The outer skin rear silencer on my 2000 Subaru Forester has finally rusted away and only the inner skin maintaining legality. A new Subaru one is about £220 plus fitting which probably not too bad considering the original one is now in its eighth year and therefore the second one should outlive the car however on checking with my friendly insurers based somewhere in Norfolk they said they would charge me an extra £29 premium if I fitted an aftermarket one "not approved by the manufacturers" which presumably none of them are..
As mine is not a common car I don't even know if the national chains can even supply one at any price but does this mean that everyone fitting aftermarket systems and not notifying their insurers are technically no longer covered or are my insurers being particularly pernickety?
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 31/12/2007 at 17:18
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I think they are confused or maybe the individual that answered your query is.
They have probably assumed you are making a modification to the car by fitting an exhaust that will increase power (if one can - not sure about that).
I think what they mean by "not approved by manufacturers" is a mod that will make the engine work a bit harder etc (I'm not explaining myself very well here) but the standard replacement exhaust from say a quickfit is in line with manufacturers requirements as it does not make your car perform any different.
If what the insurer says is true then all exhaust replacement centres could not do business.
Having said all that I would buy the Subaru one as it will probably last longer than the others anyway.
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If your insurer is the same insurer in the same part of Norfolk as my insurer, then I would expect they are just confused - mine often are.
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Second what Pendlebury says. I'm not sure why you asked them in the first place - it's only a common or garden replacement from a franchise tyre/exhaust place from your post. You probably put the wind up them by simply phoning up - they probably assumed your were going to fit a thing the size of the Blackwall tunnel to the rear - they heard the words 'Subaru' & 'non OEM exhaust' & assumed the 'worst'. The problem might be now is that they've probably made a note of it anyway, so any problem or claim in the future might well attract more scrutiny.
Phone again & make it clear (if that's the case) that it's a simple direct replacement - as any motorist might buy from a 'Hatfords' or 'KwikFlip' - and not a performance enhancer.
Edited by woodbines on 31/12/2007 at 18:07
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Many modern exhausts are double skinned - if the inner skin is intact there's no need to replace it unless the hanger brackets have been compromised by the corrosion on the outer skin.
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The outer skin on my previous 2000W Legacy back box failed (after 6 years and 100k+ miles) and the inner was still gas-tight when I sold the car a year later. I'd wait until it leaks.
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We've had two Astra-G '99/'00 models which corroded the outer skin but not the inner skin on the backbox and are still going strong. Their centre boxes are in excellent condition. Both cars are known to be on OE exhausts.
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Tks for replies and a happy new year to all, yes you are right I probably shouldn't have bothered phoning the insurer. I wouldn't have dreamt of it years ago but now I've matured to oap status and also heard some horror stories of claim adjusters zealously 'protecting their clients interests" I try to be a good boy!
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It's not a bad approach to take pleiades - I have seen the insurance assessors crawling all over cars looking for a reason not to pay up but I think you will be ok with a replacement exhaust. My advice would be to still go for the subaru one - it does look good value for a genuine subaru quality part.
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I have a 1998 n/a Forester. My exhaust needed replacement back in June 2006. I found I could not get a pattern replacement from any fast fit garage.
In the end I opted for a Subaru replacement as the parts have a 36000 mile or 3 year warranty. Not cheap but the exhaust is still in great shape.
I did check with my Insurance company about fitting a stainless steel system. It would have made my insurance invalid. However I know a lot of companies will allow some mods. I wouldn't bother just to get a small increase in power.
The reason I went with the OEM solution is that some stainless steel systems can be noisy and I didn't want a noisy exhaust.
As I now have given back my company car and am using the Forester for all my mileage. (35000 a year) When and if the exhaust goes again, I will replace it with a long life stainless steel system. If I can get a quiet one!
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Some time ago, I asked my insurer about mods on my Seat Ibiza. They specifically included fast-fit exhausts as modifications. I changed insurance companies.
I think you were right to ask - it is much better to clarify this before any claim is made.
If your insurance company is confused by such a simple question then why are you still doing business with them ?
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SteeVee - Tks tend to agree but renewal date not until June so don't want to mess about with pro rata ins refunds etc also I didn't find it that easy to have rational discussion about silencers with a disembodied voice probably situated I guess a lot further east than Norfolk. I certainly shall look into it at renewal time
I'll probably eventually fit an OEM exhaust but my original point was not so much the cost but that if other insurers adopt the same attitude then a lot of people could be unwittingly invalidating their insurance also presumably all other aftermarket bits such as brake pads, tyre make even, etc., could come under the same ruling. If a part is manufactured in compliance with all accepted standards and fit for purpose then I don't see it matters to the insurers who makes it. - Here endeth my little rant...
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