wait to start the mods but have no idea about what i am doing lol

mods one the way are:

black clusters as i think they look the dogs on black car, pipercross panel filter and pd160 intake

ps where can you get a mesh grill from as the standard one has to go!!

you have to declare everythin mate, or if you need to claim and you have hid somethin then they wont pay up.

Uprating brakes to larger drilled disks and better pads

!

That will require new calipers and carriers.

For the grill search for Milotec.

The springs will definitely affect your insurance, but the brakes seem to vary. When I uprated the brakes on a previous car I was told that "brakes were consumables" so wouldn't be charged for, even though I'd changed the calipers and brake lines which definitely weren't consumable So long as everything is noted down on your policy, you should be fine

For mesh, have you tried your local Halfords/Ripspeed store? Or if you're feeling creating, pop to B&Q and get some chicken wire and spray it black

Chris

Adam I had the black clusters devonutopia now has and they looked great on the black car, took them off as previous dealer wanted standard, shame.

basically ANY mod you have done to the car affects the insurance... if you havn't declaired it they won't pay for it.

However... some mods you can do... i.e mudflaps, dealer fit rear spoiler etc etc. and if u crashed you would lose these as they are not covered.

Where as... alloys or brakes or remap etc affect the performance of the car so buy not insuring them could actually void the insurance.

All i can say is thank god i declared my alloys!!

basically ANY mod you have done to the car affects the insurance... if you havn't declaired it they won't pay for it.

It goes a bit deeper than that though. Technically, any deviation from the factory spec that is undeclared could result in the insurance being null and void and the insurance company refusing to pay out.

Whether that is what happens to you in reality is another matter though!

Chris

Heard a tale of a Ford Escort with extra stripes being stolen, Police found car and insurance wouldn't pay up as they sadi the stripes made it more appealing to a thief, and they hadn't been declared by the policy holder!! Scary!!

The insurance one is tricky, as there is a middle stpe in there that most know about but don't realise, ie the inspector / garage.

My insurance company (Direct Line) advised that you don't have to declare the mods so long as they inspector doesn't advise about them and / or they've agreed for them to be replaced.

Its only if they spot a mod or the mod is damaged or will affect the repair in some way that they'll not pay out.

So, will they look to see if you have a panel filter if you're rear-ended and that is all that needs to be inspected / go n the claim - doubt it very much.

Its a risk........

Also, DL don't ask for more £££s for uprated / bigger brakes, only 'performance' / go faster parts.

I spent quite a long time on the phone with DL having every detail of mods being explained to me.

Technically' date=' any deviation from the factory spec that is undeclared could result in the insurance being null and void and the insurance company refusing to pay out.

Chris[/quote']Absolutely. Believe me, when push comes to pull and they find ANYTHING non standard, it's Adios Amigo. Declare EVERYTHING.

Every mod needs to be declared.

As for what impacts the premium - basically whatever todays feeling is on the part of the insurer.

I had declared:

* 312mm brake upgrade

* front strut

* Eibachs springs/dampers

* PD160 intake

* green filter

This was all fine and it cost me 50 quid extra with Zurich. This is doing business/Europe all-year-round cover and around 30k a year.

They wouldnt do the remap.

Since switching insurers the remap, hybrid turbo, Quaife LSD, Jabbasport rear ARB have been added to the list & then the car (in that order). This caused a larger hike in premium, due to mileage I do + performance of the car.

Generally insurance companies as said will try to find any reason to get more money out of you if they feel it's a risk. This is why it is so important to shop around, especially for a modified vehicle. Any undeclared work may be used against you (read: they will not pay up if the worst were to happen) so I've put stuff on my list that I believe may be trivial but it's all on file at my insurance broker + I have printouts of that.

Ring around for the best quote, try some internet deals too, and then start getting them to compete the price down. It will be worth it

Then before I forget - ENJOY