As you know, we bought a used car last year for our kids to learn on/use for commuting to work. It’s a 2007, and the headlights on it were rather foggy/dim.
While Joshua was cleaning the car the other week, he tried the toothpaste fix I’d read about on the internet (you scrub the headlight with traditional, not gel, toothpaste) and it’s supposed to make the headlights glossy again.
At first we thought this had worked, but nope. As soon as the headlights dried, they were back to being pretty dull.
So, Mr. FG did a little poking around online and found this highly rated headlight restoration kit for less than $20.
We ordered it, and Joshua followed all the directions to a T. There are a fair number of steps, and the process does take some elbow grease, but his headlights are significantly clearer and less yellow than they were before.
Joshua says he notices all the cloudy headlights on other cars now, and he wishes he could tell people they could fix it for $20 + a little effort!
Clear headlights make even an older car look far newer, and the light output is a lot better when the bulb isn’t trying to shine through hazy plastic.
So.
If you’ve got cloudy headlights and the toothpaste thing hasn’t worked for you, definitely give this kit a try.
Buy it here on Amazon for $19, or you can check a brick and mortar auto parts store as well (we got ours on Amazon.)
J
Friday 7th of July 2017
Someone spent $55,000.00 (Yowza!) on a brand new Infiniti 20 years ago. 2 owners and 13 years later we buy the car in great condition, and the only thing showing it's age were the cloudy head lights! We bought a similar kit at the local auto parts store and they look brand new! We've had 2 strangers offer to buy our hard-to-find luxury car.
Unfortunately, someone failed to yield in an intersection and crunched my fender when I hit them a few months back :(
On a frugal note: While now boogered up, my car is still drivable. Their insurance paid for the damage and we pocketed the cash to go towards our next car.
Isabelle
Monday 3rd of July 2017
Arghhh, wanted to get the headlights restauration kit, but for us canadians it's 55$. Too bad :(
Meredith Heintz
Saturday 1st of July 2017
Hi Kristen,
We just used the product from Amazon and amazed of the difference. The headlights look brand new!
Thanks for the information.
Don Hall
Saturday 1st of July 2017
Hi Kristen,
$58 on Amazon.ca
Shawn D.
Friday 30th of June 2017
Toothpaste does indeed work well, but you cannot simply hand-scrub. To do any decent headlight plastic restoration, you really need to use mechanical means (a foam pad on a drill, for example). Make sure to not let the area you're polishing dry out, and don't linger on one section (which can burn/melt that location).
You do not need to get specific "headlight" kits -- most automotive plastic polish (NOT Armor-All or any surface treatment) will work. Meguiar's has a great plastic polish.
If you need to polish glass, Bon-Ami works well, or for more serious cloudiness removal, cerium oxide is recommended. Again, this is for glass only. As with plastic, use mechanical means.
Shawn D.
Friday 30th of June 2017
I should add that the wet/dry sandpaper used in the mentioned kit (400, 1000 & 2000 grit) can be obtained at many hardware stores and auto body supply shops (the latter will also have handy flexible sanding blocks and the aforementioned plastic polish and foam pads), but unless the headlights have a really bad surface finish, you might not need the sandpaper (if your fingernail catches on the headlight surface, you definitely need it). You absolutely must keep the surface wet when sanding, preferably with a slow stream to flush the sanding debris. The flexible sanding blocks are very helpful in ensuring even pressure on the sandpaper, preventing you from sanding finger grooves into the plastic.