Restoration vs. replacement: how to choose

Restoration costs far less, but it does not suit every lens. A few checks will tell you which one you have.

What each one costs

Our own prices are on the left. The replacement figures are what a pair of aftermarket housings and the labour to fit them typically runs on an ordinary car, and dealer parts on a newer vehicle go well past the top of that range.

On a car worth a few thousand dollars, a pair of replacement housings can be a meaningful fraction of what the whole vehicle is worth. That is the arithmetic that decides it for most people, and it is why the checks below matter: restoration is almost always the better answer when the lens will take it.

Restoration is the right call when

• The lens is yellow, cloudy or hazy but structurally intact.
• The haze is on the outside. Run a fingernail across it, or wet the lens: if it temporarily looks clearer when wet, the damage is on the outer surface.
• The housing is dry inside and the reflector still looks bright.
• Everything electrical works.

Replacement is the right call when

• The lens is cracked or has an impact star.
• Condensation or standing water appears inside the housing, meaning the seal has failed and polishing the outside changes nothing.
• The reflector coating is peeling, spotted or has gone dull grey.
• A projector lens is fogged internally, or mounting tabs are broken.

The grey area

Deep pitting from years of highway sandblasting can sometimes be sanded out, as long as the pits are shallower than the material you can safely take off. Have someone look at this one in person before deciding.

If we turn up and find a problem only a new housing will fix, we will say so, and you will not be charged for work that would not have helped.