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Car Modification and Its Impact on Car Insurance in Singapore
Customising your vehicle can be a fun way to express your personality or enhance performance—but it can also carry serious consequences. Under the Singapore Road Traffic Act, individuals—including workshops—who illegally modify vehicles may face fines of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to three months, or both. Repeat offenders may face doubled penalties. Worse still, your car insurance could be voided if your insurer isn’t informed of the changes.
Whether you're considering minor modifications or planning to alter your vehicle’s components in a major way, it’s essential to understand how modifying your vehicle can impact your insurance policy, road legality, and even resale value.
What Counts as a Car Modification?
A car modification refers to any change that alters your vehicle’s performance, looks, or operation from the manufacturer’s original specifications. This includes additions, removals, or replacements of parts with aftermarket parts that haven’t been approved by the carmaker.
While some vehicle modifications may enhance safety or aesthetics, others—especially illegal modifications—can compromise road safety, vehicle control, and exhaust emission standards.
Before carrying out any modifications, be sure to check whether they require LTA's approval or whether they are outright illegal. And before you buy a used car, do check if the vehicle has been modified. If you have any doubts then it's worth getting an Assessment Service done which is available at LTA-Authorised Inspection Centres (AIC).
Modifications fall into three main categories:
- Those that don’t require LTA’s approval
- Those that do require LTA’s approval
- Those that are strictly prohibited
It is crucial to ensure that all modifications comply with the manufacturer's standard specifications to maintain safety and performance. Routine maintenance using like-for-like parts is generally not categorised as modifications if it aligns with these specifications.
Car Modifications That Don't Require Land Transport Authority (LTA) Approval
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has outlined certain changes to a vehicle's components that are legal without prior approval, as long as they meet specific safety and design requirements.
Visit here for the full list of modifications that do not need LTA approval. https://onemotoring.lta.gov.sg/content/onemotoring/home/owning/modification.html
Examples include:
- Roof racks: Useful for extra storage, but they must not exceed the vehicle’s loading capacity, nor protrude from the car body laterally or obstruct the In-Vehicle Unit (IU) signal for Electronic Road Pricing. Your cargo should also be securely fastened to the roof rack and no part of the cargo or its carrier should protrude laterally beyond the vehicle. Check out our blog for more information on overloading your car.
- Sports rims: When it comes to alloy wheels or sports rims, design, size and even weight do matter. Design may be subjective, but different styles complement different cars. As for size, bigger wheels are guaranteed to make any car look sportier. Lighter wheels may actually improve performance.
- The size should comply with the car manufacturer's guidelines and should not protrude from the sides of the car body.
- The overall rolling radius of the wheels and tyres should also remain unchanged. What this means is that if you fit on larger wheels, the tyre profile will have to be lower.
- Do bear in mind, however, that switching to bigger wheels may compromise on fuel efficiency and ride comfort.
- Body kits, bumpers, and side skirts: These must be approved by the car manufacturer and free from sharp edges and not interfere with the car body’s clearance. Their lowest points should also not touch the road surface at any time.
- Tyres: These are the only part of your car that comes into contact with the road, so a good set of tyres will enhance safety and also provide a better driving experience. Some tyres are better in the wet, some are designed for comfort, while some are quieter than others.
When replacing your tyres, the following conditions must be met:- Each wheel must be equipped with a pneumatic tyre that matches the width, profile, and diameter specified by the vehicle’s manufacturer.
- Tyres must not extend beyond the sides of the vehicle body.
- The total rolling radius of the wheel and tyre combination should remain consistent with the factory specifications.
- Off-road tyres — including slicks, semi-slicks, or those made for rugged terrain — are not permitted for use on public roads.
- Spoilers: Must not obstruct the driver’s view, stick out from the car body laterally or longitudinally, or have any sharp corners or edges.
- Sunshades and tinted glass: Allowed within LTA window tint rules. Films must be non-reflective and not block IU signals. Violations may result in an LTA fine.
- Sunshades should not display graphics or words that are pornographic, obscene or vulgar. Or seditious and offensive towards any religion.
- Curtains can be fitted on passenger windows provided that they don't obstruct the driver's view and are not drawn when the vehicle is moving.
- Tinted glass helps to reduce the heat and glare from the sun.
- They must comply with international standards for safety glass.
- They must not hinder the transmission of signals between the In-vehicle Unit (IU) and the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries.
- Tinted films: Can be installed on glass windscreens and windows provided they are non-reflective and comply with the same regulations as tinted glass.
