yes that's what makes me think they're no longer available, i have a vague memory of them being outlawed due to them not lightening quickly enough. i spoke to the guy who owned the car after me, a friend of mine, and he confirmed after a bit of hard thought that the screen did indeed darken in sunlight.
Photo chomic windscreens were outlawed because of the speed of their reaction to light. Also you are not advised to use reactolite glasses for driving for the same reason.
The police work inconjunction with VOSA on inspecting tinted windows for road safety. They do use theodic meters to measure the defraction of light through the glass.
You will find that having aftermarket tinting of windows is covered in the standard get out of jail (paying out for a claim) clause:- Any body modifications that alter the vehicle's appearence that is not a manufacturers standard specification for the vehicle. Or words to that effect.
In the 70's it was termed customising.
If you alter the vehicle and don't declare it to your insurers, you might as well say you have no insurance because your insurer has a perfectly legitimate reason to withdraw cover and refuse to payout.
The police work inconjunction with VOSA on inspecting tinted windows for road safety. They do use theodic meters to measure the defraction of light through the glass.
You will find that having aftermarket tinting of windows is covered in the standard get out of jail (paying out for a claim) clause:- Any body modifications that alter the vehicle's appearence that is not a manufacturers standard specification for the vehicle. Or words to that effect.
In the 70's it was termed customising.
If you alter the vehicle and don't declare it to your insurers, you might as well say you have no insurance because your insurer has a perfectly legitimate reason to withdraw cover and refuse to payout.
Sorry Steve still disagree
If you buy a secondhand car how do you know that that privacy and other items were not standard,as you know alot of cars now have this as standard or as a factory fit option.
You would have to have an original car spec list and itemise all non standard items for the Insurance company.
What you are saying is if you change anything on your car that isnt standard your are invalidating your insurance, towbar,bumber protection etc,insurance companies are only interested in performance enhancing,side skirts, rear spoilers aftermarket alloys etc.
Does that mean the door rubbing strips and mud flaps i have added will invalidate my insurance?? as they are changing the appearance of my car !
If you buy a secondhand car how do you know that that privacy and other items were not standard,as you know alot of cars now have this as standard or as a factory fit option.
You would have to have an original car spec list and itemise all non standard items for the Insurance company.
What you are saying is if you change anything on your car that isnt standard your are invalidating your insurance, towbar,bumber protection etc,insurance companies are only interested in performance enhancing,side skirts, rear spoilers aftermarket alloys etc.
Does that mean the door rubbing strips and mud flaps i have added will invalidate my insurance?? as they are changing the appearance of my car !
well actually michael, even tiny insignificant mods such as stick on graphics and stripes should be disclosed to your insurance company.
i find what steve says about insurance companies to be a bit overstated though. between the ages of 18 and 25 i ran dozens of very heavily modified cars, modified both mechanically and cosmetically. as long as you are as honest as you can be with your insurance company you will encounter no problems.
if you have a second hand vehicle which has modifications of which you have no knowledge your insurance company will not generally use that alone as an excuse to avoid a claim, unless the mods are blatantly obvious.
if you use tinting films or sprays on the front windows of your vehicle your insurance could turn their back on you, and could be open to prosecution. if you do it the right way, with smoked glass you shouldn't fall foul of the law since to my knowledge no one makes illegally tinted glass.
i find what steve says about insurance companies to be a bit overstated though. between the ages of 18 and 25 i ran dozens of very heavily modified cars, modified both mechanically and cosmetically. as long as you are as honest as you can be with your insurance company you will encounter no problems.
if you have a second hand vehicle which has modifications of which you have no knowledge your insurance company will not generally use that alone as an excuse to avoid a claim, unless the mods are blatantly obvious.
if you use tinting films or sprays on the front windows of your vehicle your insurance could turn their back on you, and could be open to prosecution. if you do it the right way, with smoked glass you shouldn't fall foul of the law since to my knowledge no one makes illegally tinted glass.
It has been my experience that insurance accident investigators and vehicle damage assessors know very well what a vehicle looks or behaves like in the standard format to which you stated your vehicles model and make when you applied for insurance cover. It is quite normal for your insurer to pay out for repair and stipulate items not being paid for or replaced and these do include decals/stripes, aftermarket radio, dc dvd players, tinted or film covered glass and so forth.
I had a problem with a Renault 18 GTL estate when my wife scraped a wall with it. What I didn't know was that the decals / stripes on it were fitted by the very same dealership (Renault franchise) who sold me the car second hand. What had happened (which is commonplace) was they had a series 1 car hanging around when the much smarter series 2 car was put on sale. So to enable a sale they "jazzed up" the series 1 with after market stripes and genuine Renault 18 turbo alloy wheels. Me being less wise in my younger days liked the look of the car and bought it. Then when we had the car repaired the insurance company refused to replace a damaged wheel and would not pay for the body stripes. I had insured the car true to the insurers request using the info on the log book and had told them about the tow bar as they had asked the question.
But as the law states, "Ignorance is no defence", you could end up in the preverbial s*1T if you don't list the modifications.
Classic example of a dangerous and illegal modification is fitting the leaping cat mascott to any modern jaguar.
I had a problem with a Renault 18 GTL estate when my wife scraped a wall with it. What I didn't know was that the decals / stripes on it were fitted by the very same dealership (Renault franchise) who sold me the car second hand. What had happened (which is commonplace) was they had a series 1 car hanging around when the much smarter series 2 car was put on sale. So to enable a sale they "jazzed up" the series 1 with after market stripes and genuine Renault 18 turbo alloy wheels. Me being less wise in my younger days liked the look of the car and bought it. Then when we had the car repaired the insurance company refused to replace a damaged wheel and would not pay for the body stripes. I had insured the car true to the insurers request using the info on the log book and had told them about the tow bar as they had asked the question.
But as the law states, "Ignorance is no defence", you could end up in the preverbial s*1T if you don't list the modifications.
Classic example of a dangerous and illegal modification is fitting the leaping cat mascott to any modern jaguar.
- Jul 30, 2007
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I agree with what your saying steve,so basically,anyone who buys a second hand car could potentially be driving around with invalid insurance(in the event of a claim) due to a modification to the vehicle, which the new owner didnt realise at the time of purchasing.
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