ecu tuning and insurance

[chriso89]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to see how many of you have tuned turbos or 8s that are other wise physically stock and what are your positions regarding insurance has anyone had a crash and then had issues with repairer due to being tuned? I figure they would really have no way of knowing unless you had like sct enhanced stickers on it or something.

Just got a brand new xr6 turbo ute and am trying to figure out whether or not to tune yet.
Currently in two minds.

Cheers for any help.

Chris.

[comagutsa]

im with shannons and they know all my mods and will cover them (SGIO would also cover them but they were slightly more expensive)
i have had alot of insurance companies say they they wont cover my ute because of my mods.
best to ring your insurance company and ask them if they will cover you with your mods
its just like anything you must tell them because if they find out they can tell you that they wont cover it , and this includes your driving history

[Kable72]

ECU tune will void your warranty as Ford will be able to tell that it has been flashed. As for insurance, I can't see why you wouldn't be covered unless you were at fault. Even then, I can't see them finding out.

[chriso89]

I never had an issue with my na but I also never had an at fault claim.
Warranty im aware of and that is why I'm planning to upgrade with a kpm package with full warranty.

Unfortunately shannons from memory won't insure me as I was a bit silly on the drink one night when I was 19 and got an obstruct police ( I ran from them ) charge which subsequently ended in a conviction.

I might ring my insurer and ask them cause I remember when I was planning to scharge the na they would have covered me but it was a ridiculous cost.

Anyone upgradaded with a warranted kpm package?
And has anyone that has tuned their new vehicle ever had anything major happen that was not covered by ford?

[ratter]

some insurance companies will cover mods, if they are legal, not many mods are legal on a late model car

[chriso89]

Yeah but like with the tuning thing im sure if when you told them you used the angle of fuel efficiency tuning it probably would not impact as much on price? Becauae it wouldn't be a lie one of the main points on the sct 3 packaging is - this device improves fuel economy.

[chriso89]

Just phoned insurer they said basically if it is legal you are covered by your existing policy once we are notified.

Sct tuning isn't a problem as long as it is a legal mod????? I'm asauming it is seeing as there are many legitimate business s that specialise in this.

No extra cost to policy as long as you keep your policy at market value of you wiah to be paid out for costs of mods you need to specify this and your policy cost will likely increase.

I am pretty happy with reply.

Just need to research the kpm warranty extensively to finalise my decision - as far as I amm aware they arw the only ones to cover what ford wont after modding using their packages - for an extwnded period of time. Anyone kpm modified? Or warranted?

[STINKY NINJA]

Find out what your insurance company defines as legal mods?
Maybe legal means you have to have a permit for the certain mod?

[chriso89]

I asked that question and as long as its legal to state standards where its registered. Ie they can't find it specifically mentioned as illegal.

[ratter]

if you retune the car, there is no guarantee that it meets the designated emission levels it was complianced to, unless you pay for emission testing, I'm sure part of of RWC is the car must appear to meet it's designated ADR and emissions but the key word is appear, a tune only still looks the same but I guess if there is a performance gain, this may become evident on the roadtest

[T3rminator]

AAMI is fantastic if you have a clean record.

I was looking at a 3v 5.4L v8 with cams, tune, intake, exhaust, lowered, mags, and the quote came back at $900. If you raise the excess to $2k it comes down to about $680. Can't ask for any less than that with those mods.

[LTDHO]

How the hell would an insurer know if a car has been flash tuned or chipped?

[chriso89]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

How the hell would an insurer know if a car has been flash tuned or chipped?

That was my point i didn't really think it needed to be mentioned as if it is done proffessionally there should be no physical side affects apart from increased performance.

[FPV_Steve]

I spoke to a smash repairer whom I've dealt with before and asked them what the insurance company will look at when dealing with an accident claim. They told me in pretty strong terms that the assessor looks only at the damaged areas unless your car looks extremely dodgy.

So I'd say you have 0.000001% of a chance of getting busted for an ECU tune. The smash repair place said that injectors and a cat wouldn't be picked up in an assessment either so unless you go for really large, obvious mods, you should be safe.

I regret telling my insurance company about the tune as they would never know.

[T3rminator]

Dont forget you are dealing with insurance companies. They never lose!

A smash repairer won't know if the assessor has assessed the ECU? I would have thought the assessor could simply take the ECU to Ford and get them to test. Ok for minor accidents they probably won't bother, but if they had to pay out $30k+ and you have a "sports" car then I'd think they would consider doing it?

To me its not worth risking not telling them. It only adds a small premium.

[Morry]

I've got a lot of mods on my FG F6 and am insured with Rhinos. They have covered the whole lot.

