General Insurance Rant.

God i hate insurance!!! Got the zafira booked into longlife tommorrow for a cat back stainless exhaust. Thought i'd do the good thing and just phone my insurers (privilege) to inform them of the change. What i get is "sorry we can no longer insure you"

What a P--s take. It's hardly a huge mod, just a bit of shiny tail pipe sticking out the ass end. I've now had to cancel the policy mid term and find someone else. Chris knott, hopefully will have it sorted for me before the new exhaust goes on at 2 tommorrow cos there was no way i was gonna cancel that

A lot of insurers these days are steering away from policies with mods I think mate

Ended up going with chris knott, adrian flux wasn't any better this year (wont stop me trying again next year). Can't believe what a rip off insurance is now. £500 for a 1.8 with a couple of subtle mods, thats with 9 years no claims too.

Dammmn, i'm with privilege too mate. Guess I won't be telling them when I get my exhaust done.

I was gonna get mine done at Longlife they quoted me £300, I'm just waiting for my exhaust to start blowing, 7 years old and 176k the orignal exhaust still lives. I'm not replacing it until I have too... die exhaust die. Let me know what you think of the quality etc mate.

Took mine to longlife caerphilly today, paid £300 for a cat back full system which i thought was good. Got it home this afternoon and thought i'd inspect the handy work and realised they have haven't gone right back to the cat, they've left the section with the flexi on it as it was.

They will be getting a phone call monday morning and i'll be expecting them to take it back to finish the job. May be an honest mistake but i've got a receipt saying 'full system from cat' not 'full system from bit of exhaust after the cat'

Providing they sort it though i'm impressed with the look and sound. I got a free tailpipe upgrade instead of the 10% discount they tried to tempt me with. Went with a twin pipe which suits the bus really well.

I got my quote from Caerphilly, and I specifically went into detail about the flexi as that is where mine is starting to show signs of weakness. The guy said yeah we do that from cat back and your choice of tailpipe for £300. He was really helpful on the phone and even offered me a courtesy car.

I have heard some horror stories so still a bit weary about the whole thing, I have been advised by a few friends to go to Infinty Exhausts in Yate, Bristol as its owned by an Ex employee of Longlife who wasn't happy with Longlife's quality. Only trouble is going to Bristol would be awkward for me.

i got my rear box done at longlife 7-8 months ago and its been great nice sound and no problems . just waiting for the rest to give up now STILL WAITING lol.

What kinda sound did you guys ask for then? I don't mind a little sporty sound but I aint no boy racer anymore so was gonna go for silence.

Ive always used longlife and tbh Ive never had any problems at all. Usually I go for mild sport sound

I also went for mild sport sound. For us slightly older kids i think it's perfect. On tick over the sound is minimal, on acceleration you get a good note, then for cruising speed you get a quiet drone sound.

My mate had a mid sport note from longlife and although it sounded nice and sporty, cruising along there was a constant monotonous drone which is gauranteed to give you a headache on long journeys.

Mid sport on my rover ti was quite loud but turbo cars are generally louder though

Ok cheers guys, mild it is then

you don't need to declare a stainless steel exhaust as it is not a performance enhancing item as it is a direct relacement to last the life of the car, it's the same as a k and n panel filter as they are gaurenteed for a 100000 miles!

madmalc917 wrote:

you don't need to declare a stainless steel exhaust as it is not a performance enhancing item as it is a direct relacement to last the life of the car, it's the same as a k and n panel filter as they are gaurenteed for a 100000 miles!

Probably find something in the small print which will void your insurance though thats the problem. Personally i don't fancy having my car smashed into and then the insurance company saying ' we're not giving you a penny because you didn't tell us about a stainless exhaust'

At the end of the day i suppose every insurance company is different. It may not be performance enhancing but it is more desirable to thieves. It's down to the individual then as to whether you declare these things or not.

I went for the safest option.

cant be too careful these days with insurance companies

i deal with insurance companys on quite a regular basis its the same if you fit irmscher parts the don't have to e declared as they are an optional extra so you can get away with wheels eyebrows grill etc

madmalc917 wrote:

i deal with insurance companys on quite a regular basis its the same if you fit irmscher parts the don't have to e declared as they are an optional extra so you can get away with wheels eyebrows grill etc

thats good to know lol as i have afew irmy goodies on mine.. anyone reckon i should declare my miltec cat back??

probably milly as its performance enhancing. love the avatar pic by the way! shes so cute!!

i had my old clio & astra done at welsh coast customs newport, Fantasic exhaust builder, top service. Anyone looking to get a system try them!

Took mine back to longlife yesterday for them to finish the job. They were reluctant to do it but i'm afraid they had no choice. He tried telling me that because some zafiras have the cat under the floor thats where they start all the systems from and if i wanted the flexi section done it should cost me more.

That would mean though that my system would not be 'full system from the cat' as i was quoted, and stated on my receipt. If it should've cost more then they should've stated that before they started.

I think we all realised trading standards was on my side in this case as the product wasn't 'as described'.

Overall, i'm still happy with the system and i wouldn't encourage people to avoid longlife. I would just suggest that you make sure they are very specific about the system you get. Esp' if you have a cat at the front of the engine like me rather than under the car.

Glad you got it sorted. Strange though because when I rang them in Caerphilly the guy knew exactly what I was talking about and he knew the cat was on the manifold but still only quoted me £300. I bet they charge me more now

dreamvictim wrote:

Glad you got it sorted. Strange though because when I rang them in Caerphilly the guy knew exactly what I was talking about and he knew the cat was on the manifold but still only quoted me £300. I bet they charge me more now

If you do get it booked in, i would just recommend that you get them to point out exactly what they intend to replace.

I had my insurance with the RAC which i took out when i had the puma when i got the zafira i phoned to change it over and they wouldn't insure me because of the window tints but would quote me for another policy which was £800 more expensive then if i took them off!

confusedh wrote:

I had my insurance with the RAC which i took out when i had the puma when i got the zafira i phoned to change it over and they wouldn't insure me because of the window tints but would quote me for another policy which was £800 more expensive then if i took them off!

Shocking!!!