My new car has bog-standard steel wheels and silver plastic wheel-trims. I've always like black wheels on a car and want to change the trims for a set of black ones. Would this count as a modification?

LMAO
If thing like that can rise your insurance price, what will be next? +100£ on insurance when you change your tyre valve cap from black plastic to steel one or use aftermarket floor pads?
Ah... yes.. I see. It's UK, everything is possible there

Get lighter wheels, claim that it positively affects economy and stopping distance (both of which is true) and demand a lower insurance group

Come here, in Croatia. Here you pay your insurance by your car strenght (KW). The more KW's, the more the cost.

omg imagine the insurance on a veyron then

Better come to Latvia. Here you pay your insurance, umm... by nothing I got same insurance price as my classmate have, only difference - I drive 535, he drives a 1.3 Corolla

A big factor in insurance here is how attractive/accessable the car is to thieves (for example my insurance would be half if I kept the car in my parents' driveway instead of on the road outside my house). If the insurance company deem a cosmetic change to make the car more likely to be stolen then they'll increase the cost of your insurance.

I'm just wondering if a set of £25 plastic trims will be deemed more attractive to thieves than the standard ones.

paint it bright pink free insurance

Quote from Luke.S :

omg imagine the insurance on a veyron then

If you have enough money for a Veyron, then you would have enough money for the insurance.

hehe.. or paint 'Man-Love Rules OK' down the side

Quote from Crashgate3 :

hehe.. or paint 'Man-Love Rules OK' down the side

Wouldn't that make it more likely to get vandalized?

Quote from morpha :

Wouldn't that make it more likely to get vandalized?

Only in Alabama.

Quote from Crashgate3 :

A big factor in insurance here is how attractive/accessable the car is to thieves (for example my insurance would be half if I kept the car in my parents' driveway instead of on the road outside my house). If the insurance company deem a cosmetic change to make the car more likely to be stolen then they'll increase the cost of your insurance.

I'm just wondering if a set of £25 plastic trims will be deemed more attractive to thieves than the standard ones.

What colour is your car? If it's either black or white i'd say it would make it more attractive to car theives.
If it's any other color then it wouldn't.

Oh, shi... UK sucks so hard at this point. It sounds so lame. I hope it will not put up your insurance.

It just makes me wonder if the hubcaps do look diserable, why go through the hassle of stealing a whole car? why not simply get them instead.

But then, investing money in hubcaps isn't that great anyway. Firstly, they never look really good, as you either still see the steel wheel through it, or they cover the whole wheel which looks stupid. Secondly, those bastards tend to get broken if you hit a curb while parallel parking. Thirdly, they do tend to come off after a while, preferably somewhere where you don't instantly notice.

If I were you, I'd rather save for reasonable alloys, as they actually benefit on both how the car drives (allbeit only marginally) and how it looks (unless you chose ridiculously large wheels with ridiculously narrow tyres...)

You should ask Jakg... he has first hand experience of pimping reasonably priced cars (assuming yours is one).

Oh yes, it's *very* reasonably priced.

I'm not going to bother with alloys, firstly, the Mrs would never let me buy them, secondly, they'd increase the price of the tyres, and thirdly, they definitely *will* increase the price of the insurance, and as I have exactly 0 years' no-claims I need all the money off it I can.

In the UK its the Insurance companies, here its the TÜV. Know a guy that modified a VW exhaust to fit on his Merc to get it quieter. TÜV didn't like it, he would've needed a 300€ "Einzelabnahme" to get it roadworthy again. He switched back to the loud one

Quote from Crashgate3 :

A big factor in insurance here is how attractive/accessable the car is to thieves (for example my insurance would be half if I kept the car in my parents' driveway instead of on the road outside my house).

Couldn't you just claim that you keep it in the driveway?

No, because they live on the other side of the country and I see them about 4 times a year.

Quote from JO53PHS :

You should ask Jakg... he has first hand experience of pimping reasonably priced cars (assuming yours is one).

Oi, bitchface!

My car has steelies with NO hub caps on atm - the alloys and hub caps are in the garage and I r too lazy to fit them again!

Quote from Crashgate3 :

Oh yes, it's *very* reasonably priced.

I'm not going to bother with alloys, firstly, the Mrs would never let me buy them, secondly, they'd increase the price of the tyres, and thirdly, they definitely *will* increase the price of the insurance, and as I have exactly 0 years' no-claims I need all the money off it I can.

Depends - I got 4x tyres AND alloys for £80 - 2 budget tyres for my 14" steelies cost that alone.

Tyres are more expensive by £3 or so, and my insurance went up by exactly 0, although I did have to declare them.

I would say call your insurers - mine (Quinn) don't care if I add alloyz or a car PC or whatever, whereas my friend is with directline who told him they wouldn't insure him if he debadged his car (!). TBH wouldnt say trim will make a difference but call anyway...

Quote from Jakg :

Oi, bitchface!

:hbomb:

Another approach is declare the mods but specifically say you don't want them insured.

Quote from TiJay :

Another approach is declare the mods but specifically say you don't want them insured.

Do any companies do this?

My wheels or stereo equipment are declared but are not actively insured...

Quote from Jakg :

I would say call your insurers - mine (Quinn) don't care if I add alloyz or a car PC or whatever

Excellent, I'm with Quinn too