[FGII-XR6]

that's not quite accurate, they have to prove the failure you are claiming for was caused by the modification . they may try it on but you take them to fair trading and they will need proof.
as far as insurance is concerned they wouldn't know if it's flashed and if you have to claim just flash it back to factory to be safe

Originally Posted by Kable72

ECU tune will void your warranty as Ford will be able to tell that it has been flashed. As for insurance, I can't see why you wouldn't be covered unless you were at fault. Even then, I can't see them finding out.

[GQ_Smooth]

Unless a tune passes EPA, it's not technically legal (no iffs ands or butts, you can take it to court, but you will lose), taking that into account, I cannot imagine an assessor taking a damaged vehicle for an EPA test after a accident unless the modifications are extreme.

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by FPV_Steve

I spoke to a smash repairer whom I've dealt with before and asked them what the insurance company will look at when dealing with an accident claim. They told me in pretty strong terms that the assessor looks only at the damaged areas unless your car looks extremely dodgy.

So I'd say you have 0.000001% of a chance of getting busted for an ECU tune. The smash repair place said that injectors and a cat wouldn't be picked up in an assessment either so unless you go for really large, obvious mods, you should be safe.

I regret telling my insurance company about the tune as they would never know.

Exactly.
Unless you lost control and smacked into a tree, the assessor will not look any further than the damage. They are very busy and don't have time to waste checking to see if you have a tune.

[chriso89]

Yeah thats what I thought never had an issue any of the three times my na xr6 was in for repairs so I don't think its an issue really just wanted to see if anyone had issues when say writing off a vehicle.

The other thing I wanted to know is how many people have tuned a brand new car and if it is done somewhere reputable what are my chances of something happening? And not being covered? Never worried about it on my na but now how having a turbo and more overall components that a pricey to replace I was just wondering.

[GQ_Smooth]

Originally Posted by chriso89

Yeah thats what I thought never had an issue any of the three times my na xr6 was in for repairs so I don't think its an issue really just wanted to see if anyone had issues when say writing off a vehicle.

The other thing I wanted to know is how many people have tuned a brand new car and if it is done somewhere reputable what are my chances of something happening? And not being covered? Never worried about it on my na but now how having a turbo and more overall components that a pricey to replace I was just wondering.

You'll find any faults than can somehow be related to the tune (real or not) will not be covered, normally this is limited to drivetrain components only. Depending on who you take it to for the tune, they may warrant those items that are affected by the tune, these warranties are normally only 12 months.

[chriso89]

Kpm package with full 3 year factory warranty protection it is then.

[Fev]

Warranty has nothing to do with legality.

That being said you'll be hard pressed to find an insurer that will go to the lengths of taking an ECU out to be tested for tunes. Unless you're in a pretty terrible crash with deaths and multiple cars and you blame the car then I seriously doubt they would bother.

[xisled]

I used to work in claims, and basically the insurance company can tell if the car has been modded. What they will do if they have a concern and this can be any size claim, they will send an expert out to exam the car and yes they can pick up mods to ecu. It's the same if the car was stolen, then can see if the immobiliser was by passed. So everyone saying you will be safe it is not true, there is a chance you could get busted.

Also if you are involved in an accident and the police inspect the car, it may come up.

If you do tune your car it is illegal mod until you get your car engineered.

Also any warranty that is offered by these performance shops are offered by a third party company, It is not covered by Ford so you need to read all the documents before going ahead. Also just because these big shoa do a tune does not make it a legal mod.

[chriso89]

Originally Posted by xisled

I used to work in claims, and basically the insurance company can tell if the car has been modded. What they will do if they have a concern and this can be any size claim, they will send an expert out to exam the car and yes they can pick up mods to ecu. It's the same if the car was stolen, then can see if the immobiliser was by passed. So everyone saying you will be safe it is not true, there is a chance you could get busted.

Also if you are involved in an accident and the police inspect the car, it may come up.

If you do tune your car it is illegal mod until you get your car engineered.

Also any warranty that is offered by these performance shops are offered by a third party company, It is not covered by Ford so you need to read all the documents before going ahead. Also just because these big shoa do a tune does not make it a legal mod.

So whats involved in getting a tune certified?

[ratter]

off hand Nizpro were paying something like $8000 a time to get their gear tested at the emission labs, happy to be corrected if info is incorrect

[chriso89]

Ughhh its soo hard to be a car person these days. It really annoys me.

[xisled]

Originally Posted by chriso89

So whats involved in getting a tune certified?

Contact the RTA in your state and speak to them, they will advise you what you have to do.

[chriso89]

But with a custom tune would it not just be a matter of getting a road worthy after the tune because that is all the insurer needs to know to insure tje vehicle for public road use. This is all such a friggin headache.
F@#$ the transport department and their legality bull $#/!.

[ratter]

A tune only car may pass a roadworthy as it "appears" standard, this does not mean it is legal as it has not proven to meet emission levels that the car is required to adhere to.
A examination of the ECU, if that ever occurred, would prove that it was not legal over riding a rwc.