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Threads like this really do show the amount of scaremongering that insurance co's do.
If you use Jag XE wheels of any size then no, it is not a modification which you need to worry about. It is a standard manufacturer's part, and you are just creating potential hassle/cost (however small) for yourself if you inform them (especially since there is no record of what size wheels the car came with since they are an editable option on most cars when new, and wheels are not associated with your VIN like most other components). If it is being done by a dealership then they will not fit incompatible parts. There is literally no way that your insurance co would know that you had changed wheels anyway if you stick with XE wheels of any size.
Like yourself I changed the wheels on my Jag, from 16" to 17", and used genuine Jag alloys, and did not tell my insurance. If you stick with OEM wheels which *could* have come with your car all along (so as long as the wheels were an option for Jag XE) and ensure your overall wheel/tyre ratio is correct (which of course the dealership will do) then there is nothing to worry about. If I put my reg into a wheel shop website it doesn't even give a 16" option, so clearly it wasn't a popular size at the time.
It is also not the size that you need to worry about, it would only be a completely different story if you were putting third party wheels on. When I did this on my last car, I did inform my insurance co, as this would be a simple modification for them to identify. Had to pay £10 extra.
Edited by Bronan the Brobarian on 13/12/2017 at 16:04
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Threads like this really do show the amount of scaremongering that insurance co's do.
If you use Jag XE wheels of any size then no, it is not a modification which you need to worry about. It is a standard manufacturer's part, and you are just creating potential hassle/cost (however small) for yourself if you inform them (especially since there is no record of what size wheels the car came with since they are an editable option on most cars when new, and wheels are not associated with your VIN like most other components). If it is being done by a dealership then they will not fit incompatible parts. There is literally no way that your insurance co would know that you had changed wheels anyway if you stick with XE wheels of any size.
Like yourself I changed the wheels on my Jag, from 16" to 17", and used genuine Jag alloys, and did not tell my insurance. If you stick with OEM wheels which *could* have come with your car all along (so as long as the wheels were an option for Jag XE) and ensure your overall wheel/tyre ratio is correct (which of course the dealership will do) then there is nothing to worry about. If I put my reg into a wheel shop website it doesn't even give a 16" option, so clearly it wasn't a popular size at the time.
It is also not the size that you need to worry about, it would only be a completely different story if you were putting third party wheels on. When I did this on my last car, I did inform my insurance co, as this would be a simple modification for them to identify. Had to pay £10 extra.
There is a 'master record' of what size and even style of wheel the car came with from new.
For example, if you use an online Jaguar VIN decoder, it will show the wheel style that the car was supplied with as new, along with every spec detail. Just you can do for BMW and other manufacturers.
So Jaguar certainly know the wheel size and style the car was supplied with. And that means it is a simple job for an insurance company to find out too.
If an insurance company states that you MUST inform them of ANY modification to your car, and you have knowingly failed to do so, then you could be viewed as having committed insurance fraud.
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There is a 'master record' of what size and even style of wheel the car came with from new.
For example, if you use an online Jaguar VIN decoder, it will show the wheel style that the car was supplied with as new, along with every spec detail. Just you can do for BMW and other manufacturers.
So Jaguar certainly know the wheel size and style the car was supplied with. And that means it is a simple job for an insurance company to find out too.
If an insurance company states that you MUST inform them of ANY modification to your car, and you have knowingly failed to do so, then you could be viewed as having committed insurance fraud.
This is the kind of scaremongering nonsense I'm talking about. Having done a VIN number search through a dealership myself to find out about wheels before I bought new ones, I can assure you that there is no such record. And if the car was bought 2nd hand, and came with OEM wheels, how would you go about checking that they were the originals? And why would you even think to check? It's a ridiculous notion.
They have no idea what wheels your car shipped with, since they can be changed at the dealership for any other set they have before purchase should any given customer desire it, and that certainly wouldn't be a modification. Switching later may technically be a "modification", but if you use OEM wheels then there is no way for your insurace co to find out, and no likelyhood that they would even check, and the wheels fitted at purchase would have no effect on the insurance policy offered, therefore they are inconsequential to the policy. As I said, the story is completely different for aftermarket wheels.
As for the "insurance fraud" part, ridiculous hyperbole. The most that could happen is that they wouldn't cover the wheels themselves. IF they even checked something like that, which they wouldn't.
Contrary to popular scaremongering it will also not invalidate you insurace, as the insurace co has to demonstrate that any omission had a material effect on the claim. What is often done with undeclare mods is that they get you to pay the difference, to what the premium should have been, before looking into the claim further. That is the case for aftermarket modifications. As for OEM "mods", did you declare all your optional extras when you bought your car? Because that's essentially what we're talking about here.
But, it'll cost nothing (or next to) if you really want to be watertight with it.
Edited by Bronan the Brobarian on 13/12/2017 at 22:49
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This is the kind of scaremongering nonsense I'm talking about....
Have to completely agree with Bronan here. You're not only adding OEM wheels, but you're buying them from a dealership. It's as close to an optional extra as you can get without it being one. There is zero chance of your insurance company ever knowing or checking, and no way for them to find out. Unless it's a special car (like an M3), the VIN does not indicate the wheels it came with. For the XE, all of the wheels are basically the same, there's no special staggered ones it should have come with, etc. But, it'll also cost you nothing to tell them either. Omitting a detail like that will also not render you having committed "fraud" either lol
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The VIN doesn't give build options - but "build sheets" do and are accessible to the dealer online, most will print them out for the owner which is particularly useful if buying used..
Why the adversity to telling the insurer - I do and it makes no difference to premium - in the rare event they want an increase, be warned about their attitude if you make a future claim for anything.
