Head light lens protection

[Charlie]

I just bought a Genesis sedan for my wife for her birthday. I am shopping around for a headlight lens protection kit for it. I have seen one that looks good from Invisible Mask. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I have a 2004 PT Cruiser GT turbo that I have protectors on but that was on Ebay and I do not see any for the Genesis.

Charlie

 

[Mark_888]

Are you afraid of the lens cracking? That seems a little obscure to me on a car with a very aerodynamic front end. I can understand about paint chips, but I don't think it is very easy to crack the headlight lens unless you live in area that has some pretty big rocks.

 

[scottdk]

Are you afraid of the lens cracking? That seems a little obscure to me on a car with a very aerodynamic front end. I can understand about paint chips, but I don't think it is very easy to crack the headlight lens unless you live in area that has some pretty big rocks.

Right on Mark. I'm not sure the need/want and the extra expense that IMO seems unneeded.

 

[Disaster]

Clear films aren't much help or designed for cracking. They are designed to protect against abrasions...much like the clear films put on PDAs. In fact, they use similar materials. You will also see this material in the rock paint chip zone of some cars, like Porsches.

By the way, you can buiy the materials and cut them yourself, instead of buying them precut to your lens cover size.

 

[scottdk]

Clear films are much help or designed for cracking. They are designed to protect against abrasions...much like the clear films put on PDAs. In fact, they use similar materials. You will also see this material in the rock paint chip zone of some cars, like Porsches.

By the way, you can buiy the materials and cut them yourself, instead of buying them precut to your lens cover size.

I understand your point, but out of all the car owners on the forum, how many people have actually had a cracked headlight?? Of course some may respond confirming, but the actual number of people would be probably around 2%. Just my .02

 

[Disaster]

I understand your point, but out of all the car owners on the forum, how many people have actually had a cracked headlight?? Of course some may respond confirming, but the actual number of people would be probably around 2%. Just my .02

I meant to say clear films AREN'T to protect from cracking. The protection is for scratching. All plastic headlights get scratched. The covers prevent that and are much cheaper to replace than a headlight. Having said that, I've never been inclined to use one.

 

[Sayantsi]

I can think of two products - Speedfilm and 3M. Both are clear films designed to keep the plastic from abrading over time, but I don't know if there is a specific application for our cars.

Edit -

Speedfilm does have a healdight kit for $70, in addition to other kits to cover the body panels.

http://www.xpel.com/products/config...=1&year=2009&make=16&model=3166&submodel=5995

 

[scottdk]

Keep in mind a clear cover will still block a small percentage of light. Just like clear, factory UNtinted glass blocks about 4% of light.

May not be a deal-breaker.

 

[Charlie]

The reason I use the lens protectors is not for lens being cracked. As was mentioned in another post it is for for chipping and also slows the process of the lens turning milky. I have not noticed any noticeable change in the brightness of the headlights on my Cruiser or the other two cars I have had them on in the past. I have another question. Other than the dealer where can I get touch up paint, the car is titanium Gray? I went by Pep Boys yesterday and they have every color of the rainbow. I noticed there touch up paints are very limited for the Hyundai. I live in So. CA

Charlie

 

[Mark_888]

The reason I use the lens protectors is not for lens being cracked. As was mentioned in another post it is for for chipping and also slows the process of the lens turning milky. I have not noticed any noticeable change in the brightness of the headlights on my Cruiser or the other two cars I have had them on in the past. Charlie

Maybe I am wrong, but the headlight lens on the Genesis (which is not really a lens, but a plastic cover in front of the self-contained bulb) is not likely to turn milky, nor is it likely to chip. You might want to price the part at your Hyundai dealer since it may not be much more expensive than the film.

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[Sayantsi]

Actually Mark, with the new style of headlight assemblies (aka plastic, not glass), this is a common problem - eventually the clear plastic becomes so scratched or dried out that it becomes opaque, and the UV coating on the surface dries out and yellows. The remediation options are to sand, buff and recoat the UV layer to get back the like-new look, which can be done yourself or professionally, to replace the light assembly wholesale, which is expensive, or to apply a plastic film over the lights to take the abuse and protect the lights.

The film, at $70 for the set, is the least expensive option and is proactive. You can refinish the headlights yourself, but that is an ongoing project, and replacing the lights wholesale is expensive. Headlight assemblies are large pwre-assembled pieces that are glued together - you can't buy just the clear lens, you need to buy the whole assembly, and they are typically ~$300 each.

