modification?

[lambert]

given what has been said recently about "ill judged" mods by the judiciary should we now be thinking in terms of getting an sva test voluntarily if we lift our suspension or fit a winch and bumper? only i can forsee a lot of fallout from the gresh case being manifest in banning mods all together. or am i being parranoid?

[ne jones]

Not necessarily paranoid but why should mods to a LR or 4x4 be treated differently to mods to any car? The UK tuning buisness must be worth an absolute fortune so a clampdown or change of law would have far reaching consequences.

[V8MoneyPit]

......should we now be thinking in terms of getting an sva test voluntarily if we lift our suspension or fit a winch and bumper?

In effect, you can. You can always get an engineers report. My MG Midget race car (road legal) had to have one every year in order to get insurance. It may not be as extensive as an SVA, but if you wanted a professional to look at what you've modified for your piece of mind, they would look at what you ask them to and report accordingly.

You find them under insurance assessors in Yellow Pages, etc. However, you would need to shop around to find a specialist in modified motor vehicles.

[Yoshi]

But surely if these modifications were not safe for our vehicles, or made our vehicles unsafe, then they wouldnt be for sale?

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

But surely if these modifications were not safe for our vehicles, or made our vehicles unsafe, then they wouldnt be for sale?

To use the analogy of kit like 'road angel'. Not illegal to buy, but illegal to use.

It comes down to the competence of the fitter. I've stopped dozens of cars in my time that on checking have been right sheds underneath. It comes down to the individual as to how much they have to spend (e.g you can buy cheap crap that looks good, but doesn't last) and their technical ability.
I can see it going the same way as some european countries, namely no modding of cars unless carried out by an approved techy person.

[TDi90]

ooop, best cancel that roll cage then  :roll:

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

ooop, best cancel that roll cage then  :roll:

Again, this a quandry.
I looked at roll cages when I used to have a Mini. Obviously it counts as a modification, so being a law person, I checked it out with insurance companies. The only one that said they would insure the car with a cage in it wanted stupid money.
Their reasoning behind it? A roll cage would give me a false sense of security and therefore I would drive badly :?
What becomes a notifiable modifivation?
Again, and sorry to keep harping on about work experiences, anything that is fitted that is not standard fitting will void your insurance if the insurer is not notified of the modifications. They will do anything to not pay out.

[TDi90]

i rang some insurers todAY and told them about the cage. they said it wouldnt affect the premium, BUT they would not pay for the modifications in an accident.
so what do i do? maybe i should just value the car higher, (therefore covering the cost of the cage) or... pay the higher primium insurance (MAJORLY HIGHER) where it is covered.
i know what i would do....
any ideas!
R

[carbore]

Lots of issues here.

Firstly I remember once that Clarkson said in Switzerland it is illegal to modify your car!

Remember that there is the on road / off road issue so a winch bumper may be sold for fitment to a winch caleenge type vehicle that is never used on road so they cant really ban the items. For example black vizors on motorbikes. I think they only sell them to you if you have a comp licence , and even "its for a tack day" wont wash it. The most likley thing is that all mods must be "E" marked or something if they are fitted for road use.

Also its some mods are "safe" on thier own, but dont mix too well. eg, big lifts and big roof racks. Did anyone see the thing in LRO about fulel economy, they startedwih a fully kitted landy tha was in thier words "overladen". Most vehicles have load ratings etc so these ned to be remembered. As does drving accordingly.

The specific issue re 4x4 mods is that unlike "boy racer" mods they are not there t make the car perform better on a road, rather off it, so insurance companies will be wary. That said stupid balck rear lights that you cant see and window tins are exactly ROSPA recomended.

If you shop around you can get all of these thigs covered it justs costs more. I think the engineers report is i good idea if you are worried, also there are bound to be a few more vehicles that should really be SVA's (bobtails) etc. I pay comparatively little for all my fast modified toys, but thats on a limited miles classic policy.



 

[Llanigraham]

I was reading one of the car modding mags at work the other week, in which there was an article about cars from Belgium and Germany. It explained that they only had body and ICE mods simply because any mechanical mod had to pass the TUV test, which is almost "destructive".
About the only thing they could get done was swopping suspension parts from one model of the same marque to another. NO modifications were allowed to those parts. Any parts that were available were mega expensive because they to had been tested to TUV standard. If they were caught with non TUV parts the car was immediately removed and potentially scrapped. These things were also looked for very thoroughly on their annual Inspection.
As I understand it France is now going the same way. How long before it will come to us?

[datalas]

i rang some insurers todAY and told them about the cage. they said it wouldnt affect the premium, BUT they would not pay for the modifications in an accident.
so what do i do? maybe i should just value the car higher, (therefore covering the cost of the cage) or... pay the higher primium insurance (MAJORLY HIGHER) where it is covered.
i know what i would do....
any ideas!
R

There's little or no point in valuing your car higher,  should you crash it they'll offer you the book price for an unmodified 90, if you're lucky.  More likely they'll offer you 47p and a pack of out of date crisps [1],  granted they *should* just pay you the appropriate price, but err... not a chance :(



[1] Probably smokey bacon or any other flavour that tends to get left

[Range Rover Blues]

In the event of a total loss you should then have ownership of all the mods, it would be down to you to ake sure they don't dissapear at the insurance comany's nominated salvage yard (bet money they will) and that you remove them before the claim is settled.  My advice would be to make sure the car is recovered to your home address in an accident and you keep it there, use your own recovery rather than the insurance recovery too.

A lot of insurance will wriggle out of paying for modifications anyway, anyone who has ever had to claim will agree that it's hardly worth bothering sometimes I think.

[lambert]

if you were to modify a car then get an sva could you not then have it called a kit car and insure it on that basis? i.e. "hello, i would like to insure my car, it's a prototype kit based on a landrover and has passed the sva."