- Audio equipment, personal computers, communication equipment, and multimedia equipment: Allowed as long as they are permanently installed and do not have an independent power source.
- Meters and gauges: Such as fuel gauge modifications, battery voltage meters, vacuum gauges, or oil temperature gauges, provided they don’t block the driver’s view or interfere with vehicle controls.
- In-vehicle entertainment and communication systems: Entertainment systems are meant for passengers, so the rule-of-thumb is that visual display units must not be visible to the driver while driving. Any visual display unit within the driver’s line of sight should disable when the car is in motion. Infotainment systems are designed to enhance communication. They should therefore not distract the driver.
- Air intake filter: Air filter prevents dust and dirt in the air from entering the engine. It is also important that it does not restrict air flow. The filter that you are replacing with should not affect the structural integrity of the vehicle. It's worth knowing too that routine maintenance where like-for-like parts are used and are in accordance with the manufacturer's standard specifications are not considered as modifications.
While these are often seen as accessories rather than full modifications, it's best to declare all changes to your insurance provider, no matter how minor they may seem.
Modifications That Do Require LTA’s Approval
Some modified parts affect how your car operates and thus require LTA’s approval to ensure they meet road safety and exhaust emission characteristics.
These are known as LTA’s approval modifications, and they include structural or performance-enhancing changes that could affect your vehicle’s compliance with local regulations.
Common examples:
- Aftermarket exhaust systems
Including exhaust manifolds, mufflers, and catalytic converters. Approval depends on manufacturer’s certification stating compatibility with the vehicle make and model. And test results from LTA or NEA-recognised test laboratories need to ensure compliance with noise and emission standards. - Sunroof installation
The proposed modification must pass inspection at an LTA-Authorised Inspection Centre (AIC) and meet international standards. - Transmission conversions
Changing from manual to automatic (or vice versa) requires a proposed transmission invoice and manufacturer's certification that the transmission is suitable for the vehicle.
Other modifications that need LTA approval include superchargers or turbochargers and swapping of engines.
Visit here for the full list of modifications that need LTA approval.
https://onemotoring.lta.gov.sg/content/onemotoring/home/owning/modification.html
Prohibited Modifications
Some modification types are outright banned due to their impact on road safety or the nuisance they may pose.
These include:
- Vehicle interior neon lights and undercarriage neon lights.
- Flashing decorative lights or decorative lamps like underbody glow, dashboard LEDs or wiper washer LEDs that may distract and disorient other road users.
- Air horns that are shrill and loud.
- Tow hooks with sharp and hard surfaces.
Such unauthorised modifications can not only attract fines but also invalidate your car insurance.
How Do Modifications Affect Your Car Insurance?
For many car owners, navigating the complexities of vehicle modifications and insurance can be challenging. Modified vehicle insurance is a niche segment of the automotive industry and may have implications on your insurance coverage. Not all insurers offer car insurance for modified cars, and many changes—especially those affecting engine performance, suspension systems, or the exhaust system—can affect your insurance coverage. Even when the modifications do not require LTA approval or have passed LTA inspection, insurers may decline to insure some modified vehicles.
Ensure that you declare any modifications to your insurer for underwriting. Typically, insurers are particularly concerned about modifications that affect how the car operates, such as changes to the engine, exhaust systems, and suspension systems.
This is where modified car insurance becomes relevant—specialised policies or endorsements may be needed to adequately cover cars with significant performance or structural changes.
Important considerations:
- Always declare intended modifications to your prospective insurer, regardless of whether they fall under the car insurance modifications list.
- Some insurance providers may reject coverage for modified vehicles, or adjust premiums accordingly based on the impact on the vehicle's performance.
- Even if a vehicle has passed LTA’s inspection standards, non-disclosure of modifications can lead to claim repudiation.
- Routine maintenance and like-for-like replacements generally don’t require notification.
If you’re unsure what modifications affect car insurance, it’s wise to consult your insurer before proceeding with any changes.
Summary: Play It Safe
- Modifying your car without understanding the LTA’s approval requirements or insurance implications can be costly.
- Always check whether your car modification is legal and declare it to your insurer.
- Consult resources like OneMotoring, the General Insurance Association, or your insurance provider directly for up-to-date regulations and guidance.
Whether it's changing the rolling radius with sports rims or adding radar detection systems, remember that even minor modifications can have major consequences.
For more information on vehicle modifications click on the General Insurance Association website. And of course, OneMotoring.
