Just wondering, if someone had a CAI installed on their car and hydrolocked their engine from driving through a very deep puddle, would insurance cover the repair cost? (This is assuming of course that the owner did have flood coverage.)

Thanks!

 

I doubt it.

Most policies dont cover damage due to modification of the vehicle.

Call your comapny and ask, every policy is different.

 

Sure it would be covered. You'd run into a problem if you did something that caused the damage and it would not have been caused if you had not did that.

For example, they would have to prove that your CAI caused the damage and without the CAI the engine would be fine.

Of course they cant do this because they cant prove that if the air filter was in its stock location, the engine wouldnt have hydro locked. It just may have.

Additionally as long as the modification is legal and approved for use in the United States and your policy does not state that these modifications void your policy, you are good.

 

I feel like your argument has some holes in it. If my car stalls due to the hydrolocking, the police arrive, pop the hood, and see a CAI. My @ss is grass. What am I gonna do? Uninstall it really quick before the cops get there? If I didn't have a CAI, the engine would not have been hydrolocked. Period. Simple as that.

Also, from what I've heard, engine mods are technically illegal in NJ.

BTW, I have NJ Manufacturers as my insurance company.

 

A cop doesn't know the difference between a cold air intake and a stock intake. And even if they do, they are not judges. They can document what happened but not what they believe the cause of your claim is and your liability in that claim. They write what they see and what witnesses tell them.

Why are engine mods illegal in NJ? That means you cant switch brands of spark plugs.

 

Are you sure your engine is hydrolocked? Have you pumped out all the water let dry, change sparks and oil and try cranking again?

 

no i think that he is saying it gets hydrolocked will he get covered, not that he has.

 

oh this is hypothetical.

I remember a thread where someone had a hydrolocked engine due to their CAI and was going to take off the cai put factory back on and take nack to the dealer to get covered underwarantee. . . I forgot the outcome.

 

Exactly. The reason why the person uninstalled the CAI is because he knew it would not have been covered under warranty. I am asking a similar question, but more in terms of insurance coverage.

 

Ask your insurance agent. Unless modifications void coverage then you should be covered unless its fraud or failure due to mechanical reasons which would not be covered under insurance.

 

His case was with getting the dealer to replace the motor I assume the dealers warantee was void if mods cause damage to the vehicle, if your insurance is the same way they taking the cai off would be your best bet, or you wont get covered.

 

I know plenty of police officers who are gearheads and would definitely know the difference between a tock and CAI intake. Lame statement...

 

Thanks for commenting. Now you tell me the difference between a Police Officer "gear head" and a Judge.



And while you're at it, tell the lame guy if a cop, because you know so many, would document what type of an intake an engine has... In a car fire do they document what type of alarm, radio, amp, speakers, ignition coils, and fuel hoses the car has?

 

I would have thought the insurance company would cover a car hydro-locked with a CAI if its totalled out, they'll just reduce the price of the check cut to you for not having the OEM intake installed.

 

From what I've gathered from online insurance quotes, they do ask you if you have any modifications done to your car.

 

ok..if you're worried about hydrolocking your car you can do one of the following

1) get a bypass valve.
2) don't get a CAI since it really does no improvements in our cars.
3) keep the stock intake in your trunk and put it back if it does hydro-lock then call the cops.
4) take the intake off for about 30 sec when you go through the puddle.
5) don't go through that puddle

This is how i see it. if you crash your car, you crash your car. Doesn't matter if you were racing it, or just plainly driving. They're still going to pay for it EVEN if the cop notes that you were racing another vehicle. The question should be, "Will the insurance premium go up like crazy and/or will they kick me off the policy?"

 

Hydro lock is overrated. I was driving from Alpharetta to Athens on Tuesday and drove through a HUGE puddle at 55 MPH. There was so much water that it splashed up onto my windshield, blinded me for like 3 seconds, and I almost went off the road ..... so what did I do? LOL ... step on the gas and keep the VQ going. This is not the first time I have driven through large puddles. I think you really need to suck a TON of water in to do this. I am pretty sure I read somewhere that people "steam clean" their engine by inducing MINOR MINOR amounts of water either through the filter, without a filter, or the TB ... forgot which one.

Common sense makes me think that intake is sucking more air at high RPM. I read a thread somewhere about vaccums and I forgot if it is at Low or High where the intake is sucking in a lot of air. Oh well ... it is all good. It never hurt my engine

 

No I doubt.

 

ENGINE MODS ILLEGAL IN JERSEY? he is kidding right? as long as whatever it is passes inspection, you can mod whatever the hell you want. except for tampering w/ the emissions..thats a federal offense.

and why would you call a cop if you drove into a puddle ?

 

Who cares 123

 

.........drove into a puddle and STALLED.

Why do people call cops after they get into an accident even though they aren't hurt? Same reason... To file a claims report.

 

i guess you might need a police report for an ins. claim...not sure about near sparta, but down here in the "pines" cops suck, probably give ya a ticket or two, not a fan of cops !!!!

 

You would have to drive through a huge puddle to hydrolock the engine.

Insurance usually covers damage during a collision, vandalism, or if an act of god damages the vehicle. Let's say your CAI falls off and you go driving on a dirt road. Dirt and debris enter the engine and kill it. Is the Ins. company responsible?

Driving through a puddle isn't a collision, nor is it flood damage. They would absolutely not pay the claim. If you were to sue them, there's only a small chance you would win.

