Pimped Up Cars

[seatkid]

With increasing frequency I read on various car forums about widespread use of devices to increase power. Typically tuning boxes, re-maps, modified air intakes/filters, etc. More worrying are the discussion of uprated turbos, Nitrous injection systems etc.

 

I have noticed in nearby (council estate type) neighbourhoods, a massive increase in "pimped up" cars - the majority being small cars - Clio's, Peugeots,Corsas etc. They have many characteristics in common, lowered suspensions, big skinny alloys, blacked out windows and lights, major bodywork modifications, very large and loud exhausts and obviously tuned up engines. They are normally driven by young kids very quicky and aggressively and often well above the speed limits where I live.

 

My question is, do the police ever stop and check these guys are "legally" insured? By that, I mean have these modifications been declared and accepted by their insurance company?

 

It costs me

[mumof4]

Must admit that i have given up asking for technical advice on the vauxhall forum as a lot of them are more interested in seeing how far they can take their car in regards to mods, decibal levels, bhp, speed etcc..dont get me wrong its a good forum but ask for bog standard techy help and it may take awhile to get a reply..but ask for techy help in regards to a mod and the thread will grow at a rate of knots.Just my opinion of course.

 

Considering a lot of them are young drivers, it does make me wonder how they can afford their insurance,,maybe they only have fire and theft and not fully comp..or maybe a parent pays the insurance for them...who knows...But i do know there are specialist companies out there that will insure modded cars for a not too high a price.

 

Also when i passed my test i was given a mag that had inside numerous companies that insured new and young drivers for a lot less than main stream insurance companies.

 

Granted there will be young hot rods on the road who havent declared their mods, or dont have insurance..

 

But considering how much some of them spend on mods for their cars, they would be daft not to insure as the mods themselves can cost thousands.

 

when i went to a vectra meet in June, there was a lady there who had spent over 30k on mods for her car and Vauxhall didnt believe the mods she had on her car so asked her to take it to their factory for tests to confirm the bhp etcc......her car was bought for around 1k..it is now worth over 55k and insured for a hell of a lot of money!!

[Dave-G]

Well firstly SK - assuming they are insured... it's usually a scam where their equally dodgy parents insure themselves as the main driver and the brat as a named one, on a second car. Money is of course not a problem thanks to our benefits system, drugs selling and did I mention DVD copies?

 

Now to the meaty bit of the question - I very much doubt it my old fruit. But hey ho all they'll get is an asbo as a badge of honour if they get caught - and surprisingly it's normally the slightly wayward ones who stop when Mr. Plod puts that nice blue light on. The real baddies will take off without a care in the world in full knowledge that the copper has to hang back so the poor souls won't panic and kill themselves or someone else.

 

Personally I think they ought to steer them towards some quiet area where the only people they can hurt are themselves then let rip at them. The coppers of course would have loads of fun too then.

[Andrew T]

If they've not declared the mod's and their insurance is invalidated will the Police take any action even when they cause an accident ? From experience I very much doubt it. My parents were the one of the innocent parties in a 3 car accident. Because of the ammount of damage done the police were called to the scene and insurance details were taken. The guilty party satisfied the Police with his insurance details but afterwards his insurance company found he hadn't declared previous convictions and cancelled his insrurance. As this meant he was driving without insurance, my parents contacted the Police who didn't give a toss, leaving my parents and the other party to claim on their own policies for damage totaling over Edited July 26, 2007 by Andrew T

[big_kev]

On the other hand when I drove at 4 MPH over the speed limit I hurt no one, endangered no one and got a

[adrianf.]

I think the tuning market has a lot to answer for, in other words if it wasnt available you cant but it.

I know it is big money being in this game but when i was young and drove too fast because i knew what i was doing and could handle the car, about the only mod you could get was a set of alloys to replace the standard steels (oh and a twin choke carb to replace the standard one)

 

 

 

 

AAAAAHHHHH them were the days ;)

[big_kev]

My question is, do the police ever stop and check these guys are "legally" insured?

What do you think?

 

 

To answer the question nope !..........well rarely.

 

Where have all the patrol cars gone.........to keep their figures up they just rely on "safety cameras"......car crime is car crime isn't it ?

 

On the rare occasions when they stop these guys they just either get false information or the guys just don't bother turning up at court or paying the fines.

 

Cheaper to drive with no insurance and get caught and fined in a lot of instances than what it actually costs for maintenance, MOT, Tax, Insurance etc.

 

Bring back public flogging if you ask me.....

[Bigjeeze]

My nephew is a traffic cop in Hertfordshire ( Don't worry we've disinherited him!) and he tells me that his in car pooter goes so off so often that they could probably stop 2-3 dozen cars an hour - but they have to spend so much time on processing that they ignore unless there is a really good reason (such as being involved in a robbery) as otherwise it would be all they did.

 

Now that's bloody ridiculous

[katman]

Cheaper to drive with no insurance and get caught and fined in a lot of instances than what it actually costs for maintenance, MOT, Tax, Insurance etc.

 

Especially when you look in the local paper every friday at the "Cases In Court" and see how little they get fined :ph34r:

 

Bet if I got done for something I wouldnt get away that lightly!

[katman]

Cheaper to drive with no insurance and get caught and fined in a lot of instances than what it actually costs for maintenance, MOT, Tax, Insurance etc.

 

Especially when you look in the local paper every friday at the "Cases In Court" and see how little they get fined :ph34r:

 

Bet if I got done for something I wouldnt get away that lightly!

[Bigjeeze]

Interesting point Katman - My mate was fined for speeding - they asked what he earned and the fine was "commensurate" with his earnings -

[katman]

Interesting point Katman - My mate was fined for speeding - they asked what he earned and the fine was "commensurate" with his earnings -

[steve67car]

so you insuring a car and then naming your son on the policy is quite legal then?

answer no as named driver is an ocassional driver not the full time driver.

get over what other people do and get a life, and as you said council estate types? wtf that ment to mean?

some peoples lifes are lead with out credit cards and to their means not on a credit based one in posher new builds (rabbit hutch quailty) and as two houses have just been raided where my mate lives (prices of houses above 250k)where are snobs better? nowhere they are just better at being false and as i have several modified cars on specialist policies with all mods listed i can and do happly stick the middle finger up to you ;) rant over

and as i final note even the shaza was modded so happy days

[seatkid]

i can and do happly stick the middle finger up to you ;) rant over

Its so nice to see we're attractring a "better" class of member nowadays. :angry:

[mumof4]

Thread closed.