Polestar on XC70 D4 Manual

[volvocat]

Originally Posted by 100K+

Nov 2020 lloyds @ Carlisle had mega cheap deal... like £350ish. I initially bought it but had to give backword as AVIVA would not insure the car with it installed. - Gutted.

Perhaps worth a call???

Cheers
Bob

I would second that - Lloyds are my 'local' dealer (nearest @ 60 miles!), used them for years and always found them very obliging - they've Polestar'd two cars for me - both good deals.
Even if there's no official offer running, it's still worth asking for a deal - mentioning club membership also helps...!

Totally agree with Tatsfield - don't lose your Polestar because of an insurer's ignorance/stupidity/greed.
Be careful what you say to them about it - careless description of Polestar to an uninitiated insurer can result in an unfavourable quote, or outright refusal.
Always mention "optimisation" and that it "improves efficiency" (if they ask "what is it? / what does it do?"!) - leave "performance" or similar out of it as far as possible.
But if their silly attitude persists, dump them and shop around - there's plenty more out there.
I was with Esure for years with several Volvos, mostly with Polestar, and they only charged a small premium - one year, when changing to a newer model (all XC70s) it even went down.
Unfortunately, they eventually started hiking prices generally so I had to try elsewhere - I remember Aviva were particularly unenlightened!
I then tried Volvo Insurance which was great - obviously no issues with Polestar - until they decided last year - during lockdown when my usage had never been lower - to hike my renewal by £150 - for no reason, so that was that.
I'm now with Brightside who were fine with P* - hope it continues at renewal next month...!

[SignumGB]

Originally Posted by Omnieye

Please can you tell us which Scottish dealer you used SignumGB?
Thank you.

Strathmore Volvo (Perth) did mine.

[reggit]

Always wondered, how do you know if a car has a polestar map on it if you bought used and it goes nowhere near a dealer?
Would insurers know from registration? Just seems you could fall foul of not telling them because you don’t know.

[Tatsfield]

If you have any experience with the particular model and you drive one with a Polestar optimisation, you can feel it. It accelerates more than it ought to and you find you have an uncontrolled grin on your face!

Without having a dealer check out the car and its Volvo service record the only other way is to look for the small badge if it's been applied. The real worry from an insurance point of view isn't about normal usage and minor scrapes. It's about the unlikely but insurable risk of a major multi million pound liability case where the money involved easily justifies the insurance assessor delving deeply into the electronics of the car to get his company off the hook and to put you into a financial disaster which makes the resultant driving ban and fine look like small change.

However, having Polestar gives you a whole new and different car to most other Volvo owners. It's not a particularly vicious remap but it puts the car into the next level of performance. It tends to surprise BMW and Audi drivers.

[volvocat]

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

If you have any experience with the particular model and you drive one with a Polestar optimisation, you can feel it. It accelerates more than it ought to and you find you have an uncontrolled grin on your face!

Without having a dealer check out the car and its Volvo service record the only other way is to look for the small badge if it's been applied. The real worry from an insurance point of view isn't about normal usage and minor scrapes. It's about the unlikely but insurable risk of a major multi million pound liability case where the money involved easily justifies the insurance assessor delving deeply into the electronics of the car to get his company off the hook and to put you into a financial disaster which makes the resultant driving ban and fine look like small change.

However, having Polestar gives you a whole new and different car to most other Volvo owners. It's not a particularly vicious remap but it puts the car into the next level of performance. It tends to surprise BMW and Audi drivers.

Until a couple of years ago, they also used to supply a numbered certificate which should be kept with the car's documents.
More recently, the much reduced Polestar pack now contains an etched metal plaque, although this is not specific to the individual vehicle.
The declaration thing can be a bit of a grey area but most insurers I have discussed it with are usually only concerned with what they describe as after-market, non-standard modifications.
As we know, Polestar Optimisation is a genuine Volvo accessory (and can even be specified on the order sheet with other factory options), so cannot be classed as subsequent external modification.
Would you be required to tell your insurer you have heated seats if they were not part of the basic spec? - or a sunroof, or parking sensors, upgraded sound system etc...?
Polestar = regular Volvo option... there should be no need to mention it.

[Tatsfield]

@Volvocat I totally agree with you but I also recognise that insurance companies are your friends when you're paying the premiums and your duplicitous enemies when you're making a claim. Although they insure cars they also tend to be ignorant about automotive matters and see everything as something where you are trying to deceive them and out of which they can make money.

[apersson850]

Here in Sweden, you are supposed to do what's called a limited registration inspection after a Polestar upgrade. Then the new max power will be listed in the registration.

If you don't, nobody will ever know.

[100K+]

Originally Posted by volvocat

..... Would you be required to tell your insurer you have heated seats if they were not part of the basic spec? - or a sunroof, or parking sensors, upgraded sound system etc...?
Polestar = regular Volvo option... there should be no need to mention it.

That thought cross my mind.. , and in one of my more Stubborn Pedantic Dinosaur Bob moments considered contacting Aviva ( current insurer) and going through all the "non standard option " items I'd added to my car and querying if my insurance was still valid; even down to whether the change from Michelin to Goodyear or Continental tyres was also a "modification" too far....(" ..our underwriters are now not permitting ANY modifications to the insured vehicle" , was what I was told when I asked about Polestar.)

I decided to not waste my time - its not the sales peoples fault... I've been there - told to defend the indefenceable - its not a pleasant place.

Cheers
Bob

[john493]

LV are happy with an engine remap and other mods - very little impact on the premium.