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Insurance issues?


Guest Stoggs

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I was wondering if there are any insurance issues involved with swapping a v8 in a 240z? I found a nice car that already has a 327 in it and wanted if any of yall have run into any problems with your insurance companies?

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I went and talked to my insurance company about it the other day, I told them that I was going to be running a 1978 280Z with an LS1 w/6spd. and was wondering what the difference would be in price between my current L28 and the LS, and they said that it wouldn't change as they would be going off of what the VIN shows being installed into the car.... But they said that I could add more coverage that way if I got into an accident it would cover my engine and that wasn't but a couple bucks more a month... but that is just what my company told me...

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I was with Allstate for a decade until this week. With constant raises in rates over the last couple years, I decided to shop around. I deal with Universal Insurance, with who I deal with through my business, and they deal with over 30 "A" and "A+" rated insurance companies. I was able to save $500 a year on my car. I also sent a buddy on the 510 list to him, as he was having issues insuring his mid '70s 610 (fixed up & modified) and got setup with them, insuring both the 610 and his new Subaru for less than he was paying for just the Subaru with his company. (I believe it was State Farm) We both ended up with Progressive, but there were several other options, too. Add in multi-car discounts, home owners, etc and get even better rates. If you want to try them, the agent who helped us is Doug Muse at (818) 644-4000.

 

Here's a suggestion from one of the other Datsun list members and there also Hagerty, if you have the car garaged and it's not your daily driver.

Try Parish Insurance at 1-(800)-678-5173. They insure classic and vintage and race cars.

 

I always figure that more money going out on stuff like insurance means more money to fix up the car! ;^) Hope that helps.

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Must be a problem with canadian insurance co.s... I had a lot of trouble a few years ago getting my 85 rx7 insured. As soon as I said I had put a V8 in it, they said 'sorry, we wont touch it.' I ended up getting it insured as a stock 'unmodified' RX7. (didn't say it had a V8) I asked my current ins co if they'd insure the same car (I recently got it back and am considering re-building it a 3rd time) and they said no as well! :icon8: even to insure my STOCK 280z, they want a full apraisal/pictures and will impose milage constraints on it.

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I have Hagerty on my 77, it's full coverage (I don't have all the numbers memorized, but it's NOT "Liability Only"), and it costs $105.00 per YEAR. Just like Savage42 said, it must not be a daily driver, and garage kept....but I've always wondered.......how would they know?

 

Oh yeah, they never asked about engine size, mods, etc....just VIN#.

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Insurence companies will give you the smallest amount possible for a totaled VEH. That's how they keep afloat with all the sh!ty drivers out there.

 

Very true.

 

It's not the price of the car that I'm worried about, though. It's the bodily injury and property damage to the people in the other car/cars (if the wreck was my fault). The insurance company has to honor those amounts in full. And you know Murphy's law....you won't run into the back of an old beat up vw beetle....it will be a row of limited edition Mercedes 500SL's driven by Injury Plaintiff Attorneys :cuss: .

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Insurance companies try to pay replacement value for any car that gets more expensive to fix than to buy in similar condition...

 

Our problem comes only from the fact that we try to insure our vehicles for the least money.... and then we are offended when the insurance company trys to replace our Hybrid Hot Rod with a rustly old clunker...

 

And the cost to repair a person is so much higher than the costs of our Hot Rods.. even the nicest examples... Keep the injury and other property damage coverage in the 1,000,000 range...

 

That rusty old clunker grandma is going to cost you 300,000 dollars sir... Your Hotrod is only worth 40,000...

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I searched for full-coverage insurance for awhile and gave up. I just have liability. Like everyone is saying... your insurance company is going to cheat you anyway so why pay them more money??? Just save the extra money you don't spend on full-coverage and keep it for repairs if/when you do have an accident. Oh... and drive carefully!!

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The problem of insuring it as stock is when you have a big accident, of the type where a lot of money is involved. The investigation will nullify your policy because the car was 'modified to be a race car' or similar wording.

So everybody drive safe !

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JIm Pearl, a former member here known as BLKMGK, owns a now TOTALLED $65,000 Toyota Supra that made in excess of 730 Wheel HP and had tons of electronics, suspension upgrades, new paint, roll cage, and lots of other custom "stuff". The car was totalled when a Sears repair truck made an illegal left hand turn in front of him. Jim couldn't stop in time and T-boned the guy. This accident happened in July 2005. He STILL hasn't settled the claim with the insurance company because they wanted to give him a payout based on the vin. He had to get a lawyer, and now is in this middle of the long battle with State Farm, the company the Sears van was covered by.

 

The moral of this story is IF you'd like to get all those custom parts covered by your insurance company, you might want to let them know what the TRUE VALUE is. Otherwise, they are gonna low-ball you and there won't be a thing you can do. The proper way to go about it is to get an agreed to "stated" value of coverage from your company. In other words, what's it worth to duplicate the car as is the day you insure it. The other thing to remember is to UPGRADE the coverage as you UPGRADE the car. If you had it insured with the L6 in stock trim, but have gone and installed an RB26 and all the trimmings to make it scoot properly, you'll need to go BACK to the company and get a new "agreed to" amount of coverage. Once you have that agreed to amount nailed down, it doesn't matter who's at fault. You're covered. Otherwise, Much like Jim Pearl, You're SCREWED and in for a long battle or a major financial loss.

 

Mike

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MK... I tried Hagerty and they'll only insure my car for agreed value if it's only an occasional driver... to shows, rallies, and to be serviced. I'll look into the other two. THANKS!!

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