Auto Insurance for a Modified Car

Many drivers on the road enjoy cars as a passionate hobby, displaying their love for classic cars, collector’s cars, or modified high performance cars through a vehicle they own. Owning and caring for one of these cars is a way to express yourself through automobiles and live your dream. Finding a way to insure your vehicle is very necessary, especially if you want to occasionally go for a drive or flaunt it at a show. The types of insurance offered for any of these vehicles is different than the insurance for a regular car due to either the increased value for the car’s exclusivity or the increased risks that car holds. Not all auto insurance companies are willing to cover these types of cars, so it’s best to do your auto insurance research before building or purchasing your dream car.

Classic Car and Collector’s Car Insurance
Auto insurance for classic or collector’s cars is sometimes less expensive than insurance for a performance car, and can also be less expensive than a modern car. There’s good reason for this too. Often, people who purchase a classic car or collector’s car tend to take very good care of it since it is an older, rarer vehicle. It’s also probably something the owner has been drooling over for some time and wants to keep in pristine condition. These cars are usually kept locked in garages, driven less, buffed with a diaper and are treated like gold. This caretaking is taken into consideration and can have a lowering effect on the auto insurance premiums.

You do have different options of insuring your classic car. Insurers know the owner of a classic car or collector’s car will want to experience the occasional drive and show off this toy at shows and events. Mishaps do occur when driving or at events, which is why you need to take insurance for your vehicle seriously. All auto insurance companies provide different amounts of coverage for these vehicles, but they also make the rules concerning things such as how often the car is driven (number of miles per year), where it is stored, etc. according to the amount insured.

There are a few sorts of coverage you may want to consider when purchasing auto insurance for your classic car. One type of coverage, agreed value coverage, will make sure that you get paid the entire value of what you insured the vehicle for in the event of partial or total loss, including labor and parts. Another type of coverage, called one liability charge, is another coverage to consider. If you own more than one classic or collector’s car, you are only charged for the first vehicle’s coverage. The remaining classic cars you own will be covered for little to no charge. You might also want to consider making sure you can take your car to the repair shop of your choice if there’s ever damage done. Hopefully you’ll know the people and will trust them more compared to a random place the insurance company sends you to.

Car Kit Insurance
Many of the auto insurance companies that provide insurance for collector’s cars and classic cars do not provide insurance for car kits, so it will take time to find yourself an insurer for this type of vehicle. When you are able to find an insurer, you will need to know how much your finished car kit appraises for currently. Car kits may appreciate in their value, so have it appraised every year or two so you’ll know how much to insure it for.

Just like a classic car or collector’s car, a car kit’s premium will be determined by factors such as where the car is stored and how many miles it is driven. When it is locked in a garage or other secure structure and driven very seldom, the rates will be lower.

As you search for insurance, know the difference between you building the car and having a professional mechanic take an old model of a car and restoring it. Very rarely is there a fine line between the two, but you may be looking at owning a restored classic car instead of a car kit if the building isn’t done properly. Carefully explain the details involving the building of the car so the insurance company knows how to insure it.

High Performance Car Insurance
You will most likely be paying more to insure your modified performance car, as these cars tend to be flashier, driven at higher speeds, and involved in more accidents. While certain kinds of modifications will not affect your insurance rate, insurers can argue that other types of modifications decrease the car’s ability to handle while driving, thus increasing the risk for an accident.

Depending on the change you make to your car, your insurance can go up a little or it can go up a lot. Modifications done to the body of your car won’t affect your premiums too much, but anything done to the engine will. If you choose to not report these mods to your insurer and you wreck your car, including those expensive additions, your insurer will not be obligated to replace those unreported additions. It can also be considered insurance fraud to not let the insurer know of your improvements if you insured your car in its original design and altered it later.

Cheapest Insurance
To get the cheapest car insurance for your classic car, collector’s car, or high performance car, you should know a few things to look for. First, when telling your insurance company about your car, make sure to give the make, model, and year. They’ll most likely ask for this information, but have it available because these things will affect your premium. The more rare your car, the more you’ll probably end up paying for its insurance.

When talking about performance cars, realize there are different kinds. One class is sports performance cars, like a Porsche or Corvette. These are vehicles that are performance cars, but if you haven’t altered it in any way then they are given a different status than if you had done something to alter the performance. Before you go ahead and make any changes to these vehicles, check with your insurer to see what would happen to your premium afterwards. The other type of performance car is the car that you’ve modded to enhance its performance while you’ve owned it. If you’ve modded your car extensively, your rates are going to be higher than if you hadn’t.

Young drivers of performance vehicles are most definitely going to be hit hard with an expensive premium. This is due to statistical evidence supporting younger drivers being involved in more traffic violations and accidents. They do not have the experience and maturity of a more seasoned driver, hence the decrease of faith in these young drivers. The advice given is to wait until you’re at least over the age of 30 to indulge in this passion, unless you have the cash to pay for the extreme premium of driving a performance vehicle.

It’d be a shame to let your favorite vehicle “get the boot” and be kept hidden away due to no insurance coverage. If you want to drive your vehicle legally, you’ll need to purchase auto insurance for it, no matter what kind of car it is. Get the most out of your possession by insuring it properly. You’ll be able to enjoy it more without the worry of paying for any damage that could occur. Check out our site to for quotes on insuring your vehicle.