What is a stock car?

Dandle said:
Yeah I can see that as well but how many people buy a car second hand and never know what was an option or not. How many people don't bother declaring and know what was option. Does anyone ever get caught out? I wouldn't think so. It a massive grey area though. I don't even know if the woman at LV that told me everything was covered was right.
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Totally agree with everything you have just said! I would say 99% of the time they insurer won't check the car for add ons from the manufacturer. On the other hand I'm sure they would spot a repair bill asking for 19" alloys to be repaired on a Citroen Saxo though.... you would hope!
 
For insurance purposes they class standard as "without factory options."

Once you add options it increases the value of the car, and in some circumstances the cost of repair, for example, Xenons.

However, some insurance companies treat factory options as standard, but you have to tell them if you want them covered.
 
Dandle said:
Yeah I can see that as well but how many people buy a car second hand and never know what was an option or not. How many people don't bother declaring and know what was option. Does anyone ever get caught out? I wouldn't think so. It a massive grey area though. I don't even know if the woman at LV that told me everything was covered was right.
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Dr Who said:
For insurance purposes they class standard as "without factory options."

Once you add options it increases the value of the car, and in some circumstances the cost of repair, for example, Xenons.

However, some insurance companies treat factory options as standard, but you have to tell them if you want them covered.
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This. Lets face it, with some cars the factory options can be another 50% of the cars value. Why shouldn't the insurance company expect to know about them as there should be a higher premium plus a potential bigger payout should anything happen to the car? Take my bosses new car, the optional extras amount to over £50k.

Equally it becomes a problem for anybody buying a 2nd hand car as unless you are a petrolhead it is unlikely you would know what came as standard with a particular model expecially from years ago and what might have been optional extras.

Even worse when they do "special editions" with lots of normally optional extras thrown in as standard.

I am sure I have heard of claims against lesser insuarance companies been turned down because the car owners never stated the car had a sunroof which was an optional extra (although it may well be folk law)
 
Surely the origin of "stock" is in the sense that it is something that has come or could have come from a dealers stock, i.e. factory specification, which could include any or all factory options.

Lucero said:
This for me is the clincher. If I paid £30k for a BMW and added £7k of factory options, I'm never going to list the advert as "Stock BMW for sale", am I?
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No one lists cars like that anyway. Even if you didn't pay the extra 7k for options, you wouldn't advertise the car as a "Stock BMW".
 
On that note, my car didnt come with iPod integration, but I had it retrofitted from Toyota themselves so it would be like as it came from the factory. Question is that is this a modification that void the insurance? As technically the car is no longer stock no matter what way you look at it. However, it's not something that affect car performance or drastically increased its value if at all.
 
Base spec car - No/very few options
Stock car - As it rolled out of the factory (inc options)
Modified car - Non factory fitted parts
 
"Base Spec" or "Poverty Spec" is a car that rolled out of the factory with no optional extras.
"Well Specced" is a car that rolled out of the factory with a lot of optional extras.
"Stock" is a car that is still as it was when it rolled out of the factory (be it "Base Spec" or "Well Specced").
"Modified" is a car that has changed since it rolled out of the factory. I would however allow a car to have had additional OEM equipment retrofitted to it since it left the factory (e.g. 2nd owner adding in options that the original purchaser didn't spec) and still call it "Stock" as it's OEM equipment that one of those cars could have rolled out the factory with. If however instead of fully retrofitting the BMW Xenon headlamp setup and just sticking a set of eBay HIDs in I would class the car as "Modified".


So the 335i SE that started this off is "Well Specced" (rather than "Base Spec") as it has Navigation System Professional, but "Modified" (rather than "Stock") as it has aftermarket drug-dealer tints rather than the milder BMW Privacy Glass option.
 
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I've always used 'stock' to refer to any car which hasn't had any user modifications applied. Optional extras from the factory don't stop a car being stock in my eyes.

However I'd never refer to a car with loads of extras as 'stock' in an advert. I'd say "huge spec" or something.
 
pepsilol said:
Going from the 335i thread I think :

"A stock car, in the original sense of the term, described an automobile that has not been modified from its original factory configuration."

To me this means that anything that happens in the factory is stock, once the car is made up with all the options and it leaves the factory, the car is considered stock.

If I get the car home and change the bumper to another one, the car is no longer a stock car.

Lucero thinks :

"No, an original factory car is, a 3 series, made available for sale, with no options. If you add options, it becomes, for want of a better term, an optional factory configuration, which is not stock. "

So basically the very base car is stock, once options are added like nav in the factory, the car is no longer stock. So even when the car leaves the factory it isn't considered stock to Lucero.

Your thoughts guys...
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You're wrong, a stock car is base spec, no options.:)
 
Basher said:
You're wrong, a stock car is base spec, no options.:)
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So there are pretty much zero "stock cars" driving around then? Because pretty much every single car i've ever seen/been in has had at least 1 optional extra specified on it.

Oh noes, i specced cup holders on my new car - i better tell the insurance company that it's no longer "stock" and that it is now a modified car.
 
Stock is just an american term for standard or base spec. All the americans say things concerning cars is different to us.

Yanks - Brits

Motor - Engine
Tranny - Gearbox
Hood - Bonnet
Fender - Wing
Rotors - Disc brake
Muffler - Backbox
Firewall - Bulkhead
Oil pan - Sump
Tie rod - Track rod end
Repeater - Indicator

And many more that i can't think of off the top of my head

Stock to me is standard. No optional extras.
 
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Gaygle said:
So there are pretty much zero "stock cars" driving around then? Because pretty much every single car i've ever seen/been in has had at least 1 optional extra specified on it.

Oh noes, i specced cup holders on my new car - i better tell the insurance company that it's no longer "stock" and that it is now a modified car.
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There are plenty of cars around that are stock.
 
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