ScudRunner

Is it worth it to inquire with my insurance company about whether I need to do anything now that I have installed the turbocharger? I only ask because if I were to get in an accident, I'd like to get some of that money back since it wasn't exactly cheap. Or do I run the risk of having them tell me they won't insure me anymore (which seems silly, considering many cars have OEM turbos on them). My insurance company is a reputable one, so I don't think they'd do that. Any input?

rkostolni

Now I don't know how true this is, but at a past meeting for the Washington Mazda club an employee from Liberty Mutual insurance gave us a talk, more of a sales pitch I think, but the topic of major performance upgrades came up and according to him, if you have an accidient and they discover a turbo or SC, by law they have to cover you for that accident, but then they can and usually will drop you. So if you tell them before hand, there is a good chance they may drop you immediatly. I'm sure it also depends on your insurance company.

Gerael

hrm.... this is an interesting topic...

if you do tell them.. and they accept the coverage... they'll most certainly charge you a higher premium... and plus its turbo... so you're more likely to race and this and that.. so even higher premium for that...

if you don't tell them... i know its not covered...

maybe need to find a 3rd party insurance for mods

therm8

Some companies offer an aftermarket parts coverage on an existing policy, I know Progressive does. I don't know if they inquire about what the nature of the parts are. But you can insure the value of the upgrades. That way you can get some money back for accident loss. At worst, I'd think your rates would go up equivalent to a more powerful car. I think Progressive has a cap on the value you can insure.

expo1

There is also the lawsuit factor if you are to blame for the accident. How would you justify your mods to 12 grandmothers on a jury after you rear-end a car do to some malfunction or driving like a fool?? Liability coverage has a cap usually 50-100 grand; the rest of a liability claim is out of your pocket.

evilbada1

I had an accident with my new wheels on my car.
My wheels are racinghart multipiece wheels so they're not exactly cheap.
My insurance company paid for the whole wheel that was slightly scratched.
Of course my premium went up but it was due to the accident, not due to the fact that i had aftermarket wheels.
Hope this helps.

Asmoran

Wheels are a bit different than performance enhancements. If you add a turbo/sc your payments will almost certainly go up - you're "proving" to the insurance people that you're amongst a type of people who are statistically more likely to get into an accident. Insurance companies are crazy about statistical correlations. If they could correlate eye color to an increased probability for accidents they would include it on the quote forms.

KYLiquid

From what Ive heard, that sorta true, it depends on the company, if someone hits your, and its their fault, their insruance will cover the car and items on or in the car that are damaged, up to the max payout on the policy.

Example, My friends car was T-Boned by someone running a redlight, it needed a new fender as well as a hood and front lip, both were aftermarket carbon fiber, the cold air intake (injen) was also damaged and needed to be replaced, along with an aftermarket wheel and coilover setup. Along with that, when the accident happened a can of soda in the cup holder exploded all over his racing seats, and the sunglasses he had on came of and broke when they hit the dash.

The person who hit him was found at fault and their insrance covered EVERYTHING, all the items were replaced with the exact same item, no questions asked. Although I would count on most insurance companys wanting to see recipts or invoices for the items, so they can see the price paid and the date purchased. They did tell him that even if he paid say 100 dollars for a part and the same thing is now 300, they had to pay the replacement cost, not give him back what he paid.

Now another par of that is the OEM vs Rebuilt vs Aftermarket, things like bumpers, fenders, headlights...ect have options when being replaced, you can use NEW OEM, or Rebult OEM or Aftermarket parts, such as DEPO for headlights.

Most insurance companys will only use NEW OEM if the car is less than 6 months old or has less than 12K miles, after that they can use any parts they want to fix the car.

Bottom line, I would save all my recipts and stuff, and not tell anyone unless something happens.