5_litre_eater

Here is my issue -- My 1998 Z28 Camaro has a Blue Book Value of $5,000. I have about $8,000 invested in exhaust/suspension/wheels and tires/etc. I'm looking at investing another 10K on Heads/Cam/Intake.

This puts my $5,000 car at around $23,000.

I call my insurance agent, and she says if something happens to the car, I will get market value and I should save all my receipts so the performance parts can be CONSIDERED. This scares the **** out of me.

Now, this isn't my daily driver, and only see's about 1500 miles a year, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Does anyone have insurance that covers all their mods? What's the best way to do this?

MonmouthCtyLS7

iTrader: (6)

Pretty sure you wont see a penny more then what the cars worth.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

just drive carefully. seriously, you cant concern yourself with recovering mod money. just enjoy it.

N20zuki

You can attempt a classic/specialty car insurance through Grundy or Hagerty Etc... I use Grundy, Pay 148$ a year for a 20k agreed upon value...

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

is there a mileage restriction?

Firebrian

Most of the policies are in the 1500-3000 mile range. Restrictions include that you must have a second vehicle, and if married, a third one, unless your spouse is disabled and can't drive, etc. Vehicle must be in a secure location overnight (typically closed and locked garage). If you run errands and are out of sight of the car, that's on you. These policies normally expect you to participate in cruises, car shows, and just driving them (rallies, spirited drives, etc.). I had collector policies for 10 years with American Collectors via USAA. Back then it ran about $100 per year. They had a 3K mile limit and an AGV policy. The 2 years I knew I was going to drive my car more than 3,000 miles because of frequent long distance car shows, they upped it to 5,000 miles for me.

Since my F Body is currently not a 3rd car, I can't get collector's insurance on it....and I only drive it 1500 miles per year and meet all other requirements. My wife and I do all our annual regular driving (8K miles) on one other car. Ironically, if I bought a crap-box as a 3rd car, I could insure that for hundreds less than my primary car, and then put the F Body on collector's insurance for $100-$150/year. I've been tempted. Just don't really want a crap box laying around that will need repairs. Maybe if another cheap but sound F Body comes my way, I might be tempted to go 3 cars again as the overall insurance for 2 vs. 3 cars is almost the same.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

looks to be a PITA. not something id want to deal with.

Firebrian

It can be, especially when you have a claim. I think most people just take reasonable care when their car is out and about and don't sweat every little restriction. For the 10 years I had my policies my collector cars were often out of sight when not on show fields or at cruise nights...though typically not for more than 15-30 min at a time. When driving back from shows I'd always be sure to get a window seat at a restaurant to be able to see the car. And that holds true for any policy. Saving $400-$500 per year can add up over 5-10 yrs of ownership.

5_litre_eater

Looks like I will just be careful! I was hoping there was a way I could set the value of my car through the insurance company and just pay a higher premium... oh well!

N20zuki

Nope, not on my policy

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

This is similar to Grundy, but not exactly the same. Grundy has no mileage restrictions at all, unlimited "hobby" use is allowed (such as events/shows, club cruises, coast-to-coast events, etc.) They also specifically state that limited pleasure use is allowed, no mileage is specified but they likely curb any gross abuse by requiring separate daily transportation for each driver in the household. I take my cars on nice weather weekend pleasure cruises and to local events/cruise nights during the summer - I explained this to Grundy when I first signed up and they said this was perfectly fine. Most people with collector/show worthy cars wouldn't want to subject them to the abuse of daily driving in the first place (in an effort to keep the cars at a certain level, I end up restricting myself more than any insurance company ever would.) They also require the car to be stored in a garage when not in use, and for drivers to be over age 25 and have a good record. Rates are higher for vehicles less than 25 years old (I pay more for my Camaro than I do for my Nova, even though the Nova is covered for many thousands more.) These are agreed value policies so your premium will depend greatly on how much value you assign.

A friend of mine from one of my local events has filed two claims with Grundy in the last few years, both were paid in full and never with any hassle at all. There have been some other Grundy users from this site over the years who have also reported zero hassles when filing claims.

Firebrian

You can. Just not through a regular insurance company. Many of the collector car insurance companies offer the agree upon value policy. So between the two of you, a fair and reasonable value will be set. Since these insurance companies like getting higher premiums, they typically go along with your requested value of the car, assuming it at least makes some sense. While you may not be able to get compensated 100% for high performance mods you added, you can still get enough compensation to make it worthwhile dealing with a separate collector car insurance company. There's no shame in having 2 insurance companies.

My insurance company has/had a link with American Collectors so I naturally went with them. Their rates were as good as anyone's. What I didn't like was the handling of my only claim with them. I had a fire in my engine bay while starting up at a car show (ironically, I had a 1st place trophy for my class). A short occurred in the ignition wiring and that wiring went up in smoke and flames. They originally wanted to offer nothing claiming that what I had was "pyrolysis" (overheating) and not a fire. I saw 2 foot flames when the hood was opened so it sure seemed like a fire to me.

