Crash - Insurance Unaware Of Engine Swap - Consequences

Crash - Insurance Unaware Of Engine Swap - Consequences

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strain

419 posts

102 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
My comment wasn't smug, I was looking at the stereotype.

BMW engine swap for a straight six, not notified insurance - gives me a certain impression.

OP out of curiosity did he swap the brakes over?

It's a fairly valid point, if he has done the swap for more power then he obviously intends to use the power, if he hasn't swapped the brakes dare say he hasn't renewed the brake fluid or even upgraded the pads, the larger area of the brakes allow them to cool quicker - not just stop quicker, so when straight six boy has been showing off to the halfords staff he could have easily overheated the brakes causing failure.

Generally if a proper enthusiast wants the car to go quicker they will look at suspension, tyres, brakes and then put more power to it, when somebody just pops a bigger engine in it normally ends badly.

I can think of several manufacturers that fit different brakes to standard road cars, obvious the standard to hot versions but even a diesel vauxhall astra comes with larger brakes for a 2.0 cdti over the 1.7cdti.

If it come across as smug, sorry, but end of the day the post set a stereotype and the fact he stuffed it without insurance just adds to it.

ZOLLAR

19,908 posts

174 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Olivera said:
Soov330e said:
4. Insurance company will recover costs in (3) from your idiot mate.
5. If he has a house, and he can't pay (4) above, he will lose his house as it will be sold to pay the claim.
Edited by Soov330e on Thursday 7th September 14:39
The rest I agree with, but the above is often stated on PH for a myriad of cases. I've yet to see any proof that this occurs at all.
It happens. And happened to someone I know of. Insured their son's car (he was in the same year as my eldest) in mum's name, stating he was an occasional driver. Investigations following a 2am serious accident that put a teenage passenger in a wheelchair soon revealed this was not the case, and the car was sonny Jim's car. Car was manual amd mum only had an auto licence. rolleyes

Insurers forced house sale and the £750k went towards the tp claiim. And they still owe about £500K.
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/8164221.Car_owner_being_sued_by_her_insurance_firm/?ref=mr

Usually it's a charge against the property and becomes applicable at the point of sale.

From what I recall the writ was enforced, on leave atm but can check when I'm back.

Sheepshanks

32,800 posts

120 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
I think he'll be fine - he can just say it was like that when he bought it. You're not expected to know about modifications on used cars.

Possibly.

RTB

8,273 posts

259 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
Looking forward to hearing the outcome of this. I've known of one person (a younger relative) who got away with paying the difference in premium for the mods after his accident which included his car and a third party. Wasn't a massive claim though.Had he run into the back of a new 911 they might have been a little less understanding.

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

127 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
ZOLLAR said:
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/8164221.Car_owner_...

Usually it's a charge against the property and becomes applicable at the point of sale.

From what I recall the writ was enforced, on leave atm but can check when I'm back.
Reading the article, I suspect there was also a fronting question with that one...

Olivera

7,154 posts

240 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
ZOLLAR said:
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/8164221.Car_owner_...

Usually it's a charge against the property and becomes applicable at the point of sale.

From what I recall the writ was enforced, on leave atm but can check when I'm back.
That was for an incident 11 years ago, and the article covers Diamond Insurance only seeking such are ruling.

Still waiting for verifiable evidence of this actually being enforced in a single case.

Soov330e

35,829 posts

272 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
I think he'll be fine - he can just say it was like that when he bought it. You're not expected to know about modifications on used cars.

Possibly.
Great, Perverting the Course of Justice as well.

That's jail time.


Bets advice ever.


SantaBarbara

3,244 posts

109 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
InitialDave said:
I think the brakes question is something of a red herring. Plus it depends what the swap is.

Putting an M54B30 into an E46 316i (some of which are 1.8L because reasons)? Probably not such a big deal.

Same engine in an E30 318i, or an RB30 into an S12 Silvia? Hmm, you're really upping both the power and weight there, and I suspect the brakes really wouldn't cope that well at all.

MG C engine into a B? 50% power hike, and an extra 100kg in a car with brakes and suspension that aren't exactly earth shattering.

Same with tyres. If the car is running reasonable, modern tyres anyway, it's probably fine. If you take it out on 14" hedgemasters when you've doubled the power, it might be a bit interesting.

I don't think you can make a blanket statement that related changes for a swap are inherently necessary or unnecessary, it's dependent on the exact situation.

And probably of little relevance to the specific kind of trouble the OP's friend is in, however you cut it.
Tyres should be the question NOT brakes

JagerT

455 posts

108 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
Soov330e said:
Sheepshanks said:
I think he'll be fine - he can just say it was like that when he bought it. You're not expected to know about modifications on used cars.

Possibly.
Great, Perverting the Course of Justice as well.

That's jail time.


Bets advice ever.
laugh


I Don't think he was being serious...

ZOLLAR

19,908 posts

174 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
Olivera said:
That was for an incident 11 years ago, and the article covers Diamond Insurance only seeking such are ruling.

Still waiting for verifiable evidence of this actually being enforced in a single case.
I work for the company that owns Diamond, I'm fairly sure it was.
I'll check after leave.

Just to add to that I work in fraud and in high value cases charges have been applied to private assets, most won't be reported in the media.

