How are folks insuring their modded 200's?

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Save your receipts for mods and any pictures installed are helpful according my agent, but I am sure it varies by company, policy etc.
 
I have found they cover for the parts (and typically depreciate) but didn't include labor. As was the case of my 2000 Tundra that had major scheduled maintenance done and mods: tires, stereo, shocks/coilovers, brakes, timing belt, camper shell. Routine maintenance had to be recent (less than a year I believe)
 
TacomaLC said:
I have found they cover for the parts (and typically depreciate) but didn't include labor. As was the case of my 2000 Tundra that had major scheduled maintenance done and mods: tires, stereo, shocks/coilovers, brakes, timing belt, camper shell. Routine maintenance had to be recent (less than a year I believe)
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What insurer do you use? Ive never had a single insurer, after having cars wrecked and paid out, ever ask me about my maintenance.
 
stonepa said:
What insurer do you use? Ive never had a single insurer, after having cars wrecked and paid out, ever ask me about my maintenance.
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USAA. I was dealing with a total loss of my 2000 Tundra and working to establish value. They came up from their initial valuation of $9800 to $13600. It was totaled last Father's day. I've owned it since new. I had receipts for all the maintenance and mods. They didn't ask, I brought it up as an argument for condition and value. I had the timing belt done and the shocks (5100's) installed a month before the accident so I felt that needed to be a factor.

Edit: My insurance company uses comps when establishing value. USAA has a limit of vehicles within 150 miles for the comp, which is fine for common cars. I scoured the inter web for vehicles with similar mileage and factory configuration to bring the comp up significantly-- it really reflects the actual value of the vehicle.
 
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Yes! What most people don't realize is that the valuation is a total negotiation. All major recent work counts in your favor.
 
I went through this with when my '62 was totaled. They used East coast prices to baseline and I went through rust issues with them and then provided West coast price examples. And then the mods. It was a massive list, the rebuilt 2FE bored over with custom cam, valves, valvesprings, porting and balanced, H55, McNamara t case gear, custom suspension, radiator and dual SPAL fans, MAF conversion, aftermarket knock sensor, aux wideband o2 hard wired to my in dash, touchscreen CarPC that I wrote my own software for, restored interior, wheels, 30 spline Longfields, rear ARB and 4.56 gears, dual batteries, etc, etc.

I detail this because when I presented this list with receipts they turned it over to their special vehicles unit, which eventually came back ~$16k over the initial price they offered.

Now, when I was looking to get into another '62 I investigated special vehicle insurance. Despite the ads that I see regularly about insurance companies that special in modified and collector cars I found nothing but obstacles. Even the ones that advertise "driver" no mileage limits. I gave up before I found a '62 that I wanted to buy.
 
May very well depend on your state. Many
Bunga said:
Yes! What most people don't realize is that the valuation is a total negotiation. All major recent work counts in your favor.
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May very well depend on the state you are insured in. And, if a special vehicle, a prenegotiated value prior to making a claim. Most people, even if they consider their 200 special, are driving a commodity car that will be paid out at current auction rates. Not much room to negotiate when you hold none of the cards.
 
Oh sure, there are a ton of variables including the time of the day, their personality and yours, the contract you signed with your insurer, etc. Most people just take the initial valuation, that can be prejudicial to your interests.
 
Is there no policies addons for expensive contents like a home insurance policy?

If you are paying to cover a car that is worth $30,000 - but really need to cover it for $60,000 (car costs, plus value of all the add ons) .. it seems like that would be something that needs to be handled up front.
 
Couple years ago I was trying to get to an alpine lake on a fire service road in my 200 and nearly slid off down into a ravine/off the mountain. In that case is there type of insurance for that usage? Maybe since it's a road usage is simple, standard and covered.
Then if a guy were to purchase a new and modified 200 is there a coverage for value like stated or guaranteed? Some of those 200s get pricey.

It'd be nice to know if there is a policy type that met these requirements.

I the past I've had specialized insurance for collector car and then used Lockton for additional coverage when usage changed.
 
A lot depends on your insurer. Allstate offers the option to add additional insurance to cover modifications (expensive lifts, winches, stereos, etc). IIRC the cost was about 10% of the insurance value. Whether or not they'll cover them without that is TBD (probably not but you could certainly make a case). I ultimately opted just to self-insure my mods as on average I'm unlikely to total a vehicle less than every 10 years so it's a losing proposition for me, monetarily. Also while vehicle replacement if wrecked is important to me, mods are secondary. YMMV of course.
 
One thing to also remember, the second you install anything on the vehicle, it is a used part. If you paid $1k retail, wholesale may be 50-70% of that, and a used part lower than that. Labor to install is largely irrelevant. This is a big reason why I've never added these items on to insurance. They may cost me a lot to buy but to the insurance company they are used parts of greatly diminished value.
 
I had Allstate and several others over the years.

I got clipped by a Toy pickup coming out on the paved road from the bush on Vancouver Island...and they refused to pay. (Long story about how the RCMP detachment at Tofino are lazy and incompetent.) The theory was BC is no-fault and that my share of the accident...I didn't cause...was the cost of the repair. I escalated all the way to Corporate and they refused to even do an independent review of the case. I suspect they will depreciate the hardware cost and ignore install and you would be better of saving the money as Linuxgod says.
 
Have a look at Hagerty, I've used them for years on classic cars but I believe they have started to offer insurance on daily drivers. The BIG difference with Hagerty is a loss is not negotiable, you pay a premium based on your stated value of the vehicle and that is what they pay in a total loss. This gives you some peace of mind that you are actually covered for an amount that can replace what you are driving. I need to look into this myself and see if I can consolidate all my vehicles under one roof.
 
mbach said:
I'm curious about coverage needs and experience working with various insurance companies.
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with proof of modification costs… They are all covered as additional replacement value items, subject to normal rates of depreciation. No changes to the policy required.

But that is for my policy… Not necessarily yours. Ask your agent directly. If they Don’t give you a direct answer, you may want to consider selecting a new insurance company.

Hoping that Siri got all of the above so that it makes sense. Tired of trying to proofread
 
TacomaLC said:
USAA. I was dealing with a total loss of my 2000 Tundra and working to establish value. They came up from their initial valuation of $9800 to $13600. It was totaled last Father's day. I've owned it since new. I had receipts for all the maintenance and mods. They didn't ask, I brought it up as an argument for condition and value. I had the timing belt done and the shocks (5100's) installed a month before the accident so I felt that needed to be a factor.

Edit: My insurance company uses comps when establishing value. USAA has a limit of vehicles within 150 miles for the comp, which is fine for common cars. I scoured the inter web for vehicles with similar mileage and factory configuration to bring the comp up significantly-- it really reflects the actual value of the vehicle.
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USAA does have an option to increase the buy out value by an additional 25% over their max offer value. (It isn't very expensive to add $50-$60 per half.)

They do NOT have "stated value" policies for "High Value Collector Cars"... You'll have to go to Grundy for that, but the Grundy Policy would ruin the DD usefulness of the LC.
 
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