 

if you're worried about hydrlocking that bad...the last resort would be to re=route you're intake to where the top of your car is....that way you're car can technically still move even if you're underwater..it'll be like a submarine!!!

 

Having a CAI is not worth the risk of hydrolocking your car. Either way you go with intake setups the differences are very minimal so why go thru the hassles??

 

If the intake is not street legal, it shouldn't be covered.

 

I know of no laws that regulate intake, only exhaust.

 

lets make this simple, dont get CAI and dont have the problem.

 

10 char

 

this is definitely a case by case bases. call the insurance company and ask them to explain it.

 

Where can you get a hydrolock?

 

if your car is covered under flood damage i wouldnt see why it woudlnt be covered. u could still hydrolock with the oem intake on your car.

 

Go dump some water in your intake and get a FREE hydrolock!! Act now, our operators are standing by.

 

You would have to drive into a puddle ~2.5-3feet deep to hydrolock with the OEM intake.

It's one thing to have a river overflow it's banks and then submerge your parked car. Quite another to have the intake a few inches from the ground where it sucks up water when it rains.

Since none of us have seen the insurance policy, this is all speculation. My gut feeling tells me that insurance companies are a**holes and will do anything to get out of paying a claim even when legit. In this case I don't see them paying a claim unless they were to lose a lawsuit.

Most judges would say that the mod was responsible for the damage. Had the OEM intake been in place, the damage would not have happened; take a hike.

In general, insurance does not cover mechanical damage done by the elements. It does cover natural disasters though like floods, earthquakes, hail, tornado, etc. What if it's 110 outside and your car overheats and blows a head gasket...do you file a claim with the insurance company? Or you don't garage your car and live in Phoenix. After a few years the paint oxidizes and dulls and maybe flakes....Do you file a claim?

So basically we're to the point that we think that insurance should take care of any of the negative consequences of our idiocy.

 

I would think they would need more evidence than just an engine not working. There should be reports about flooding in the area as well as a police report. If this is the case I should file a claim to get me a whole new EVAP system and say a flood made it stop working correclty. I hope not a single cent of my insurance money is going towards this goofy engine mod

 

I just towed my car back changed the intake back to stock and they covered it for me

 

A few thoughts... I don't have experience with this actual situation, but from past run-ins with insurance companies and claims, it seems like it would depend on the company's policy. If they just decided to treat it as a clear case of "oh well, the car got screwed", then no problems. The sticky part comes if they try to use the exact circumstance to decide whether they'll cover it or not... then it'll depend on their policy towards car mods. For example, my insurance company does cover mods, so they'll pay for legal, documented mods if they get damaged... on the other hand, I don't know if they'll pay for damages to either mods or stock parts if the damage was CAUSED BY A MOD. That's the difference. That's why everyone's talking about the difference in hydrolocking with an OEM intake and a CAI... if the company decides to say that the damage would not have occurred with the stock part, and their policy is not friendly towards mods, then there's nothing you can do. Safest bet is to call your insurance company and talk with an agent about their policies... if it's a good company, they'll be happy to explain everything.

Couple comments for PAREDLINE... not trying to pick a fight, just my observations. First, you're right that the police, even if they know the difference, won't usually document the types of mods a car has in an accident, the exception being of an aftermarket mod was the cause of the accident. However, the insurance company doesn't just go off the police report, they often send their own inspector to look at the damage. And if it's a car insurance company who doesn't want to pay, you'd better believe they're going to send someone who knows their stuff. Second, as far as engine mods being illegal... usually state laws restricting mods will say that the mod has to operate within a certain tolerance of the OEM part... so switching brands of spark plugs will probably be fine, but switching from an OEM airbox to a CAI might not be, because the CAI acts significantly differently. You probably still think it's ridiculous, and so do I, but what can we do? Trying to apply logic to the law never helped anyone.

Sorry guys, I talk too much.

 

^^^^usually state laws about mods are referring to exhaust/emmissions equipment. It is very illegal to take out the cat or the EGR, and a catback or aftermarket muffler may be illegal in some places because of the noise. Aftermarket turbo, S/C, and Nitrous may be illegal or regulated in some places, but this is because they significantely change what comes out the tailpipe.

I dare anyone to show me a law anywhere that prohibits me from using any damn air filter I want. Technically a optima battery is a mod, it's not a stock battery. Is that illegal? What about spark plugs? What if I want to put a different valve cover on? What about the 00vi mod?

 

Everything foobeca said is true... I should have been more thorough instead of trying to keep my post shorter. My bad. What I should have said is that "usually state laws restricting mods will say that the mod has to operate within a certain tolerance of the OEM part IN ASPECTS THEY CARE ABOUT", i.e. emissions. The man doesn't really care how much current your battery is supplying, so stuff like Optima batteries aren't regulated, and as far as air filters, they couldn't care less if crap goes up your intake. On the other hand, a CAI is something they care very much about... I can't say anything about their legality in NJ, but here in CA, if it doesn't have a CARB certification, it's illegal, and lots of aftermarket companies don't bother getting a CARB certification even if they qualify, because it costs money. I know my CAI isn't legal. The point is that making a blanket statement such as "Why are engine mods illegal in NJ? That means you cant switch brands of spark plugs." isn't useful, because spark plugs and CAIs are very different things.

 

Pretty much any modification to an intake system in CA is illegal. The intake needs some sort of barcode, or number to make it legal. Thats why when you get an intake it usually says "for offroad use only."

EDIT:As stated earlier, it needs a carb certificate.