My car has a factory-fit towbar but I routinely informed my insurer that I'll be towing - and that I'd be fitting winter-size tyres on smaller rims for winter and reverting to OE tyres/rims in spring - they just said thank you for letting us know, of course there's no charge.
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The VIN doesn't give build options - but "build sheets" do and are accessible to the dealer online, most will print them out for the owner which is particularly useful if buying used..
Why the adversity to telling the insurer - I do and it makes no difference to premium - in the rare event they want an increase, be warned about their attitude if you make a future claim for anything.
My car has a factory-fit towbar but I routinely informed my insurer that I'll be towing - and that I'd be fitting winter-size tyres on smaller rims for winter and reverting to OE tyres/rims in spring - they just said thank you for letting us know, of course there's no charge.
Sure, I don't disagree with doing it, I only disagree with any implication that you're somehow ending the world if you don't. You're under no obligation to tell them about winter tyres (there are lots of myths about this but I think HJ actually put this to bed in an article somewhere, as any tyre is fine as long as it's legal and the correct size). Frankly I prefer to have as little contact with insurance companies as possible, as they show time and time again that they will punish honest customers for making seemingly inccocent inquiries. I informed mine that someone had put a small dint into my door in a car park (by opening theirs too far). They also said "great, thanks for letting us know". They then went and recoreded it as an "incident". I got phone calls from personal injury vultures, and my premium went up!
You're right about build sheets, although if a small change is made at the dealership at the time of purchase (and hence well after the build sheet is written), the customer cannot be reasonably expected to declare this as a modification. Most people would never think to declare this, yet many new car buyers will make small changes at the dealership. Likewise, a used car buyer cannot reasonably be expected to closely examine the build sheet (if they can even get one) for the car they buy. If I bought a used XE, and it had XE wheels, why on earth would I think to check whether they were the factory ones? I wouldn't, neither would most people.
Edited by Bronan the Brobarian on 14/12/2017 at 12:42
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I agree it's not normally the end of the world, but I'd much rather keep an insurer informed and avoid the risk of them trying to wriggle out of paying a claim. In theory they should never know, but checks might be made after an accident.
There are faults on both sides: I'm not particularly inclined to defend insurers, but there are people around who swap their stabdard wheels and tyres for bigger wheels and rubber-band summer tyres ('because they look sporty'), which are more likely to lose grip on snow and ice and result in an insurance claim.
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I agree it's not normally the end of the world, but I'd much rather keep an insurer informed and avoid the risk of them trying to wriggle out of paying a claim. In theory they should never know, but checks might be made after an accident.
There are faults on both sides: I'm not particularly inclined to defend insurers, but there are people around who swap their stabdard wheels and tyres for bigger wheels and rubber-band summer tyres ('because they look sporty'), which are more likely to lose grip on snow and ice and result in an insurance claim.
Your second part is a different issue though, and actually they're totally within their rights to put whatever tyres they like on their cars as long as they're legal - in the UK we are under no obligation to put winter tyres on (unlike many places around the world). So that sort of thing wouldn't be a consideration for insurance companies anyway. I swapped for bigger wheels because they look better (although I use Crossclimates - best tyres ever). One cannot assume the quality of the tyre based on the wheel, hence you can get premium winter tyres for just about any wheel size, and you can get Chinese ditchfinders for 14" steels.
But yes, I do agree that it's better to be safe than sorry provided you don't go nuts. And out of curiousity I just did a quote to see if my price changed based on an optional extra wheel choice and it didn't. I just object to the scaremongering stuff like the word "fraud" being bandied about.
Edited by Bronan the Brobarian on 14/12/2017 at 15:54
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All those who have (basically) called me a liar for stating that VINs do not give every detail of spec, here's something for you.
Go to www.bmwvin.com/
and enter this : F582002 in the decoder box.
It's the final part of the VIN on my 325d tourer.
You will see the full spec.
Including the fact that it came with 'BMW LA wheel M star spoke 403', which was not standard, but an option.
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I think Jaguar do the same on their topix site. Just enter the vin to get the build details.
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All those who have (basically) called me a liar for stating that VINs do not give every detail of spec, here's something for you.
Go to www.bmwvin.com/
and enter this : F582002 in the decoder box.
It's the final part of the VIN on my 325d tourer.
You will see the full spec.
Including the fact that it came with 'BMW LA wheel M star spoke 403', which was not standard, but an option.
That's using the VIN to link to a BMW database which holds the data - that sort of facility isn't available on other brands although their dealers have that sort of access.
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That's using the VIN to link to a BMW database which holds the data - that sort of facility isn't available on other brands although their dealers have that sort of access.
Yet you previously stated that 'The VIN doesn't give build options'.
Now you admit that the data is held, but not accessible for other brands.
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That's using the VIN to link to a BMW database which holds the data - that sort of facility isn't available on other brands although their dealers have that sort of access.
Yet you previously stated that 'The VIN doesn't give build options'.
Now you admit that the data is held, but not accessible for other brands.
Build data isn't coded into the VIN - it's a simple data look-up using the VIN as the identifier for an individual vehicle.
It is held for other brands, dealers access it - but most don't make it available to the public.
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That's using the VIN to link to a BMW database which holds the data - that sort of facility isn't available on other brands although their dealers have that sort of access.
Yet you previously stated that 'The VIN doesn't give build options'.
Now you admit that the data is held, but not accessible for other brands.
Build data isn't coded into the VIN - it's a simple data look-up using the VIN as the identifier for an individual vehicle.
It is held for other brands, dealers access it - but most don't make it available to the public.
And the likelihood of the insurance company checking every single aesthetic component against the build sheet is laughable, even if the data does exist - and on that note, the insurer must still provide coverage, they just have the right to charge you what the premium should have been.
Edited by Bronan the Brobarian on 18/12/2017 at 11:45
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