Headlight delamination?
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Headlight delamination?
I was filling my '14 Cayman up at the gas station the other night when I looked down and noticed the headlights appeared to be full of dust or something. It isn't something I notice when they're turned off but I left the car running as it was rather cold out and with the headlights on it's extremely noticeable. Is it normal for dust to get inside them? Upon further inspection I saw a few areas, mostly at the top of both headlights but also in the middle of the right one that looks and feels like some sort of film peeling off. Is this the famous headlight delamination I've heard about? If so is there anything that can be done to slow or stop it from getting worse?
#3
Rennlist Member
#4
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
PPF is not recommended for the original 981/991.1 headlights, I understand that these headlights have a coating that’s will come off when the PPF is removed. I believe Porsche has changed the coating along the way but I don’t know what the cutoff is for the corrective coating.
#5
PPF is not recommended for the original 981/991.1 headlights, I understand that these headlights have a coating that’s will come off when the PPF is removed. I believe Porsche has changed the coating along the way but I don’t know what the cutoff is for the corrective coating.
#6
If this is on the outside I don’t see why a really good body shop couldn’t sand and spray clear coat over this.
#7
Rennlist Member
Regarding PPF on the headlights...yes there is a risk that if the film has to be removed it could damage the oem coating. My installer warned me of this. I opted to have the film installed since there is a higher probability of the lenses being damaged by road debris than the PPF in my opinion.
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#8
Instructor
Thread Starter
Anyone know what the deal is with all the dust intrusion?
#9
Instructor
Same issue here on a 15S, I have the PDLS Plus headlight minus the GTS black housing ones, but the highest they had. I replaced both and bought brand new Headlights. here is the Part Number for the latest revision, and i did install PPF i used Stek since it is not that thick and was tested before with no issues.
#10
Burning Brakes
You sure that's dust on the inside? Looks more like pits on the outside from road grit.
Anyway, haven't tried it on the 981 headlights, but you can almost always sand off the old headlight coating and then polish and recoat. The key to making it last is to use a good UV-resistant coating, I like this UV-cure stuff called Light Right. Did this process on my clouding 987 headlights and they came out like new.
Anyway, haven't tried it on the 981 headlights, but you can almost always sand off the old headlight coating and then polish and recoat. The key to making it last is to use a good UV-resistant coating, I like this UV-cure stuff called Light Right. Did this process on my clouding 987 headlights and they came out like new.
#11
15 CS, I had suntek PPF applied to both headlights. When installer had to redo one of them due to bubbles that didn't go away, peeling off the PPF caused delamination. They had to resurface and re-coat the headlight. Fortunately, only one headlight was affected when peeling off PPF.
#12
Instructor
Thread Starter
#13
Rennlist Member
I am going through this now. I. purchased my 15 boxster GTS CPO'd. I had no issues with the lights initially but they started showing signs of delamination within the past year or so. I brought it in for some recall and showed them the lights and they said they would look into it. They claimed they found glue although I am 1000% positive there was no glue and I never had film on them. They honestly weren't that bad and had some rock chips which is to be expected. They did not inform me of what they were doing and tried polishing them. The end result is far worse than when I brought it to them. Looks like someon clawed at the lenses.
I complained and they said they spoke with Porsche and that Porsche would cover 75% of the replacement cost and installation fee. Book time to R&I headlights is 2.4 hours I can do it in under and hour or less. So nearly $500 in labor. Each light is list of $2774 I can get from sunset for $2013.77 each. These are the black accent lights which is standard on the GTS. So at $6k in replacement costs they want me to cover 25%. I think not. At nearly $1500 I can have them stripped down and recoated for a lot less.
Not sure how much of a stink I should make. What good is a bumper to bumper CPO warranty if I have to cover 25%? Sounds like they screwed the pooch and Porsche is making the dealership eat it and they are trying to get me to cover a large portion of their cost.
Any thoughts?
I complained and they said they spoke with Porsche and that Porsche would cover 75% of the replacement cost and installation fee. Book time to R&I headlights is 2.4 hours I can do it in under and hour or less. So nearly $500 in labor. Each light is list of $2774 I can get from sunset for $2013.77 each. These are the black accent lights which is standard on the GTS. So at $6k in replacement costs they want me to cover 25%. I think not. At nearly $1500 I can have them stripped down and recoated for a lot less.
Not sure how much of a stink I should make. What good is a bumper to bumper CPO warranty if I have to cover 25%? Sounds like they screwed the pooch and Porsche is making the dealership eat it and they are trying to get me to cover a large portion of their cost.
Any thoughts?
#14
I really do not like how the dealer tries to sell you on how great a CPO is, then you find out they did not do all the things on the list, and now screw you on things that are not right that should be covered, I would call them out on it.
#15
Rennlist Member
I think you're right and plan to do so. Lets eee what happens as soon as I get back from Werks.