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I do not begin to pretend that I have used every kit or every product out there, but I have had many, many customers that after buying kits, and other headlight cleaning products, call me and bring the car to me anyway, some believing that they have ruined their lights. So after they have wasted several hours of their valuable time and they are out the money for the do it yourself solution, now are paying me to fix the problem.
I have had others show me their headlights after they have restored them and seem to be proud of their results. Then I ask them to let me redo one of their headlights to show them what a TRUE HEADLIGHT RESTORATION is all about. They can't believe their eyes. I have also done this for used car dealership managers and have won accounts from other vendors who say they do headlights.
In my opinion, Some of The Problems with Kits and Other Products.
Many of the kits use some kind of a clear coat and call it a UV protection, they will sand off some of the bad plastic and to cover over scratches and what bad material they leave behind with this clear coat. The problem is that the oxidized plastic or other debris that remains on the headlight will still not let light shine through, even though the headlights seem to be clearer, than they were when they started. The clear coat will also in many if not most cases start to crack and peel in a short time due to applying it over a not so clean surface and/or the constant temperature changes that take place. Some kits do NO sanding, they just use a chemical cleaner and then clear coat. How bad is that???
I have challenged ones to let me pick the headlights, they use a kit and I use my process and I have not lost yet.
I will in the near future be showing pictures of some of these challenges.
I have even had a kit sales representative ask me if there was not room in the used car business for both of us? because I was taking so many of his customers. (used car dealers).
More on kits later.
Summary: In my opinion, the average do it yourself-er" will not get the results that will please him. Not for the money and time, that he will spend. In most cases I can restore your headlight to a nearly factory new condition, At a very, affordable price.
To view one man's experience go to this link and read.
http://screamingreviews.com/fast-brite- ... rk-at-all/
Tom Wood uses kits and does it in-house and unlike many of the other dealerships that I work for where the used car managers choose which venders to use they tell their people who to use, no matter if they can get it done better.
I have always felt that the man with his hand on the plow will plow a straighter line if he is not being told where to go, by someone standing afar off trying to direct him or micro manages him. If he can't be trusted to make sound decisions, why is he working for you, if you can't trust him???
I have also had a service representative from Tom Wood VW North, tell me that they have been thru three different kits and really haven't found one that matches the work we do (but it's cheaper).
A used car manager, also from another Tom Wood Store, on the north side said to me, that he was told to use the in-house guy, even though he likes our work better because it was far superior to what they have. I have personally seen their guys work and it is without a doubt substandard work (in my opinion).
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Well, Well I just this morning had a manager from Ray Skillman in Greenwood tell me, "If it was going to be my headlights done on my car or that of a family member or one of my friends, I would not use our service. I would unquestionably have you guys (BLN) do it. I know our guys can't even come close to the quality of work done by you. You are the Real Deal."
Before I could leave the dealership I had a sales person stop me and ask me for a card and he said, and I quote, "I will be calling you, I wouldn't use our guys for my car."
They advertise that they are using the 3M kit.
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Like the restoration kits I do not pretend to know all there is to know about every aftermarket (A.M.) replacement headlights that can be bought. What I will say is this, if you find a cheap aftermarket headlight there could be a very good reason that they are cheap, and that is because, they are cheap .
I used to work for a golf club maker who would buy and build golf clubs using cheap knock offs (copies of brand names) from china and I know from this experience that you do get what you pay for. Not always, but usually, when someone is selling you something for much less than half the price of an OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) part he is cutting corners somewhere.
I have seen that some of these A.M. lights, when trying to install them, the bolt holes do not always lineup properly, or they strip or break very easily. The plastic is usually very much cheaper and thinner than OEMs. And so that fading and yellowing, fogginess that happens, that caused you to need replacements in the first place, happens much faster. Also the seals that keep water out are often not as durable as there OEM counterparts. What this means is that more often than not they will in short order fail and allow water to get in, and that is a whole other set of problems.
I had a man call and ask what I charged to fix his headlights and I quoted him a price of $130.00 and he said that's way too high I can get NEW replacements online for $110.00 each. So why would I give you $130.00 just to fix my old ones? Good question. Let me answer that.
1. As mentioned above the problems that one could experience with cheap copies should stop and make you think.
2. When I am done, you will have a factory, Original equipment manufactured headlight that is in nearly factory new condition, something that if you bought could cost you hundreds of dollars.
3. And in this case I do not understand the man's confusion any way. He was going to pay at least $220.00 (plus shipping) for these cheap copies and then have to install them himself, and on his car you have to drop the bumper to do this. If I did this job for him and, I have extensive experience taking off and putting back on this bumper, it would take me about an hour to an hour and a half to change out these lights. So I ask, what is he thinking? Spend $90.00 more and have to do the work himself, if he can.
There are times that I might personally buy the cheap A.M. light myself. One of them is if I knew that I was not going to keep the car and was going to sell (not to a friend or family member) the car or trade it in. I would let someone else have the headache. On my personal car that I was going to rely on for getting me and my family around safely, never!
The Headlight Guy
www.brightlightsnow.com
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I had the privilege this week of fixing 2 more sets of headlights that were done by one of the CHEAP guys. The customers were out not only my fee but the $50.00 and less to the other guys. Go figure.
The Headlight Guy
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This section is for question and general comments.
The Headlight Guy
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