Sleipnir
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Does anyone have first hand experience and can recommend a place to get this restoration done? I know that I can do it myself but I don't want to do that. I'm looking in RTP. North Wake, Durham County.
Auto headlight lens restoration
- Thread starter Sleipnir
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Any auto body shop you'd trust locally. Have them sand with 400grit and then spray clearcoat on them car should be about 100 bucks. Take the lights out and take them to the shop. They will go forever.
Any other remedies dont work or last. Like the restoration kits and such.
Then a good set of bulbs. PIAA Extremes are pricey but worth the lighting.
Any other remedies dont work or last. Like the restoration kits and such.
Then a good set of bulbs. PIAA Extremes are pricey but worth the lighting.
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The 3M 5 or 6 step restoration kit works great. I would do it myself. I work at a luxury dealership. We charge $125 per side for headlight restoration. My diy job looks better and lasts longer than the job the guys at work do. Plus, it only cost me $40 and a couple of hours of my time.
My old Subaru headlights that I did still looked brand new 2.5 years later when I sold it.
My old Subaru headlights that I did still looked brand new 2.5 years later when I sold it.
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You can get aftermarket headlights at https://www.rockauto.com/
Rune
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This dude’s been posting on a Triangle-area forum for months now. I don’t have first-hand experience with him, but I’ve been tempted more than once. (Mostly, I’m just tired of being blinded by everyone else’s headlights and want to retaliate with my own 🤣)
I’m in a similar boat. I normally prefer to DIY but I don’t really want to do this job, sanding each headlight 3-4x is not appealing. I’d prefer to pay someone who has more experience but I’m hesitant because I know a basic polish won’t last (I’ve done this a couple times).
I had someone do my wife’s car probably 10yr ago but he no longer does it. I searched fb and there are plenty of people advertising this service, none talk about how they make it last and the couple I messaged didn’t even bother to reply 🤷♂️.
I had someone do my wife’s car probably 10yr ago but he no longer does it. I searched fb and there are plenty of people advertising this service, none talk about how they make it last and the couple I messaged didn’t even bother to reply 🤷♂️.
Ive seen these type of people and I know how it works. They have liquid solution that actually melts the plastic then they add a clear sealer that's a lot like a clear polyurethane you might use to refinish a piece of wood. That solution is also found in Bug repellent and its called Deet. A high concentration of deet will melt plastic and then add the clear poly you have some good looking headlights for a while. The problem is, once you apply the poly and it will fade again ? You not going to be able to refinsh those headlights ever again, its just too had hard of a material to cut thru to get back to the plastic again. I might be wrong, but that my experience I've had with headlight refinishing I've had at the dealership level for many years. No product or process is perfect and some times it cheaper to just replace with new if you plan to keep the vehicle long term.
For anyone interested it is absurdly easy. If you have the stuff and have an hour or two in the afternoon you can do it and get multiple clear coats on it.
Wet sand 600, 800, 1000. Use a spray bottle with water. Clean with alcohol. Let dry a few minutes. Clear coat thin. Dry 15-30. Clear coat again. Walk away. Waxing it the next day won’t hurt.
I sold my car before I had to redo it. Probably a year or so later and it was fine. Need to do my truck now.
Wet sand 600, 800, 1000. Use a spray bottle with water. Clean with alcohol. Let dry a few minutes. Clear coat thin. Dry 15-30. Clear coat again. Walk away. Waxing it the next day won’t hurt.
I sold my car before I had to redo it. Probably a year or so later and it was fine. Need to do my truck now.
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Not sure how long the original headlights last before they need polishing.
New OEM headlight assembly for my '21 is $1200 right now. Can buy a lot of polish for that
Its more then a few years to start noting the discoloration. Of course It really depends on how time the vehicle gets direct sunlight on the lights. Concerning the price of the lights and yours being $1200, I'm not real surprised. It's obviously a new model year and the aftermarket industry hasn't started production yet. Once that vehicle has been on the road for a while and more of them have been built /people crashing them the price goes down. Think I paid $65 each for my Toyota lights, but that's on an older car and they are not DOT certified either.
Years and years ago I knew a Tech at my dealership and he would offer to clean the cloudy headlight on folks cars for .5 hours shop labor time @$125. He used a high speed buffer and a wool buffing pad with liguid buffing compounds and they came looking real nice and only took him maybe 10 min. Course, he also made a really big mess as the liquid would spray all over the car. A Quick hose off in the detail dept fixed all that.
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Once you replace or refinish your headlights, consider getting a pre cut paint protection film (PPF) to put over them. Will both protect and stop the yellowing from UV
If it were me and I could find a set of new headlights for a reasonable price, I’d get them and put PPF on immediately instead of refinishing over and over
If it were me and I could find a set of new headlights for a reasonable price, I’d get them and put PPF on immediately instead of refinishing over and over
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You can buy 2K clear coat in cans. Push a jobber at the bottom to activate. It will be pretty scratch resistant and have UV resistant properties.
Used to use a little bit of Brasso on my old Crown Vic, lenses hazed on that like you wouldn't believe. Brasso knocked off the haze and a little paste wax on top would last for quite a while. Cleared it up very nicely. Not sure I'd use that on a fancy car though.
Spray. Can't find the can right now but it was a small, half size spray can.
First time I taped it all off with newspaper and went all out. Now I just use a piece of cardboard in my off hand to mask off for overspray. I just move it around where I need it.
