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None are performance mods. Boils down to an issue of insuring the wheels and sound system against theft, surely? What does the driver's age have to do with that?
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It's true - some insurers will not insure mods at all (performance or otherwise) others stipulate a minimum age (to keep out the Max Power fans I guess?) and offer increased premiums and higher excesses.
Best bet might be to try out a specialist insurer for him, but many of them won't touch young people either.
Shame, as I don't believe the case for higher risk or added repair costs for the types of driver that like to do mods has been proven.
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Forgot to add, for the mods mentioned I wouldn't be surprised to see the overall premium increase by 50-150% and the minimum excess to double or triple. That's from my personal experience.
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An insurer is not just interested in performance mods.
changing wheels makes the whole car be worthwhile to be nicked so changes the risk.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Interesting answers thanks, just to complicate the issue as I said in my initial post as far as the insurance company is concerned the insurance is mine. it's in my name on my policy with him as the main driver so his age, while relevant as the reason for the mods being done, may or may not have an influence.
Shopping around for insurance is somewhat difficult as I have this policy with a full no claims and moving to another insurer would probablty mean insuring in his own name which would about double the cost anyway.
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"changing wheels makes the whole car be worthwhile to be nicked so changes the risk."
Not true, the wheels are more likely to be nicked - but the insurer wouldn't cover modified parts unless it's a specialist modified like for like basis.
The truth is, mainstream insurers don't like mods because they base their premiums on calculated risks done for cars as sold. This is a cost saving by having to calculate few premiums for large numbers of drivers. So, if you go and change the car, they have to come up with a whole new risk assessment for your car- that costs them money and causes them hassle they'd rather not deal with. Therefore, they charge extra premiums regardless of whether the mod makes the car more nickable or more expensive to repair/replace.
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p.s. it's not just the young 'uns into modding these days. There's a lot of guys and gals in their 30s and 40s doing it too.
For instance, most people under 25 cannot even begin to think about tuning their engine because the insurance would too prohibitive. When you're 30+ it still stings, but not as much! :)
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The insurer would take the view that a driver who fits sporty alloys is likley to be a greater risk, same reason that for instance a "Sport" is a higher group than a "GL" even though the engine/performance is identical.
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>>.....a driver who fits sporty alloys is likley to be a greater risk......
Exactly correct. [and you *know* that hurt to say !].
Ditto pretty much any mods to a car.
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LOCAL OPINION: (whether this is valid in UK or not is another story, bust I think common sense will prevail)
Ok, so sonny-boy wants to impress his mates with a kickin' sound system and some bitchin' seats?
As soon as you start bolting on less-than-standard two things happen - the insurers will ask "IF this bloke has all the bits-and-bobs, then he is likely to be out thrashing it of a saturday night, so accident risk is higher."
KER-CHING!
IF sonny wishes to keep the car until scrapping time, then well-and-good.
But if he ever wants to offload it, then any right-thinking buyer/dealer will assume that a) it has been thrashed; and b) to put it back into any form on non-chav vehicle is more money than it's worth.
So i'd advise that the original seats/rims/radio whatever get stuck in the loft, and if he offloads it, to refit them, and sell the bling-blings to another chav.
Oh, and remove the carpet/rear shelf cover as well, and make one up for the bass-bin speaker. Then refit the original when you offload the car.
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Sound advice. I avoid anything as a rule of thumb that can't easily be put back to standard come sale time.
The only exception is for things like upgrades to standard equipment using parts from higher spec cars. Can't imagine anyone getting worried by that, or even noticing for 95% of the population...
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Thanks for the comments guys, he is saying, with all the assuredness of most teenage lads, that he has been told by his mates that insurance companies charge about £50 per modification.
I guess the best thing is to call the insurance company before each time to see what it would cost but if I start that do they get upset by the fourth or fifth modification?
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commer, please also point out to junior that the mods he desires are an open invitation to being pulled over at least once a week by the boys in blue, and having the Full Monty roadside inspection for roadworthiness.
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Thanks Ian He takes as much notice of my opinions as most 19 year olds do of Mum and Dad but i will point it out.
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commer, also please point out that IF he gets the car chavved-up, then he is going to attract the attention of all the other chavvies. Now, he may think that the crumpet-catching side of things is pretty kewl, but he will also be 'challenged' by other types, in tarted-up corsas, saxos etc. Now, he has two choices - rev the living daylights out of his car, and give 'em a go, OR ignoring the thrown-gauntlet.
In the former case, a pound to a pinch of snuff he'll end up going through a speedtrap at speed limit-plus, OR will stuff something on the car as he red-lines it.
