Golf Gti

[mossy69]

hi there had my car in at vw today and on the cars heath check all was fine but they said it had uprated springs alll round they are eihback . has any on owned this car from Manchester the reg is MJ70 0CU Thanks

[SRGTD]

Sorry, can’t help regarding previous owner of your car.

However, regarding your updated springs; be aware that if you bought your car from a VW dealer under VW’s Approved Used scheme, the two year warranty you will have got with the car has the following modifications exclusion (exclusion no.6, page 11 in the warranty booklet);

This cover does not cover any injury, failure, loss or damage caused by, arising from or in connection with the following:
6. Vehicles modified in any way from the original manufacturer’s specification.

So assuming the updated springs on your car are a different spec to those that would have been fitted by VW when the car was built, if you have any suspension-related issues that are considered by VW to be the result of the Eibach springs having been fitted to your car, then those issues wouldn’t be covered under the warranty.

It also raises the following questions;

• why have VW sold a modified car under their Approved Used scheme?
• are there any other modifications such as an engine remap that wouldn’t be apparent from a visual inspection?

Screenshot of the relevant page from the Approved Used warranty booklet below;

[fredgroves]

I got stung with something like this a few decades ago and it only came to light after an accident that wrote the car off.

How on earth was I supposed to know the car had been modded...

[SRGTD]

I got stung with something like this a few decades ago and it only came to light after an accident that wrote the car off.

How on earth was I supposed to know the car had been modded...

I think there will be many innocent car owners who will be unwittingly driving around in cars that were modified by a previous owner, so won’t have told their insurer about the modifications. The insurance company won’t care that the present owner didn’t make the modification(s); they’ll just say the onus is on that present owner to find out if there are any modifications and to declare them.

@mossy69; as per above - now you know your car has been modified, ensure you inform your insurers so you wouldn’t be disadvantaged in the event of an incident resulting in you needing to make an insurance claim under your policy.

[MaggotsRus]

I think owners will come unstuck on this when adding non OE wheels on new vehicles to try and avoid keep the car under the £40k tax threshold, particularly the new MK 8.5 GTI. The savings they think they make on the tax will be offset by insurance costs when they tell their insurers they have done modifications and any issues when it comes to warranty claims. VW as we all know as would any other manufacturer be right to refute claims when it’s in black and white.

[BillSan]

I think owners will come unstuck on this when adding non OE wheels on new vehicles to try and avoid keep the car under the £40k tax threshold, particularly the new MK 8.5 GTI. The savings they think they make on the tax will be offset by insurance costs when they tell their insurers they have done modifications and any issues when it comes to warranty claims. VW as we all know as would any other manufacturer be right to refute claims when it’s in black and white.

If, like me, you have added alternative wheels, I don't think it adds much to your premium.  My premium was affected very little if it all.  If you have more than one modification I suspect the increase could add substantially more.

The important thing is to make sure you declare any modifications that you are aware of and fully understand the risk if you don't do that.

[SRGTD]

I think owners will come unstuck on this when adding non OE wheels on new vehicles to try and avoid keep the car under the £40k tax threshold, particularly the new MK 8.5 GTI. The savings they think they make on the tax will be offset by insurance costs when they tell their insurers they have done modifications and any issues when it comes to warranty claims. VW as we all know as would any other manufacturer be right to refute claims when it’s in black and white.

If, like me, you have added alternative wheels, I don't think it adds much to your premium.  My premium was affected very little if it all.  If you have more than one modification I suspect the increase could add substantially more.

The important thing is to make sure you declare any modifications that you are aware of and fully understand the risk if you don't do that.

I’ve also added non-factory / non-OEM wheels to three of the cars I’ve owned. Declared each time and the insurance company I was with at the time either didn’t charge any additional premium or if they did, it was a nominal amount.

Agree 100% on declaring modifications; not doing so is effectively depriving the insurance company of the correct risk information that they need to be able to charge the correct premium. Not only might that influence an insurer’s approach to dealing with any subsequent claims, but knowingly failing to provide full and accurate risk information may constitute insurance fraud which is a criminal offence.