Headlight restoration business?

Headlight restoration business?

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Discussion

somnv

Original Poster:

136 posts

202 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
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I recently bought one of these 3M headlight restoration kits for plastic headlights and was amazed at how well they worked… which got me thinking… I wonder if there’s a business opportunity here. Most cars (if not all) have plastic headlights these days and they do fade / get all cloudy or cracked over the years… some more than others of course. I know it would never be a full business but maybe just for some extra spending money. I think although people could buy the kits and do it themselves you need to be a little brave to take sandpaper to your headlights… plus it takes time.

However, maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree… would there be enough people who are bothered enough to have someone come out and restore their headlights for like £60ish? Often times the cars that have the faded lights won’t be worth much anyway?

Any thoughts?

LordHaveMurci

12,034 posts

168 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
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More a hobby that makes a small amount of money than a business I'd have thought. Anybody serious about their cars will do ith themselves, others just won't be bothered.

Frimley111R

15,537 posts

233 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
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Agree, or something to add on to an existing business such as a mobile mechanic, valeter. Can't imagine driving about just cleaning up headlights.

jammy_basturd

29,775 posts

211 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
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Just to sum up the previous two posts, use Google Webmaster Tools to see how many people have searched for "headlight cleaning company"...

Nickyboy

6,700 posts

233 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
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Wait until people learn they can do it with toothpaste and you'll soon go broke

Twin1

89 posts

119 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
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Or I guess you could just piss on their cars.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy_WF5Iei_I

Truckosaurus

11,183 posts

283 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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I would have thought most potential business would come from car dealers and they will already get it done by their local SMART repairer (alongside paint chips/wheel curbing/etc) during car prep.

I don't think the general public would be interested until it their car fails its MoT.

Another option to think of would be to buy faded headlights cheaply from the local scrappy and tart them up and then sell on eBay.

Undirection

467 posts

120 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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Truckosaurus said:
Another option to think of would be to buy faded headlights cheaply from the local scrappy and tart them up and then sell on eBay.
Sounds like something for the £500 business challenge thread!

addsvrs

582 posts

215 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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The cost of replacing headlights isnt that expensive (i know as i sell them), the kits to clean them are relatively cheap, not bad idea in buying them faded and restoring them but you will soon get fed up with the effort required vs profit made. Any ones i have in like that, normally Vauxhalls, i just chuck in the bin as its not worth the effort.

somnv

Original Poster:

136 posts

202 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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Thanks for the thoughts. Maybe not worth it I guess. Mine were on my Porsche 996 which tend to suffer and replacing them would have been crazy expensive. Even for the cheaper ones people would still have to pay to have them fitted if they replace them. I just don't know if enough people would really be bothered enough to pay someone to restore them though, unless they get really bad.

daemon

35,724 posts

196 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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addsvrs said:
The cost of replacing headlights isnt that expensive (i know as i sell them), the kits to clean them are relatively cheap, not bad idea in buying them faded and restoring them but you will soon get fed up with the effort required vs profit made. Any ones i have in like that, normally Vauxhalls, i just chuck in the bin as its not worth the effort.
+1

Headlights for most cars are relatively cheap. Any i came upon with bad headlights when motor trading i just replaced them - Toyota Yaris's seem particularly bad but its a cheap job to replace them.

Dont think theres a job in it - or even a part time job - by the time you take in the cost of advertising and the travel between jobs. And TBH most people wont bother, until such times as its an MOT fail, then the cars in a garage anyway and they'll just replace them.


bogie

16,342 posts

271 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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some detailers offer headlight restoration as an option for like £30 as part of a detail

I cant imagine there is a business solely in doing the lights ...you need to build up a clientele to keep yourself in business cleaning the cars in your region first...

jammy_basturd

29,775 posts

211 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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If it takes hours to get to the headlights on a Golf, then it is not going to be possible to clean them for £60 (essentially an hours work at most). Nor does a target market consisting of one car marque make a business.

daemon

35,724 posts

196 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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thelittleegg said:
I think there might be a business in it.

I bought a MkV Golf last summer and the previous owner had got fed up with the costs of running it. At the last service, he had paid over £400 to have both headlights replaced because they were old and frosted/discoloured.

If you look on ECP, the cheapest MkV headlights in stock (normal colour, not black chrome) are £81.60 each. So minimum £163.20 for a pair and you have to spend several hours fitting them yourself.

