[Vwdiesel] TDI hitches

[James Hansen]

I have a buddy that works in the insurance industry, as an auto claims
adjuster.  They tear their hair out about it, but all it does is cause
general premiums to go up.
The comment that insurance is for stupid people was never more true, in that
you can bolt all sorts of idiotic crap onto a vehicle, making it nearly
undriveable in the name of fashion, and go out and wreck it, and they cover
the value of the vehicle, AND the value of all the bolt on aftermarket
products. It drives him nuts.
I got rear ended in a 1999 tdi jetta a few years back by a lifted dodge 4X4.
Kinda like your deal, my Jetta was toast, the cell phone talker's truck was
nearly unscathed.
If you look under the fronts of the new trucks, they have sort of horn like
appendages poking down and forward to hook the sheet metal of cars the
driver tries to run over after they lift the truck and talk on the phone in
an attempt to save lives.  Manufacturers recongize the problem, but it takes
action by provincial/state law to fix.  A uniform bumper height rule would
fix lots, and some jurisdictions have just that, but most don't. 
-james


-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of Tad
Sent: February-22-12 11:09 AM
To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] TDI hitches

I recently had occasion to wonder why insurance co's don't yell more about
nonstandard bumper heights (raised/lowered vehicles).  I had what would have
been a minor bump with another car resulting in just a scratch to the car I
was driving (not my TDI fortunately), but because the other car was lowered,
instead of the bumper absorbing the impact, the front grill, headlight and
hood took the damage at probably 10x the cost.

On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 6:44 AM, James Hansen <jhsg at sasktel.net> wrote:
> I wouldn't sweat the insurance. The only liability that a different 
> bumper would cause is perhaps more damage to your own car because it 
> isn't built to entirely absorb a slow speed hit, which most bumpers 
> are built to do without damage.  At speed, it's all the same. Besides,
they insure a truck with a 4"
> lift kit and monster tires without batting an eyelash, when 
> non-standard bumper heights are known to increase accident damage 
> significantly, and promote injury to the passengers of the vehicle 
> being hit... a far cry from a hitch under a bumper cover at stock 
> height.  If the  homebuilt hitch breaks and releases a trailer into 
> traffic, then it would be an issue, but an unlikely event if you have  
> all the safety precautions in place (dual safety chains, breakaway brake
system, etc).
> -james
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] 
> On Behalf Of Travis Gottschalk
> Sent: February-22-12 5:19 AM
> To: tadc at europa.com; vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] TDI hitches
>
>
> I am sure they could and depending on the crash would if there was a 
> major lawsuit and/or with injuries and the crash involved either the 
> trailer or the rear of our cars. Which in that case they likely would 
> go after any who build there own hitch. I know the 5th wheel hitch on 
> my fathers truck was made by a welder (not my brother) no different 
> then the hitches on the cars are made by a welder (my brother). And 
> for that matter only the USA prefab hitches would get away from 
> worrying about insurance (and likely only if installed by a 
> "certified" person). The Euro hitch would have the same insurance 
> battle as my hitch since it replaces it yet it is a factory made item 
> just not DOT approved (and the ball is metric-but close enough to 2 
> inches to call it a day). Basically-don't get rear ended and don't get 
> into an accident with a trailer and there can't be an issue. Drive
defensively-anyone can be sued for any reason anymore.
> Travis G
>
>
>> From: tadc at europa.com
>> Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:24:40 -0800
>> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] TDI hitches
>> To: tgott at hotmail.com
>> CC: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>>
>> Your comments make me wonder... if you got in an accident with this 
>> setup ("modified safety equipment") I wonder if the insurance would 
>> squawk?
>
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