In the latter case, he'll look like a wimp in front of all the local 'posse' or 'massiv'.
Can't win, can he?
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Being a yoof was never easy.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Being a yoof was never easy. ------------------------------ TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Being a parent is even harder Ian's comments are exactly the sort of worries I have
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if its any help i sometimes buy in a chav mobile (usually a corsa) with all the "right bits" ,wheels ,seats ,big bore,stereo with boom boom,eyebrows skirts and all the other tat, just to keep me feeling young and to be honest they are ok as i can take lots of deposits on them and the kids lose these as they cant insure them.
When my holiday is paid for i reduce the price to suit a chav pocket and one comes along without a care in the world usually with tracy in tow and a sniveling nipper and they take it away ,im happy they are happy we are all happy......ish ;0
--
\"a little man in a big world/\"
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Yo commerdriver,
Things ain't changed that much since you and I were out there in our first wheels preening our feathers to be the brightest peacock in the woods.
I was in a flash wagon, always getting pulled (once a week) there was always the odd traffic light Grand prix, the odd silly moment. Look at me now - and you. Still here much older and much more sensible because we learned ourselves. (Parents knew nothing)
BTW tell him from me a polo has no street cred of any kind whatsever. He can do all he wants to it but he is going to look a sad git
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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BTW tell him from me a polo has no street cred of any kind whatsever. He can do all he wants to it but he is going to look a sad git
You couldn't be any rightererer.
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I might be wrong about this, but:
Polo = 3-door.
Recaro = no slide or tilt.
He might as well just strip out the rear seats altogether, since there'll be no way to get at them anyway...
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You are wrong, loads of seats designed for 2/3 door use, wot do you think most sports cars/ race cars are based on 5 door shopping trolleys?
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its quite easy to take the sliding subframes of the bottoms of standard seats in most cars and tack weld them to the new racing seat,watch for nutty slack though i once burnt a big hole when the foam got a lump of slag in it.
Not sure if the pretensioners in polo"s are on the seatbelt reel in the b post or on the seat itself so tell him to be wary of these as they may be a canister with a charge type or a very large spring,either way tread carefully and ideally read the haynes manual first
--
\"a little man in a big world/\"
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It is possible to get decent insurance quotes on modified cars for young people - try people like Chris Knott, Adrian Flux and HIC. Some of them actually give discount for modified cars, presumably working on the basis of if you've spent a fortune on it you more likely to take car of it.
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Yo commerdriver, Things ain't changed that much since you and I were out there in our first wheels preening our feathers to be the brightest peacock in the woods.
Except these days there's speed cameras, cars generally go quicker (My first car, a Mk2 Cortina auto, went as quick as 96MPH downhill. On the flat, it would start to groan at about 70), and insurers generally shovel their rates through the roof for yoofs.
Take a standard Yoof premium, add a modding kit, and add three to six points, and you is talking megabucks!
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Parenting tennage drivers, especially male ones, is a constant balance. Can't expect him to be an angel any more than I was at 18 behind the wheel. As you say the cars have changed with the times, the Vauxhall Viva I was driving at 18 could only exceed 90 falling off a cliff.
He is very much on his own for the expenses If he gets points or whatever the cost will come from him.
May have found a get out for the worst excesses, I was looking at the warranty with his car and the first exclusion is cars which have been modified from their original spec.
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>> Being a yoof was never easy. >> ------------------------------
RELATIVELY EASY. Be a leader, not a sheep! Do your own thing and not follow all the brain deads. It's never worth it.
VBR...............MD.
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Try a broker.
He'll get insured for under £1k.
When I was 19 I was insuring a modified 2.0 16v Mondeo with the following modifications declared:
a) Exhuast
b) Bodykit
c) Alloys
b+c were actually factory Ford stuff but they classified them as they would have had I fitted some wacky kit..
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Might be better with a flashier std car, i.e a std Polo 16v (100 bhp 1.4, not the 125bhp 1.6 GTi) has nice wheels and just may be cheaper to insure than a Demon Tweaked 75 bhp 1.4 8v.
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Try a broker. He'll get insured for under £1k. When I was 19 I was insuring a modified 2.0 16v Mondeo with the following modifications declared: a) Exhuast b) Bodykit c) Alloys b+c were actually factory Ford stuff but they classified them as they would have had I fitted some wacky kit..
lol, I doubt he'd get the car insure for that price even if it was unmodified. I payed £1200 to insure an unmodified 899cc car a couple of years ago when I was 19, and that price was better than most.
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