Headlight Lens Restoration

[LeetViet]

Tried the Turtle Wax Headlight Lens Restorer kit. Worked out okay for 15 minutes of work. It came with a "sealant" wipe, so we'll see how long the fix lasts.

http://imgur.com/Pmn1G68.jpg
http://imgur.com/V6gvZ68.jpg

[CTScott]

I used that kit on my daughter's 2006 XB, when we purchased it last October. The headlights looked even worse than yours and they still look perfect, a year later.

[bairjo]

Well that's good to here...ill try this on my sons Avalon. Got to be better than tooth paste,

[shepd]

Well that's good to here...ill try this on my sons Avalon. Got to be better than tooth paste,

Toothpaste works well. You just have to wet sand with various grits (From "coarse" (more like 500 grit) down to very fine (1000+ grit). After that, polish with toothpaste.

Once that's all done, rinse up the toothpaste, allow the headlight to dry. Apply several coats of clearcoat (krylon makes some nice stuff made for plastics). This method will last several years. I got 5 years of good headlights on my last vehicle, would have been more if it didn't go to the junkyard.

[soldout]

I wax my headlights every week after I wash my car.

Like posted above headlights are painted with a clearcoat from the factory and therefore need to be treated just like any other painted surface on your Yaris.

If you just remove the oxidized layer from the surface most likely it will return within a year if its an outdoor car and you dont continue to protect the lens from UV. Sometimes even worse since youve already removed some of the old clearcoat which has UV blockers mixed in.

[Kalispel]

I wax my headlights every week after I wash my car.

Like posted above headlights are painted with a clearcoat from the factory and therefore need to be treated just like any other painted surface on your Yaris.

If you just remove the oxidized layer from the surface most likely it will return within a year if its an outdoor car and you dont continue to protect the lens from UV. Sometimes even worse since youve already removed some of the old clearcoat which has UV blockers mixed in.

What do you wax it with? A special lens substance, or your regular paint wax?

[soldout]

I dont use it if it dont say Mothers on the bottle.


No really any paste or liquid wax that your using for your paint can go on your headlights, taillights, windows, lisence plates, carbonfiber, wheels, anything painted or clearcoated should have wax on it as its first layer of defense against UV.

[bairjo]

[quote=shepd;769935]Toothpaste works well. You just have to wet sand with various grits (From "coarse" (more like 500 grit) down to very fine (1000+ grit). After that, polish with toothpaste.

I'll keep that in mind....I just hope my dental hygienist doesn't by into this....thanks.

[07liftback]

It looks alot better than what you started with for sure. I used the 3M headlight restoration kit that I got from Amazon for around $10 shipped on sale and it worked great. Basically sanded down the lens with a low grit, then moved to a much finer grit sand paper. Then just polished it up with rubbing compound and a wax sealant that was provided.

[SirDigby]

BG makes a great kit. it's expensive at $65, but it has 3 different gritts of sandpaper, a plastic prep, and a UV protectant that you apply and seal with a heat gun. works great. 3M makes a good kit too, but the UV protectant isn't great, and it wears after about a year/18 mo.

[indepth2]

Oxidation is not a big problem. As long as you don't remove the UV protection with sandpaper or abrasive polish you can keep the lens clear. Oxidation comes off instantly without damaging the UV layer by using a non abrasive liquid deoxidizer for acrylic lens.