9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

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rydik
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9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by rydik »

I was browsing online for couple of things and came across that kit. Has alot of reviews its unfortunate to see that.
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Re: 9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by t4k »

Yep and Sams/Costco is doing UV cured headlight restorations in their tire department while you wait. I believe it costs $29.95 for both lights!
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Brent Deines
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Re: 9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by Brent Deines »

No doubt we lose some business to the DIY and super low priced big box service but we have a Walmart just up the street from our office and get a fair amount of business from their unhappy customers. Same with the DIY kits purchased in the auto parts stores. Most people are not pleased with the results they get from those, and even those that are, find in a few months the headlights look just as bad or worse than before they "restored" them.

The worst part is consumers sometimes think all headlight restoration is a joke after having tried it themselves or having a big box store do it for them. Those that come into our shop and see our samples understand the difference but who knows how many never check with a professional to see what the results can be like if done properly?
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Old Blue 66
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Re: 9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by Old Blue 66 »

I love this topic.

Id say about half of the retail HLR's I do are from customers who tried it themselves and failed. And when I ask upon initial inspection before I do any work if they had tried something, they almost never want to admit it.

Funny this came up. I have only one other contender in the HLR arena here in the Chicago area. Mobile anyway. I was called by a customer to come out and refinish the lens's on a 2003 Camry that this company did six months ago. They were simply all white. No coating at all. Made my job super easy, I won a friend out of the deal and made $99. I was just there this morning. Customer said the HL's never looked like this when the other guy did his work and it was all by hand. I could tell because the scratch marks were elongated.

If you feel challenged by these shops that claim they can do a HLR, talk to their employees or the managers of the store/shop. They never like doing HLR and will always say they dont look very good. We service a ton of new car dealer service departments for this very reason. Dealers make quite a bit of money off of us. You guys who are struggling really need to get into the service departments at dealers and large service centers with marketing collateral that the service writer can use to sell HLR. Then they just farm the business out to you while the customer has their car there. Its a win/win. We have a ton of accounts that we partner with just like this.

In conclusion, they all come back anyway. We always present ourselves as a premiere solution that customers can trust. If they weren't serviced by us, I don't see any of these as a lost customer, but as a future customer.
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t4k
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Re: 9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by t4k »

Brent Deines wrote:No doubt we lose some business to the DIY and super low priced big box service but we have a Walmart just up the street from our office and get a fair amount of business from their unhappy customers. Same with the DIY kits purchased in the auto parts stores. Most people are not pleased with the results they get from those, and even those that are, find in a few months the headlights look just as bad or worse than before they "restored" them.

The worst part is consumers sometimes think all headlight restoration is a joke after having tried it themselves or having a big box store do it for them. Those that come into our shop and see our samples understand the difference but who knows how many never check with a professional to see what the results can be like if done properly?
Completely agree on all points !!!!!
rydik
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Re: 9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by rydik »

Thanks for all of your input, helps me a lot.
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Re: 9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by candyman »

Good morning ! The Local WM started HLR about 2 years ago. after 6 months they pulled all the signs from the store entrance and you either know they do this service or ask for it. They cant keep a staff to do the tires here, much less trained to do HLR. I picked up a lot of business from customers that were highly dis=satisfied. The lens were better, but they lacked that crystal clear, wow look that we get with the DK system. WM allows me to pass out my fliers in their lot. I would not loose sleep over HF offering the DIY kits either. They drive more business my way. I've done so many locally in my area the past 4 1/2 years, I am the preferred choice, built on quality of my work and no pressure tactics. Car dealers, detail shops, inspection stations, Oil & Tire shops, auto parts stores and local law enforcement . My best source is word of mouth from satisfied customers that trust me with their everyday car and their cherry babies. You guys sleep tight.
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rydik
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Re: 9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by rydik »

Completely agree candyman. Im going to concentrate on alot of used car lots as well. I actually just landed a car lot and he has 40 cars that need restoring, he agreed on $40/ set. extremely excited.
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Re: 9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by candyman »

That's the price I charge high volume dealers. They keep me busy when things are slow. I get additional business from the buyers of those vehicles I restore.
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t4k
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Re: 9.99 hlr kit at harbor freight

Post by t4k »

rydik wrote:Completely agree candyman. Im going to concentrate on alot of used car lots as well. I actually just landed a car lot and he has 40 cars that need restoring, he agreed on $40/ set. extremely excited.
How long does it take you to complete a set of headlights for the quoted price of $40.00?
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