Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Hey guys, I'm posting this thread in attempt to hopefully get some information from you guys on how I can eliminate driving my 05 LSJ scared every time I get behind the wheel.

As like most of you I purchased my LSJ new from my local dealer back in 2005 when they first came out. Also like most of you I had dreams starting the 1st day that I drove her off the lot.

Due to a high monthly car payment I was unable to make any of my dreams become a reality until 5 years later when my car loan was paid off.

I'm 2010 after making my final car payment the modifying began !!

Like most of you I have done a ton of modification to date however I still have a lot more to do & as u know the modying will probably never stop lol

Anyhow between parts, shipping & some labor I have officially dropped over 12k in $ into my LSJ just in mods alone not to mention the 25k that I paid for it by buying it new jack in 05 & the thousands of dollars that I've put into it over the years in Maintance & upkeep.

Anyhow as most of u know our cars are not worth very much today, last time I checked I want to say that the blue book value for my LSJ with its current miles is somewhere in the ballpark of around 3-4K & that's it !!

By now I'm sure you can all see why the title of this thread says (scared every time I get behind the wheel) that's right what the heck would happen if some idiot totaled my car ????

I have full coverage inshurence however to the best of my knowledge at best if my car was totaled even if it was the other guys fault the inshurence co would only pay out what my car is worth, in return causing me to lose thousands of dollars !!

My question for you guys is this, do you know of any options with car inshurence co that like owning your own home would allow you to document all of the performance upgrades & the amount of $ that each upgrade has cost into my car inshurence which then in return would pay out that amount of my car was totaled !!

Even if it meant me paying a lot more per month on my car inshurence I would do it knowing that everything is covered.

Any advice that you guys could give would be great as I can't help to think how pissed off I would be if some a hole totaled my car let alone my wife standing there saying I told you so lol

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

I think you would need "custom" car insurance through a company like hagerty

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

If you have the receipts for the work call your insurance and discuss woth them about it, just be warned they will depreciate everything based on when it was purchased and the miles added. You're likely better off being ready to "buy" the car back after an accident and remove parts to sell

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

There are companies that can appraise a car based on what you have done to it. Insurance will be higher, and I still don't know if you will appraise close to what you have in it. I try not to think about it honestly. I had already thought of it got hit in the rear I would by a goblin kit car and save the whole front carriage along with the drivetrain and just transfer it over. Just a thought.

cluelessk

BlueLightning almost had his car written off by insurance. He had prove the car was worth fixing.

Bluelightning

iTrader: (8)

Yep this. They told me my car was a write off with what I thought was minimal damage. But body work isn't cheap and our car value sucks. Especially if you live in America. I provided what I had in receipts invested in the car to save it which they did. In a bad total loss accident you wouldn't get your full value invested back but still would soften the blow.

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Thanks so much for everyone's input & advice, I will for sure be getting with my insurance co in an effort to get an appraisal & possibly some high coverage thanks again guys !

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Nova I love the goblin kit car idea !!

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

At least it's an option. I don't drive the cobalt in the rain so it's not like I would be changing much over what I do now. Reuses the whole front section of the car plus shifter, gauges, and front seats if you want to. It would be a wild ride, and even with a mild turbo, it puts you into supercar acceleration with it weighing 1600 lbs.

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Nice ! After your post I watched a few of the goblin kit car videos on YouTube where they take apart a cobalt

CudaJoe

iTrader: (1)

Progressive has an option when setting up your car insurance to include aftermarket value on the car. I am not sure if you need receipts or could point out the cost of the materials on the vendor websites.

Tdubbs

I've had Progressive for 10 years, and when I started modding mine I let them know. You need receipts for the work done/parts, but I don't know if they do it if you did the work yourself. I did all my work myself, but since I worked at a shop I had my boss draft up work orders for me to submit just to avoid that if they didn't. They won't drastically raise the value, but every little bit helps in a worst case scenario.

rnjmur

I have Progressive and you just declare the aftermarket part value in the insurance. They will raise your insurance rates by X amount based on each $1000 of aftermarket parts (the first $1000 is included in the insurance but you still have to declare it). If you get in a wreck I don't know if you have to produce receipts to prove the aftermarket value of parts or if the declaration is enough.

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

Yes but like others have said, they don't pay much for work done to the car. It's all prorated based on the last year since the work was done. If it's been 2 years forget about it.

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

Yup, sit some money aside so you can make sure you'll be able to buy it back and sell the parts or transfer the parts

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Thanks for all the feedback guys all good stuff, most of my work has all been done by my tech @ the shop that he owns so I would be able to have him draft up receipts plus most all of my parts have been purchased from ZZP & I know that I can print those off at any time.

I don't know if Josh @ OTTP would be able to give me receipt for the parts that I've purchased from him over the years or not.

I have also documented everything done to my car through my vin number on the car fax site

Like some of u had stated I don't know if the extra $ that my rates would go up to would even be worth what they would pay out but I guess I could always check

Evilfrog

Drop full coverage. Put the difference between full converge and liability into mutual fund. In the event the car is in an accident, buy car back, use mutual fund money to fix car, or part it out / buy another LSJ to transplant.

The issue is the car is worth more to you than the insurance company or potential buyer. I don't think it makes sense to carry full converge.

I'm sorta in the same boat. I've had my car since new in 2005. I have less in mods, closer to $10,000.00 in parts and labor. (I didn't do the clutch myself).

Insurance isn't there to recover the full cost of your car, they are there to cover the the value of your car. If you do get custom insurance to cover the increased value of your car, be aware that your monthly premium is also going to go up.

cluelessk

That's pretty smart. Mutual fund returns suck though.

Evilfrog

Right you are. The upside are normally pretty liquid and normally outpace savings interest.

Since it's taking place of insurance I personally wouldn't want something too risking or something that may take time to get money out of. But your mileage may vary.

jdbaugh1

iTrader: (1)

This is also my contingency plan for the Cobalt. I think insurance is mostly a scam but some situations its just simply not affordable to make the gamble. I have a modified base model so the value is even lower. That's the thing about my car though. It's not the car that is worth money but the parts that are on it. Unless I totally fubared the whole car I would think I should be able to salvage a lot of the parts. I only have liability insurance on all of my vehicles but I drive older stuff. Only costs me $350 a year altogether.

colodude18

iTrader: (4)

Agreed. Why pay even more to the insurance company when you will still get screwed when you total the car.
Remember that the additional premium they will charge you also needs to cover that extra "value" when you are NOT at fault in an accident.
Better to keep that money and set it aside, as was suggested.
I've said this before, but when modding your car, you have to accept that money is gone forever. It does not add to the value of your car. If you can't afford to lose that money because of an accident or vehicle theft, then you shouldn't spend it.

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

Sadly I have full coverage on every vehicle I own.

chris88z24

I hope your car runs high 11's with that kind of money sunk into it.

What exactly did you do to spend 12k on aftermarket parts?

My advice is to garage it right now, and drive it as little as possible. Maybe in 20 years you'll get your $ back.

jdbaugh1

iTrader: (1)

It's easy to spend a decent amount of money on these cars if you buy quality parts. Modifying cars isn't cheap. Luckily ours are cheaper than most but it is easy to rack it up.

And I would have to disagree about garaging a modified Cobalt. Like has been said, modifying your Cobalt is not an investment. The only Cobalt worth putting in the garage and not driving would be a ultra-low mileage mint condition stock Cobalt SS. These cars are meant for driving and that is the only way to get REAL value out of them. 12k into a toy is not really that crazy at all.

Snail_SS

iTrader: (3)

I probably have more into my car than 12k to be honest