You Did WHAT!?!

[Wade]

Customer calls to add a 1986 Porsche 911 to his policy. Says he did $20,000 worth of customization to the car. As in, EVERYTHING was custom on this vehicle - brake systems, custom bodywork (i.e. replace steel portions of body with fiberglass), windows made of special material, the works.

Denied.

Okay, seriously - as much as I like Porsches (and believe me, I do), who on Earth would spend so much money on such an outdated car? It's not like Porsches from the '80s exactly held their value. Go buy an American Classic if your penis is that small.

[wagegoth]

A 1986 Porsche 911 could outlive just about anything built in the last decade. A properly maintained older Porsche or BMW could last 30 to 40 years easily. Get one before they were totally computerized and you can keep them running forever.

This does not include 944s.

[Dave1982]

Erm........so this guy is sucky for sinking $20K into a 23 year old Porsche?

I don't get it. Was this a setup for an insurance scam?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Knowing nothing about Porsches since they are way way above my pay grade, I kinda thought of that as dropping a $500 stereo in a $400 car.

I dunno, he's trying to say the vehicle is worth more than it is?

[LiberryWorker]

I think it's more along the lines of, "You're insane if you think we're going to insure that much custom work."

[SarcasticJerk]

I get the feeling Wade isn't exactly a Car Guy.

From my point of view, $20k doesn't seeem like much to spend on the car. A brake upgrade for my car would run $10k. For just the front. I had a friend who spent over $50k doing stuff to a '66 Vette, which was thirty years old at the time. Car Guys exist in their own world.

From the insurance side of things, what was the problem? When I told my insurance company that I had a $10k stereo in my car, they just had me bring in the car and receipts to verify it. I never thought I was being sucky to want to make sure my insurance would cover it if the car were stolen.

[sixums]

From my point of view, $20k doesn't seeem like much to spend on the car. A brake upgrade for my car would run $10k. For just the front. I had a friend who spent over $50k doing stuff to a '66 Vette, which was thirty years old at the time. Car Guys exist in their own world.

My partner has a list of things that total over $10k for when he fixes up his '72 VW SuperBeetle. And that's with VW parts being super cheap. Any other car would probably be well over twice that amount. Quoted for truth because you can't get car guys to think of having a nice, little, plain car.

I don't see why he was denied. Even cars with expensive parts have to be insured, especially since it could be stolen.

[wagegoth]

Some insurers won't cover Porsches or any type of sports car at all. The company probably didn't want to insure the car for what it was worth plus the customization.

[Salesmonkey]

I bet there's another company somewhere that's willing to insure this guy's vehicle. He's just not going to get it cheap. Since they figure that very bad things often happen to sports cars, the premium will reflect this.

[One-Fang]

There's bound to be specialist insurance out there for this. We have a customised race car. Our regular insurance company didn't want to touch it with a barge pole. DH got insurance from a company that does race cars - for full amount including customisations.

I'm guessing Wade works for a 'regular' insurer, who really doesn't want to deal with custom cars in any way.

[Golden Phoenix]

*drools* 1986 Porsche 911?

Want!

God that's a gorgeous car, Voted 5th for car of the century in 1999, one of the most famous versions, rear engine, tough and beautiful.

That model falls well within the "classic" era for that model. 1986 would be the 911 turbo.

Depending on condition worth around £20-£30 thousand. (About $60-80 thousand, though my figures are probably out cos of exchange rates shifting)

Sorry, i'm a bit of a closet petrolhead. I do have cats called TG and The Stig.

[Fox One]

This does not include 944s.

Don't forget the 928 and its variants. That thing was a lemon when it was new. And don't get me started on the "What do you mean cut the red wire? They're ALL red wires!" wiring harness...

That being said, a fully restored 911 with $20k of custom work? Woooow. That doesn't sound like a penis compensator, that sounds like someone who wanted to build a serious performance machine. Google an '86 911. In all honesty, they're funny looking vehicles that are distinctly lacking in the flashiness department. Fast, but very funny looking. A new $25,000 Ford Mustang GT would make a better substitute wiener, if those were his intentions.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

That being said, a fully restored 911 with $20k of custom work? Woooow. That doesn't sound like a penis compensator, that sounds like someone who wanted to build a serious performance machine. Google an '86 911. In all honesty, they're funny looking vehicles that are distinctly lacking in the flashiness department. Fast, but very funny looking. A new $25,000 Ford Mustang GT would make a better substitute wiener, if those were his intentions.

If that's the case, that probably explains why the OP's company wouldn't insure it.

It's no longer just a nice car being driven normally and brought out when the owner needs that extra junk in the trunk; it's now a rocket that the owner may be more likely to push to its limits, to see what it can do, and may be more likely to wind up wrapped around a tree or in 67,394 tiny flaming fragments in a ditch.

[RichS]

*drools* 1986 Porsche 911?

Want!

Me too - I don't know if I told this before, but I got the chance to drive one - I know it was a late '80s model, in a dark red. *sigh*

My boss at the time wanted me to drive it from where he bought it to his place about 20 miles away. The headliner was drooping, the seats were pretty worn, and on my first 1st-to-2nd shift, the shift knob came off in my hand - still, driving it was...

Last I heard, my boss got in a rollover accident and totalled it.