Mind the (car) modifications

Have you ever thought about customizing your car so it better reflects your style? Perhaps you considered fitting your car with alloy wheels, tinting the windows or installing a top-of-the-line stereo system. If you have considered customizing your car, or are planning to anytime soon, you will want to also consider the implications it might have on your car insurance, if any at all.

Is it worth customizing your car?

Common customizations include adding custom rims and tires, making engine modifications to increase its power, re-doing the interior, window tinting, and getting a customized paint job. All of these changes come with quite a hefty price tag. Not only can these types of modifications add up to thousands of dollars, but from an insurance perspective may be more costly than you realize.

How modifications to your vehicle impact your car insurance

Car insurance rates are based on factory-built, off the line vehicles. Whenever you alter your vehicle from the original factory form, you must disclose your changes to your insurance company.

Generally, vehicle modifications or enhancements that exceed $1,500 will result in an increase in your rate. However, items that are valued less than $1,500 still require you to update your insurance provider. After all, if they are unaware of improvements you've made to your vehicle, how can they cover the items should you ever need to submit a claim?

The following are a few common car modification scenarios and what you might expect when it comes to how they may affect your car insurance rate. Keep in mind, every insurance company has different rules regarding how they handle vehicle customizations and modifications, and the following limits and considerations may vary between insurers:

• Car modifications under $1,500
  Enhancements or upgrades done to your vehicle such as a new stereo, window tinting, new hub caps and rims under a $1,500 combined value need to be disclosed to your insurance company. These are common, popular upgrades and typically do not impact your car insurance premium.



• Non-performance enhancing modifications over $1,500
  Costly enhancements or upgrades like high-end stereo systems, alloy wheels and rims, tinting, upholstery, and custom paint jobs will probably affect your insurance premium if these items combined exceed $1,500 dollars. While these types of expensive modifications do not affect the performance of your vehicle, they will likely affect your insurance premium; they usually increase the value of your vehicle and make it more attractive to thieves.



• Performance enhancing modifications
  Modifications that improve a vehicle's performance typically make a car go above and beyond what it was designed to do. Modifications or add-ons like performance intakes, turbo kits, nitrous oxide systems, performance exhaust and mufflers, vehicle lowering, and rebuilt chassis (to name just a few) all alter a vehicle's performance. It alters it so much, that modifications like these mean that the car can no longer be rated the same as a non-modified factory-built stock version of the vehicle. If you make any of these types of changes, they're going to affect your car insurance rate and potentially your coverage.

Before you tweak your ride

Make sure you understand how much you could potentially end up paying if you choose to customize or modify your car. There is more to consider than just the cost of the upgrades, enhancements of modifications; there is also the impact it will have on your insurance. Remember as well, anytime you make performance enhancing changes to your vehicle, it will be tougher to insure. If you really want to personalize your wheels, it might be a good idea to stick to simple, non-performance enhancing modifications. Not only will you be able to personalize your vehicle so that it reflects your personality, but it may be cheaper to install as well as insure.

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