This is the boring part, but we need to learn it anyway, even if we just teach it to our employees.
Customers often feel awkward when speaking to an automotive technician. Most are curious and just want to see what we do.
So when we greet a customer...
We engage these folks as soon as they look at us. We have learned to ask "what kind of car do you have?"
Everyone likes to give an answer to that question. They don't feel pressured to buy anything and it starts a conversation.
After a cordial introduction, this is how we begin to close the sale --
"Is your car here? Can we take a look at it?"
The first thing we need to do for a new customer is inspect their vehicle to make sure that we are able to help them. Some cars cannot be helped. This is because some people try stupid home remedies before coming to see us.
Most home remedies are harmless, but some are disasters. The disasters include people who paint their headlights with clear-coat spray paint, use Oils, WD-40, Break Fluid, Acetone, Goo Gone or Fingernail polish remover to try to make their headlights look clear again.
One of the most common offenders is Insect Repellant.
People spray insect repellant on their $500 headlights and ruin them. (the oily repellant can penetrate deep inside the plastic and cannot be sanded away.) Any chemical or liquid with a petroleum content will ruin polycarbonate plastic.
Because Klearstar always works like magic, we tend to forget that it only removes environmental weather damage.
It will not remove any of the toxic chemicals people foolishly try on headlights.
To see if your customer's car has anything toxic on it, we simply spray water (as a test) on each headlight before we take each job.
It gives us an opportunity to show the customer a quick idea of what to expect the headlight will look like (except it will look much better) when we actually perform the work.
Water temporarily fills in the microscopic holes in the plastic, which the sun causes when it evaporates the plastic in a process called oxidation.
Road dust and dirt get into these holes and cause the cloudy-like haziness on headlights. Yellowing is not caused by oxidation. Yellowing is a property of polycarbonate plastic as it ages. Bleach is what removes the yellow coloring.
This is the test... If we spray water on the headlight's plastic surface, we should be able to clearly see thru the plastic until the water evaporates. (the water temporarily fills in the microscopic holes so it will make the plastic look transparent again.)
As long as we can see thru clearly, we are good to go. That's because we can tell that environmental oxidation is the only reason, which is causing the haziness. The haziness will be easily removed. "Yes, we can help you!"
The next step is to tell our customer his car will be done in 30 minutes. Never say 10 minutes! Nobody wants to pay $40 for just 10 minutes of work. So we tell everyone it takes 30 minutes!
That way, if we say 30 minutes, one person can always do 3 cars at the same time whenever our shop gets busy during peak work hours.
Once in awhile, a customer may need to visit a junkyard to get a replacement headlight that is OEM. (original equipment manufacturer) Salvage yard cost is usually $30 or $40.
If their headlight is ruined or if the sealed beam has been broken and condensation has formed inside, the headlight will need to be replaced.
Cheap, aftermarket headlights, like the ones sold on eBay, are notoriously short-lived. The plastic is inferior and the seal around the plastic typically lasts only 6 to 12 months, often much sooner. It is why they cost a small fraction of the price of real OEM's. Car dealers buy cheap aftermarkets to move a car off the lot. They don't care if it goes bad 3 months later.
So we always help our customers by telling them they should only buy OEM's at a new car dealership or get used OEM's at a salvage yard. Be safe and only trust the original equipment manufacturer's headlights. They are well worth resurfacing.