Or, as per your idea, you can pay a chap £60 to come out and make them look sparkly and new. If you really can do this for £60 a go, even garages might be interested. They can tell punters that their headlights are frosted up and need replacing for £400, or they can get them polished up to 99% like new for £100. They make £40 for doing sod all.

And lets not forget that some people would prefer to have original lenses retained and polished, rather than pay money for cheap aftermarket replacements, especially when cars are getting older and original parts hold a certain value.

Saying it's not worth it because replacement parts are cheap is looking at it from just one perspective which could be short sighted. It's like saying that there's no market for wheel refurb companies because aftermarket alloys are cheap. Obviously I'm not saying it's easy, as like any business, you need to build up a client base and advertise, but I wouldn't say it's dead in the water.
Quote commonly said "there may be a gap in the market for this, but is there a market in the gap?"

Theres clearly a market for alloy wheel refurb as you can get a smart repair from £30, when even a new aftermarket rim costs £100, and you'd have to replace all four.

Not so much with headlights. I'd say 80% of the time you could buy a new, warranted, replacement light for a similar price as a refurb. And garages wont see it as "an easy £40" if they charge £100, because (a) they'll have to charge VAT, so they'll be charging £83+VAT, so they're getting £27 and (b) they'll have lost all the revenue and profit on the parts they could otherwise have sold which would be a lot more than £27.

Given theres unlikely to be repeat business from a private customer, the "client base" you'd need to build would be large garages, and i dont think that enough < 5 year old cars (which is what most dealers stock) would have headlight problems for them to have you on speed dial.

I dealt in the sub £5000 bracket when motor trading - your most likely target market - and i'd say even with selling 20 cars a month for a couple of years and seeing an easy 10 cars a day in the trade the amount of cars that would have benefitted from this could have been counted on the fingers of your right hand.

daemon

35,724 posts

196 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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thelittleegg said:
I don't see why the sub £5k bracket is the target market. Of course cars under £5k are more likely to have misted headlights, but they are also the cars where replacement parts and second hand ones are going to be pretty cheap. But even then, as I illustrated above, a cheaper mobile service might be preferable to getting a garage to replace them. And it's cars above that price range where people are happy to spend money tidying their car up even if it's not completely necessary. And lets not forget that cars above £5k are more likely to have expensive replacement parts, which makes a mobile restoration service far, far preferable.

Obviously there are companies out there doing it already, so someone must be making some money. No reason for the OP not to try, but just don't quit your day job yet biggrin
Yeah, maybe the market is Porsches and stuff like that and then simply charge more, based on the fact that even £100 a headlight is a fraction of the cost of a new headlight for them.

Dont think its a mass market thing though.

addsvrs

582 posts

215 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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I sell headlights / rear lights etc, all used but in good condition i.e no hazing. The fact you can get a used working headlight from about £15 delivered speaks volumes to the cheapness of buying a whole unit. The OP was about doing it for a business, as many have said a side line may well be the best option.

daemon

35,724 posts

196 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
addsvrs said:
I sell headlights / rear lights etc, all used but in good condition i.e no hazing. The fact you can get a used working headlight from about £15 delivered speaks volumes to the cheapness of buying a whole unit. The OP was about doing it for a business, as many have said a side line may well be the best option.
Maybe the market lies in premium cars though? Porsches and stuff.

Had a quick google and theres a crowd in london does it but it seems to be for high end stuff.

Maybe if you can charge £100 a light where a new light is £700 or a S/H one is £300 then thats where the (niche) is?


somnv

Original Poster:

136 posts

202 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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It's true, you don't need to remove the headlights to carry out the restoration.

As I mentioned at the start "I know it would never be a full business but maybe just for some extra spending money." I know I'd never get enough customers to make a living out of it anyway. That said it may not even be enough for that but then it would costs pennies to set up... only need the kit and a drill! Advertising would be the biggest cost.

addsvrs

582 posts

215 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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Maybe true regarding top end cars. As for advertising, there is a bloke on Ebay who refurbs E39 BMW / Jaguar stype lights, mainly the adjusters, simple advert / listing, think you send them off to him and he does the rest. I know he has bought some from me, done his stuff and listed them for more. Also joining groups local to you on Facewaste, cars for sale type of groups, maybe a cost free way to test the market ?