Clear tail light lenses - ridiculously expensive?
Clear tail light lenses - ridiculously expensive?
There's a local company in my town that does custom plastic casting and a plethora of different things with plastic. I emailed them asked what it would take and cost to make molds of my tail light lenses and cast them in clear plastic instead of red. Here's a copy of the response:
And that's only for one side. For left and right, it's be $1500 for moldings, and $5000 for 25 sets of tails (assuming I'd want all 25 seeing as I'd be paying for a mold that makes 25, wouldn't make sense to get less than that imo). That comes out to be ~$260 for a set of just the lenses WITHOUT a profit.. Is it me, or does that seem absolutely crazy for lenses? If it's not, I can def get these made, as this guy has said, if enough people were interested. Lemme know your thoughts on this.
Hello sir. For parts duplication of this sort, we take a flexible silicon mold from the part and then cast clear urethane. It replicates the part very well and is relatively short lead time. The molds are approximately $750.00 ( I would need to see the actual lens) and the parts are about $100.00 each. The mold can produce up to 25 parts before it needs to be replaced. I hope this helps. Thanks for your interest.
Not worth it IMO. Personally, I'm glad that no company has yet to come out with stupid looking euro tails for our cars. They just cheapen the look of the car. I'm sure it'll happen eventually though.
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It'll look stupid... and you'll still need it to be "euro" style because you will need something that is reflective red inside the tail light to comply with DOT regulations. If you take the cover off now it is chrome with "clear" LEDs... which is illegal.
I'm also VERY thankful no company has come out with these. I hope they never do! There is no market for it.... keep it that way.
I'm also VERY thankful no company has come out with these. I hope they never do! There is no market for it.... keep it that way.
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I'm no expert, someone who has done retrofittings can probably chime in with more info. But I'm still thinking you will never find more then 10 people who want to do this.... and those that do will be banished from here.
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Okay, so there's little to no demand for clear tail lenses, but what about the fronts!?
OP, if you could find someone to UV seal the final product, I think I would actually pay that price for perfect shiny headlight lenses.
The question is, would they last like OEM lenses?
The other question is, am I crazy to say $150 for a pristine lens is worth it?
Oh, and...
OP, if you could find someone to UV seal the final product, I think I would actually pay that price for perfect shiny headlight lenses.
The question is, would they last like OEM lenses?
The other question is, am I crazy to say $150 for a pristine lens is worth it?
Oh, and...
Okay, so there's little to no demand for clear tail lenses, but what about the fronts!?
OP, if you could find someone to UV seal the final product, I think I would actually pay that price for perfect shiny headlight lenses.
The question is, would they last like OEM lenses?
The other question is, am I crazy to say $150 for a pristine lens is worth it?
OP, if you could find someone to UV seal the final product, I think I would actually pay that price for perfect shiny headlight lenses.
The question is, would they last like OEM lenses?
The other question is, am I crazy to say $150 for a pristine lens is worth it?