This thin film is also used on the car body panels and can be used on windshields to protect them from pitting and wear. Its the new-age car bra of sorts - works better and is less noticable.

 

[postalav8]

How much heat does the headlights produce? I do not know the answer but only bring up the point because on a different forum for my other car, lenses have cracked due to a film being placed on the lenses.

 

[nearwater]

How much heat does the headlights produce? I do not know the answer but only bring up the point because on a different forum for my other car, lenses have cracked due to a film being placed on the lenses.

I read about that issue before.
Is your other car a Vette, by any chance?

Dan

 

[postalav8]

I read about that issue before.
Is your other car a Vette, by any chance?

Dan

Nail on head.

 

[Mark_888]

Actually Mark, with the new style of headlight assemblies (aka plastic, not glass), this is a common problem - eventually the clear plastic becomes so scratched or dried out that it becomes opaque, and the UV coating on the surface dries out and yellows.

I have definitely seen older style headlight lenses that turned yellowish and opaque, but I will have to admit that I have not seen it on the new clear plastic coverings. I guess I will have to pay more attention to other cars in the parking lot to see if I see one like that.

I think that part of the problem is parking a car in the sun, which is brutal on most plastics, but I don't do that very often, so I am not going to worry about it. I also don't live in cold weather states were streets are heavily sanded in winter (and this kick up a lot of rocks).

 

[Sayantsi]

Yes, sun will dry plastic out quickly, and grit like sand and stones will scratch the plastic. There is a growing industry of products to refinish headlights because of this, some work well, some don't, and products like Speedfilm are designed to protect the plastic from grit at least.

 

[ttsig]

At 37K miles, the headlights are my Genny have obvious pitting. Not horrible, but easily visible from certain angles. I don't really consider it a big deal right now, but I do wonder how much it will degrade by 100K miles, much less 200K. And yes, I do plan to drive my Genny until the wheels fall off, if I don't get to at least the upper 100K mile range I'll be disappointed.

 

[Charlie]

My cars do not sit out in the sun for long periods of time. My wife and I are retired so we do not have to leave the cars outside while we are at work. The Chrysler 300M which the Genesis replaced had the the chipping and milky lens problem starting after about 5 yrs. I have never noticed a problem of lens protection failure due to heat from the lights.

I appreciate all the input from my original question. Thanks to all of you.

Regards,

Charlie

 

[QuantumRift]

I'm bumping this. Plastic lensed/housed bulbs now are terrible when it comes to scratching, cracking and yellowing. The '06 Sonata we had, when I traded it last summer for the Genny, well, by that time I'd had to use a headlight restoration kit on it twice. Out here, the SUN is brutal, and we often get into dustdevils, dust storms and heavy winds with blowing dust. Not to mention lots of construction. SO I got online and ordered, from Xpel ( http://www.xpel.com/products/headlight_protection.asp ) a kit for the Genesis. I think it was something like $65 for the four sheets...fog lights and headlights.

When you consider that the headlight housings now retail for over $500, well, it makes sense to get some protection for the housings. Anyways, that was towards the fall, so one day I decided to install them (I'd done some googling for videos, etc). Well, I got the foglamp films on just fine...as the fog lights are flat...no problem. The headlights, due to their severe curvature, were another story. I started then stopped realizing that it was beyond my skills...I checked with one tinting shop and he said he doesn't touch 'em and the other one said to make an appointment. I didn't get around to it until this past spring (not to worry, we do not drive the Genny a lot and there was no apparent damage or abrasions on the lights). I called the local tint shop and the guy did a pretty good job for $60 installing the things. It has to be heated with a heat gun and stretched while trying to slide it on and stick it...so now we're happy with it. The films, while not invisible (once dirty you can notice their presence, but they wipe right off). The fogs are holding up well.

The thing with the plastic lensed lights is that ANYTIME you wipe them, it needs to be done the right way or the plastic will scratch....over time, with UV exposure, they start to look crappy. Before the 'advent' of headlight restoration kits, I used to buy stuff for marine use...boats...to restore plastic windshields, etc and it worked fine on headlights. Cheaper too.

 

[Charlie]

I had a set of the lens protectors put on my wifes Genesis at a tint shop about a month after we bought the car. I put the ones on the parking lights and the tint shop did the head lights. I bought the protectors on the INTERNET for about $70.00 and the labor to have the head light lens done was another $60.00.

I have a 2004 PT Cruiser and I had protectors put on it when it was new.

I am an old guy (80 yrs old) and I am not familiar with the term "I am bumping this". What does that mean?

Charlie