Remember, just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it isn't real just that you're not privy to such details wink

ZOLLAR

19,908 posts

174 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
Reading the article, I suspect there was also a fronting question with that one...
Yeah there was but I posted in reponse to the other poster not the OPs friends specific details.

cbmotorsport

3,065 posts

119 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
Olivera said:
Soov330e said:
4. Insurance company will recover costs in (3) from your idiot mate.
5. If he has a house, and he can't pay (4) above, he will lose his house as it will be sold to pay the claim.
Edited by Soov330e on Thursday 7th September 14:39
The rest I agree with, but the above is often stated on PH for a myriad of cases. I've yet to see any proof that this occurs at all.
A friends idiot son lost it on a bend and crashed into a house while driving drunk. His insurance is null and void as a result. They have paid out the third party's damage and are currently pursuing him for their outlay. It happens.

Sheepshanks

32,800 posts

120 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
JagerT said:
Soov330e said:
Sheepshanks said:
I think he'll be fine - he can just say it was like that when he bought it. You're not expected to know about modifications on used cars.

Possibly.
Great, Perverting the Course of Justice as well.

That's jail time.


Bets advice ever.
laugh


I Don't think he was being serious...
Thanks.

Although there isn't a Course of Justice yet. He's already made a false statement - don't two wrongs make a right? In for a penny....

Olivera

7,154 posts

240 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
cbmotorsport said:
A friends idiot son lost it on a bend and crashed into a house while driving drunk. His insurance is null and void as a result. They have paid out the third party's damage and are currently pursuing him for their outlay. It happens.
Eh? "Is My insurance policy is invalid if I drink and drive - Insurance companies do remain obliged under the Road Traffic Act to meet the costs of any claim by a third party for injury or damage."

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

127 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
Although there isn't a Course of Justice yet.
Yet...

Sheepshanks said:
He's already made a false statement - don't two wrongs make a right? In for a penny....
I think Sir needs to be a little more discriminating in Sir's friendships in future.

Soov330e

35,829 posts

272 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
Olivera said:
cbmotorsport said:
A friends idiot son lost it on a bend and crashed into a house while driving drunk. His insurance is null and void as a result. They have paid out the third party's damage and are currently pursuing him for their outlay. It happens.
Eh? "Is My insurance policy is invalid if I drink and drive - Insurance companies do remain obliged under the Road Traffic Act to meet the costs of any claim by a third party for injury or damage."
Exactly. They pay out. And then they come after the driver for the MONEY.

Olivera

7,154 posts

240 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
Soov330e said:
Exactly. They pay out. And then they come after the driver for the MONEY.
As I said before, do you have any evidence or proof of a UK car insurer successfully suing someone for a significant amount of money in this manner?

C70R

17,596 posts

105 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
Nanook said:
JimSuperSix said:
What I called absolute rubbish was your statement that bigger engine = more weight = brakes have to work harder as justification that not upgrading the brakes makes the car unsafe in any way.

I found this on a Miata forum - "The weight gain from a stock 1.6 liter to the LS1 is about 90 pounds" , which is about 18kg if the various online converters are correct, so about 1/5th the weight of a passenger.

Unless you fit an absolutely huge engine, the extra weight is going to be irrelevant to road driving.
Ok, first things first, that was not my statement. The statement that bigger engine = more weight = brakes having to work harder is literally a fact. You can't just say "rubbish" and make it so laugh

Secondly, 90 pounds is not 18kg biglaugh
There are 2.2 pounds in one kilogram, I'll leave the maths to you there.

And finally, if you're so sure you're correct, why do manufacturers bother? What's the point? Why don't they save money, complexity and effort, and just fit little brakes to everything?

Think about it. Really think about it.
Your deliberate obtuseness is not helping the conversation. To clarify something, can I please have your opinion on two scenarios, and you can tell me which is more dangerous (from the perspective of braking efficiency/power):
Scenario 1: E46 318i with four occupants (4x 75kg) and 30kg of luggage. Total weight: 1690kg (1360kg + 330kg)
Scenario 2: E46 318i with E46 330i engine: Total weight: 1505kg (stated weight of 330i)

If 318i brakes are specified to deal with Scenario 1 within their tolerances, they are fine to deal with Scenario 2.

valiant

10,262 posts

161 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
What's the damage?

If the op's mate has completely stoved in the front then maybe, just maybe, the assessor might not even bother trying to pry his way in to verify the engine. Again if the damage is extensive elsewhere and if it looks like a writeoff from afar, he may just glance over it especially if he's doing dozens a day.

A lot of maybes and wishful thinking there but there's always a little hope but your mate is still an arse though smile

Ransoman

884 posts

91 months

Thursday 7th September 2017
quotequote all
spikyone said:
It's more often the case that the bigger engine is a performance version, rather than the insignificant extra weight, and bigger brakes are fitted to enhance the sportiness. Regardless of the crap maths, 90lb (41kg) is about half the weight of a fairly average male adult. Let's say your car is 2000kg with full fuel, five passengers, and their luggage. That 41kg is about 2% of its weight. Otherwise known as "not worth worrying about".

Most diesel engines weigh more than a petrol engine, yet your average base spec petrol and diesel will generally use the same brakes.
No they don't. There are often loads of different diameters when buying disks just for 1 model because the larger the engine the bigger the brakes.

And it won't just be 41kg. The engine is bigger, the manifolds have to be bigger, the alternator, starter motor and wiring too. Then there is the gearbox and clutch. More fluids etc. It all adds up, you are looking at over 100kg in reality.

The stock brakes may still be able to cope (as in, bring it to a standstill) but will generate a ton more heat in the process. Repeat this for typical driving conditions - Start stop city, speeding up/slowing down for bends in the countryside etc and they will fade much quicker with the extra weight.

The brakes are also designed to bring the car to a stop from its max speed. I bet the brake fluid would be boiled by the time a 1.8's brakes has brought a 3.0 liter lump to a stop from 140mph.