Next Best Thing

[Shiney]

A little about myself: Im 18, own a 2002 vx berlina, sell real estate for a living.


I just got pacemaker headers and a cat back 2 & 1/2" exhaust and k&n on my car and i need to no what i should do next that wont cost me on insurance.

Being 18 sux ass. Insurance doesnt want to know u.

Anyway any advice would be good.

[Darren]

A nice choice of car by the way especially for a person so young.

As I have said once before I am not entirely sure what can or can't be done interstate with insurance so if they would void your insurance simply ignore some or all of what I have posted.

I am not sure how you like your car whether it's simply looks or have some grunt when you need it so I'll break up some of the available options.

Performance:
- Induction Kit minus the filter considering you already have one.
- Cam & Chip
- Diff
- Upgraded engine management system

Looks:
- Body Kit / Spoiler
- Lowered
- Rims

How did you find your insurance company after putting extractors on your car? I had all sorts of problems trying to get insurance as soon I mentioned I had extractors on there and I'm 24 well 23 at the time of enquiring.

Cheers
Darren

[Shiney]

Thanks Darren,

i have a set of ROH rims on my car at the mo but im thinking of gettin rid of em and gettin some chromies. I have a set of CTW 17" chromies to suit a commodore in the garage but i was told by bob jane that they would be better on a lighter commodore cos they are 17 by 7 or 7.5 cant remember. So ive decided to sell both sets and get a nice set of 17" chromies.

A body kit sounds good for the next item but im not to keen to get a club sport kit as i dont want to look like i have a v8 and get shut down when i race ppl. Im thinking next time im in brisbane i mite head down the coast to Fabtech and see what they can give me.

The thing is i dont think i have told my insurance company yet that i have gotten an exhaust system and extractors. Because im a real estate agent im very busy all the time as the market in all of Australia is booming. but i have ask my mother to send them a letter sayin that i did get it. Hopefully i will wont get a letter back saying im buggered.

Anyway thanks for the help. I like this web site, it is set out well and i can see a lot of potenial

[Phil]

Hi Shiney,

Insurance companies can be difficult when wanting to modify your car. I know from personal experiance that AAMI will allow 3 modifications (within specs). Eg: If you have had the exhaust system from the CATS back changed and extractors fitted that counts as 2 modifications. AAMI consider the extractors or header changes as "Engine Modification".
This only leaves 1 more modification. If you go the way of suspension ie; lowering the car, AAMI will allow a maximum drop of 2.5 inches all round, if you go the other way ie; Rims you are allowed to go no larger than 1 size up from standard on the car so if you have the standard 15" rim which generaly has a standard rim width of 6 to 6.5 you can go to 7 or 7.5 the height doesnt appear to be an issue.
If you choose Holden factory wheels they will allow the "SS" wheels 17x8. I think the VX berlina has 16x7 anyway.

If your insurance company is NRMA they are appear to be more leaniant on vehical modification provided that they are not "over the top". My insurance for my GENIII is with NRMA as the ensurance was lower. GIO, FAI from memory will not allow modification to vehicals. My advise would be to contact your insurer an ask what mods are allowed and if you do more than is allowed will it void your policy. Some insurers will allow the additional mods within reason, they wont be covered in the event of a claim. You would be up for that cost.

Personaly myself if your VX berlina is a GENIII I would be opting for a suspension upgrade to stiffen and lower the ride height. You will notice a remarkable improvement in the way the car rides with the GENIII V8. I would suggest KONI brand suspension. They cost a bit more but over time they keep the ride height nice

Chips and coldair induction is all great but how much performace do you need with the GENIII, with the exhaust alone you have increased the output by up to 25 to 30KW at the flywheel from 225KW.

Brake rotor upgrades are another option too, I am looking at DBS drilled and cross cut vented rotors for my SS. They are costing me here in Canberra $880 fitted by Holden.

Anyway hope I have been able to provide some assistance.

Best of luck,

Phil

[Shiney]

Thanks phil,

U and darren have been some good help. my berlina is only a v6 cos i would prolly neva get insurance on a gen3.

i think im with suncorp so i will have to check up on it


shiney

[Darren]

No worries, glad to help.

I would hate to see the insurance on a Gen III, heck my insurance was going to be just over $2000 on the VN and that's just with the head unit, mags and bodykit on the additional items.