I ended up pushing my state DMV consumer group hard as well as the insurer. They did eventually agree to reimburse me for the cost of the 2 wiring harnesses that toasted (about $700). That meant the entire dash wiring as well. I changed them out at night over a 1 week period. Worked out well. Turns out someone was in there years ago and did a crappy job soldering wires together rather than properly replacing the dash harness and firewall connector....hence the source of the short/meltdown. That's one of the downsides of totally original, low mileage cars....old parts and old wiring. This one was a 55K mile 1969 Super Bee. I did stay with AC for the next 8 years until I sold my last old collector car.

redtan

iTrader: (5)

I see no reason why you would NOT go with a collector car insurance for what you have.

1) it's significantly cheaper

2) it actually covers your mods on agreed value not book value of stock

3) you easily fit into the normal driving model (1500 miles a year)

So you would rather pay more for a policy that doesn't cover all the mods? Makes no sense to me...

MuhThugga

This.

I have my 2004 GTO insured through Grundy for an agreed value of $35,000, and my premium is $500 for the year.

Grundy doesn't have a mileage limitation. You are allowed to take the car to work on occasion ,take it out for a date, or for the infamous "Sunday cruise." There are no deductibles. You are required to keep it in a locked garage. You also must have a daily driver that is at least four years newer than the car you are insuring. That last rule is a bit sticky, because I'm sure they cut people slack if they just bought a C7 Z06 and want to insure it through them. I also brought up a good point in that I technically can't daily drive a 2007 or older vehicle according to their guidelines with my 2004 GTO, but those same guidelines would allow someone with a 1972 GTO to daily drive a 1984 Monte Carlo.

Thankfully, I haven't had to file any claims with them, but I haven't had any issues speaking to them over the phone.

redtan

iTrader: (5)

Did you use their MVP program where you have 3+ cars or just have the goat insured with them and our other cars with a regular policy?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Off topic, but the original, low mile cars usually aren't a problem in this regard, it's the ones that have been messed with and received inadequate repairs or sketchy modifications such as the example that caused your fire. Glad the damage wasn't far worse, that could have been extremely ugly.

I think you would've had better luck with Grundy in terms of the claim process. The local guy I mentioned above who filed two claims recently....he has an '81 Malibu that's highly modified/customized and has a Procharger setup. The blower belt snapped and cracked the aftermakret fiberglass hood, causing it to need both repair and obviously repainting. Grundy actually covered the full cost of this, to both his surprise and mine (didn't think they would cover damage like this.)

This rule must be new, when I signed up nearly 10 years ago their only rule in this regard was that you needed to have a daily driver that was newer than the vehicle being insured; there was no specific year or age difference listed. I think this only applies to individuals who are just singing up though, as they have never contacted me about verification of daily drivers since the initial application. Also, when I first signed up it was only for my Nova ('71) and my daily driver at the time was a '96 - so no issue there. About a month later I decided to add my '98 Z28 to the policy as well, and they said this was fine. I never reminded them that the daily driver I listed on my initial application was two years older than this Camaro, and they never said a word about it either. So I think they use some discretion in terms of the daily driver age rules, possibly depending on whether you're signing up with a single car vs. a multi-car collection, etc.

MuhThugga

I just have the Goat through it. I have my truck and home insured through State Farm for now.
I actually don't have a third vehicle to qualify for the MVP program. That will most likely change in a year or so.

Possibly. I've been with Grundy only since 2013. However, I have a 2008 Silverado so the point is rather moot for me.

NufNuffZ28

iTrader: (13)

I agree with a lot said in here. The only way you're guaranteed to get what your car is worth is Hagerty or Grundy.

I am a Nationwide agent in NC and we have partnered with Hagerty, so I can do both, have one agent, etc etc.

-Hagerty will take stock or modified cars
-no exact mileage limitation although they like to see under 3500 a year
-Must have a DD
-Must be kept in a garage(or carport in certain locations)
-Rates are USUALLY about 1/2 of what you're paying now for full coverage at NADA values.


If you have any questions, just let me know

redtan

iTrader: (5)

Oh good to know, a while back I tried insuring just the GTO but since it was so new they wouldn't do it (unless it was part of the MVP which covers newer cars and/or DDs).

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like a great car, other than one shoddy wiring repair that led to such a serious issue. I've never owned a 25+ year old car that was quite this original and well documented, though I guess my '71 Cutlass was close to that in 1997 when I bought it with about 56k miles, and my '98 will definitely be in that position in another 8 years. In general the more original they are the fewer hack jobs you will find, thus reducing the risk of the exact fluke that you happened to experience. As these old cars pass from owner to owner, not every individual will have been equally skilled (or have found equally skilled professionals) at doing repairs, so sometimes you get unlucky. When you get a hold of one (whether restored OR original) that is nice and solid and not sketchy or hacked up, that's a good time to make a long term commitment with said car. Some people like to change things up every so often and get a different car though, but with each change comes more risk. Even when you're experienced with a certain platform and know the weak spots, sometimes you can still get surprised.