{"id":2711,"date":"2015-02-19T09:43:05","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T09:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.ingenie.com\/young-drivers-guide\/?p=2711"},"modified":"2019-05-01T17:05:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T16:05:30","slug":"whats-so-bad-about-car-modifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ingenie.com\/young-drivers-guide\/whats-so-bad-about-car-modifications","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s so bad about car modifications?"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>Generally, 'modifications' are any changes that weren't part of the original manufacturer spec, like non-standard alloys or tinted windows.<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n<p>You need to know whether or not your car has been modified as it can make your insurance more expensive, or even invalidate it. This is for several reasons:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Modded cars may be attractive to thieves and vandals<\/li>\r\n<li>Botched DIY projects may make the car dangerous to drive<\/li>\r\n<li>Enhancements to performance could mean more damage in a crash<\/li>\r\n<li>Replacing specialist parts could be difficult and expensive<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<p>These problems mean that <strong>many insurers (including ingenie) don't insure modified cars for young drivers<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n<p>But it\u2019s not just about insurance - modifications can cause all sorts of other problems, from driving up your fuel costs to actually breaking the law. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>If your car has a modification, our engineer won't be able to fit your black box and <a href=\"\/fees-and-charges\" title=\"Fees and charges\">a charge may apply<\/a>.<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n<h2>Why modifications are not as cool as they look<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<h3><strong>Fuel economy:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p>Because they're heavy, bigger wheels will affect your fuel economy. You might like the way they look, but you won\u2019t like the extra fuel costs!<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p> A sports exhaust will have the same effect - you'll get that boy racer POP but your car's actual performance will probably be decreased.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3><strong>Ride and handling:<\/strong> <\/h3>\r\n<p>Bigger wheels can also affect how comfortably your car deals with our awful British roads, and how easy it is for you to control it. Since many are fitted with low profile tyres, they\u2019re more likely to get punctures too.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3><strong>Noise and emissions:<\/strong> <\/h3>\r\n\r\n<p>Sports exhausts don't only affect fuel economy - they may also breach noise and harmful emission levels, resulting in an MOT fail.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3><strong>Security:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p>\r\n Upgraded stereos may give you a banging sound but they\u2019ll also make your car more attractive to thieves, and your car probably won\u2019t have the security to match. They can also cause electrical problems if they haven\u2019t been fitted correctly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3><strong>Legality:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n<p>We often get asked why tinted windows affect insurance, and the reason that most insurers (including ingenie) won't cover cars with this modification is that they can break the law as well as potentially being unsafe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Tinted windows can significantly restrict your vision while driving, so by law they must let in at least 70% of light. However, with DIY tint sets and unfussy installers making unsafe tinting possible, many insurers steer clear of them altogether.<\/p>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/prequote.ingenie.com?utm_source=YDG&amp;utm_medium=banner&amp;utm_campaign=bad_modifications&amp;utm_content=welcome\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/01\/YDG-Web-Banner-Explore.jpg\" alt=\"Click for car insurance that means good driving discounts with no curfews\" width=\"1200\" height=\"200\"><\/a>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<h2>How to tell if a car has modifications<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>It\u2019s not always easy to tell whether a previous owner has made changes to your car but here are a few tips:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ol>\r\n\r\n<li>The obvious way to find out about mods is to ask the person you bought it from - not always easy! <\/li>\r\n<li>The most common modifications to look out for are:\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<li>Bigger wheels<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Adjusted suspension<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Alloy wheels<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Spoilers<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Tinted windows<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Sports exhausts<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Upgraded stereos<\/li>\r\n\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\t<li>If you\u2019re shopping around for your first car, you\u2019re probably looking for something on the small side. Small cars aren\u2019t generally manufactured with large wheels or sports exhausts so any modifications may stick out.<\/li>\r\n\r\n\t<li>If you\u2019re still not sure, Google the exact spec and year of the car - does your car look different?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\t<li>Failing that, check the manufacturer\u2019s website or even drop in to a dealership and ask for help.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Generally, &#8216;modifications&#8217; are any changes that weren&#8217;t part of the original manufacturer spec, like non-standard alloys or tinted windows. You need to know whether or not your car has been modified as it can make your insurance more expensive, or even invalidate it. This is for several reasons: Modded cars may be attractive to thieves [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":3134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-insurance","car-insurance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ingenie.com\/young-drivers-guide\/whats-so-bad-about-car-modifications\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What&#039;s so bad about car modifications? - Young Driver&#039;s Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Generally, &#039;modifications&#039; are any changes that weren&#039;t part of the original manufacturer spec, like non-standard alloys or tinted windows. 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