Ceramic coating after Headlight restoration?

[sudsmobile]

It was roughly the same price as the Beasley's. I guess longevity is what it is, I'm just trying to maximize it for my customers.

[DaveT435]

Is Dr. Beasley's the stuff? How many pairs of lights will I get out of a kit, I couldn't find that info anywhere. Anything else good? I feel like I should start coating our jobs instead of just hitting them with some sealant.

Opti-lens is great...on everything but Toyota headlights. I couldn't tell you why, but for some reason the stuff doesn't work on Toyota headlights. I've seen over 2 years on other vehicles. Put it on my neighbor's Eclipse which sat outside 24/7 in the Texas sun. He was over two years and they still looked good, he got rid of the car so I don't know how long it lasted after that.

[sudsmobile]

Which is funny because Toyota headlights typically clean up the best.

[Calendyr]

They are probably using a
different type of plastic. Good to know.

[2pennies]

Which is funny because Toyota headlights typically clean up the best.

I also think Toyota and Honda headlights also degrade the MOST and FASTEST. I'm using the Meguiar's coating that came in the Heavy Duty restoration kit and that kit guarantees a year. I did my father's Highlander, a Honda Accord and an Acura TL with it and I am monitoring all 3 vehicles to find out how long it will last while I try to find something better.

Please give us an update in a few months of how the Dr. Beasley's works out for you.

[DBAILEY]

Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth headlights are usually pretty bad too

[derass]

I coated my headlights with CarPro DLux after restoring them. They looked great for about a year before they started to yellow again.

And it's particularity tough up here in Canada when during the winter one has to brush snow and ice off the (coated) headlights. I imagine that sort of scrapes away the coating.

[mc2hill]

You will need to sand the headlights to allow the coating to bond properly. I get good results with DLux here in Florida, somewhere close to 2 years for never-garaged cars. I tried Opti-Lens several years ago on 'polished only' headlights and had to redo them in less than a year. I switched to DLux after the Opti hardended in the syringe.

[Setec Astronomy]

In my experience ceramic coatings on headlights don't last, a few months max. Well, at least the ones designed for paint. Maybe ceramic coatings designed for trim last longer,

IME it doesn't matter if it's one for paint, or one for headlights, like Opti-Lens--see below.

McKee’s has a headlight coating. It claims 3 years, I’m not sure of real world duration. I’ve purchased but won’t use until late fall.

I think there's a difference between how long the coating lasts and how long your repair lasts. I'm sure all the coatings you apply last for a good long time. And everything will be fine if you apply the coating over an intact layer of factory UV protection. The problem is, if the factory coating has failed and you have had to sand it off, none of these paint/trim/lens coatings are thick enough, at 1-2 microns, to protect the lens from UV yellowing. So the coating you apply may still be there and be fine and last for 1-2-3 years, but the polycarbonate lens underneath is going to yellow.

So for my own cars, I just polish them every few months, it only takes a minute. If you do this for a living, I think you need to use one of the real headlight repair systems, with the UV cure "paint". There are a few of them, and that should restore some semblance of the factory protection, and you should be able to warranty.

[DBAILEY]

I agree. If you've sanded off the factory coating then a SiO2 coating should be applied after a UV block clear coat similar to the factory coating has been applied and cured.