Im in the process of buying an investment property. Should close on this dam thing next week. As a result, I was talking to my insurance agent yesterday and we started talking about the Mustang.

I asked about mods being covered for theft and getting in a wreck. Basically, I was told that all items should be covered so long as I have proof that they are there. To do this, I plan on creating a file with photos or a video as well as part numbers and price lists.

Then, I was told that so long as the motor was NOT modiefied in any way, I am fine. This means changing ANYTHING about the engine or doing any type of engine swap where a motor is put in that did not come stock.

According to State Farm, any engine modification (including blowers) reduces the value of the car. Therefore, if it is stolen or wrecked, they will not pay full value to replace the car. For example, you might think your car is worth say $13,000 to replace, but they will only give you a lower number like $9,000. We did not get into details about how much lower or how they make this calculation, but they deduct for it.

They recently had a client who had a total loss. The car has a chip in it and they deducted significantly just for having a chip and the customer was really pissed.

Sure, there are things that they might not find out about, BUT if they ask you to sign a disclosure statement and you lie, you are hosed....or could be.

So, does anyone know of an insurance company that covers modified cars in a more appropriate fashion?

I am thinking of adding a blower, but not until I have this insurance situation worked out. I could pay $4000 for the SC only to loose more money a week later if I should wreck the thing....and these things happen. This is why we have insurance.

I am curious as to what people do like Randy Stinchcomb who have heavily modified vehicles.

State Farm has always played straight with me. I have been with them for 22 years and have had only very minor complaints. The industry has changed over time and gotten smarter about things.

 

Damn, I have state farm too. That would suck the big one if I got in a wreck and they found the tb/plenum and deducted for that crap. Id be pissed. What about exhaust? Do they count that? Might need to call. Some companys have you pay like 50 bucks more a year and they cover everything.

 

It is not that they don't cover these items, it is that they say that they cause the vehicle to depreciate faster.

 

Thats gay, its like, fraud, lol cause they can take the damn parts off...I see their logic I guess, but its stupid. They think that adding parts will cause you to beat on the car, and ruin stuff, and therefore depreciate its value. Stupid. Nationwide I hear has the modification thing, but I dont know how their service is. We have just been so happy with state farm as a company. I think my family has had it since the beginning.

 

Dont get me wrong as I hate this too, but here is there logic.

Say you bought a 2003 GT that is worth $17,000. Then you buy a blower for $4,000 and dump even more mods in it. What is it worth now? In most cases, mods cause a vehicle to drop in price, so that is their logic.

So, let's say the car is now worth $14,000 due to the mods. What I don't understand then is if they add back in the value of the SC.

 

Yea, I get what your saying, cause I was wondering that too. What would be the point of them deduction from the worth of the vehicle, seems like they could just give you the book value for it and call it even...lol yea right. Cause if they cover the value of the blower, it would be about the same amount.

 

I have State Farm and have first hand knowledge of this.

I had an 01 GT and the only performance mods I had was a BBK CAI and a SLP LMII exhaust.

I had about 2,500 dollars of visual things, such as rims, tires, tint, minor things.

We never reported any of these things at the time of install. My car got wrecked and was totalled out. They gave me 14K for it, had 43K miles on it. This had nothing to do with my mods, as in they did not give me anything or take out anything. We then faxed over alllllll the receipts of my purchases. I was allowed to take off anything I wanted and didn't necessarily have to put back in stock, ex: CAI, stereo, lights, exhaust. But I would of if I took off my rims. Anyways, State Farm ended up giving us only 613 dollars for the coverage of all my mods.

 

insurance companies only screw you on it when YOU are at fault and THEY have to pay... if its the other guy, and the other guy has a different insurance company, they're alot more wililng to give you the value of the car plus whatever you've done to it.

 

I was 100% not at fault on my wreck

 

geico is the best insurance company for the person that hits u when i got in my accident geico made me bring the car to there place i gave them the estimate of the damage from the shop that i go to and they gave me a check i was in and out in 5 minutes

they replaced my rear v6 bumper to a gt bumper totally replaced my flowmaster exhaust bumper inserts and all the other little things. I thought that was easy and totally painless

 

Do you happen to know if they have a modification coverage in their insurance??

 

im sry i could not tell u that im not covered by them the person who hit me was though. i would call them there open 24\7 see what they say

 

Insurance companies are in business to make money, albiet they are regulated, they are still gonna look at a mod as an at risk situation. You might have to pay more for your mods. They use a points system as far as models go. For instance: Mustang V-6 is something like an 18, GT is a 22, Mach 1 is 24, Cobra is a 26 or 28, Or in that general ballpark. If you have mods you are more likely to wreck your car. Bottom line as far as insurance goes, No matter what your driving record is. You can hardly blame them. But there are insurance companies that cater to performance modded cars. Just "google" that in and see. Same as insurance for classic, and show cars. You will undoubtedly pay more for it though..