Parents are always very handy for insurance purposes Getting your name on the cheapest car in the family just to get some form of a rating is often another option which is available.

[Phil]

Ahh yes the parents insurance rating for you own car... Not bad if they come to the party.

Yeah I thought you would have been pretty brave paying insurance at 18 on a GENIII.. but you never know.

I pay roughly $1100 for my GENIII SS and I am 35yrs old, held maximum no-claim bonus for ohhhh geee lots of years ha ha ha..

I would like to buy an HSV Clubbie R8 but the only thing that keeps me away is the $2900 insurance. With all the security features on new cars today the premiums should be dropping. At the end of the day if someone wants to steel your car they will all-up lift it and take it away.

[Phil]

Ohh I forgot one other thing...

One way of reducing your premium with some insurance companines is to do an approved Advanced Driver Training Program. There can be some significant discounts.

I have done the Advanced Driver Training and High Speed Driver Training courses with Jim Murcott's driving school and absolutly recomend them... They can be a bit of fun if you like to slide the car a bit.. hehe.

Cheers

Phil

[Garth]

what ever you do, just dont insure with r.a.c.q they charged me a motza to insure my turbo vl, and had a field day with me, i was 23 at the time, and it cost me just under 1g to insure it for fire,theft and 3rdparty, full comp was well over the 3g mark, part of the fun being a queenslander, (nothing smart about the smart state) then they wouldnt pay when i did some minor pannel beating of my own with the assistance of a pole, im still paying off the pole to this day (because i didnt tell them i had a dvd unit put in it

[insane]

Sorry for moving away from the topic but does anyone know any good places to get modifications for standard v6 commodores in Sydney? I have a vx s pak but no supercharger. Thanks

[Phil]

insane,

As your probably aware there are heaps of places in Sydney that claim to be good when it come to modifying commodores. I think a good place to start would be to contact some of the Sydney Commodore clubs. There is one car club I know of in Campbelltown that runs out of the Holden/HSV dealership.... The guy that is incharge of the Spare Parts section I think runs the club can also arrange mods for your commodore or provide you with some good advice.

Sorry I can't offer more info. Maybe someone else in the group has more info...

Cheers

Phil

[insane]

Cheers mate thanks for the info

[235rwkw]

edit tune of the pcm for a crap load more power.

CAI

diff ratio change

rims are legal for the largest available factory size option. which on this car is 18's which are available as a factory option. 19's are not an option but are fitted to the gts so should also be legal.

[Dazzer]

i was quoted $1090 for VX SS with NRMA, 26yo 60% no claim discount
also quoted $650 for VX 'S'
newcastle area

[asarrr]

best way to get cheaper insurance is to talk to the parents, i started on my parents insurance and now i am 19 own a vx commodore and only pay 700 for full comprehensive insurance with R.A.C.Q

[oblong]

Another way to get cheaper insurance (at least through AAMI in Vic) is to increase your excess in the event of a claim. Premium and excess are inversely related, meaning the higher the excess that you have to pay in the event of a claim the lower the yearly premium. This stops people claiming for minor dings or say a broken window, this concept only works though if you have the excess cash in reserve in the even you sideswipe a Merc.

Currently my VT is still in my Dad’s name with myself as an occasional ‘listed driver’ or something like that with GIO, but my research with AAMI’s online quote has shown the following.

This is a rough figure of the results I got.

VT 6cyl Exec (with many factory extras), 17in VR clubbies, full aftermarket alarm sys, etc, etc (aftermarket stereo not mentioned), garaged in a medium risk suburb.

I'm also a rating 2 driver at 22, no bings for me.

At a $ 400 excess (+ under 25 excess) yearly insurance is roughly $900.

At a $1500 excess (+ under 25 excess) yearly insurance is roughly $450.

Hope this is helpful.

**** PS ****

Its an idea to ring around and ring your current insurer for a NEW QUOTE, see if they give you a different price to what you are currently paying. I’ve done this before and guess what! The bastards gave me a new quote (under a fictitious name) that was significantly less that what I was paying, about $100 less or 15-20% of my overall yearly premium for my current near death ride, an old 4WD. They came up with a few piss weak excuses, but finally I was able to get the lower price.

Arses!!

[Darkwander]

Something that you can do to the car to make it go faster is Memcal. That would help alot , however for looks Body kit..

As for insurance i am 24 , VT and i pay only $1000 a year , that is rating 4.