Very Impressed with Headlight Restore Kit (pics)

[nathanours]

Hey all, I recently went to Auto Zone and noticed they had Turtle Wax brand headlight restore kits on sale for only $6. My headlights were completely foggy looking and not clear at all. There was no yellowing, but the kit says it also works for that as well. Anyway, I was thrilled with how well my car looked after it was done. These are the original 14 year old headlights, and this took about an hour of work. Just wanted to let anyone know about this that may have headlights that looked like mine. Sorry, no before pics, I wasn't expecting much, but here are the results:

[Disturbed Edge]

Look great. I bought a kit awhile back with good results as well. Noticed over the years after doing the sanding and buffing jobs they seem to haze over after a few months so I started clearcoating mine.

[iovaykind]

Looks good! Just hopefully it won't yellow quickly.. because it might, now that the top protective coat is gone

[nathanours]

The kit comes with its own special sealant you apply that is supposed to be good for 5 years to prevent yellowing. Even before though, they were never yellowed at all to begin with, only foggy.

I would not mind spending $10 a year even to keep em looking like new though. You seriously sand off only about 1/3 of a mm of material out of around half an inch so you'd be good using a kit like this about 15 times I'd guess before the material gets too thin. The sealant dries and sort of adds a layer of thickness as well.

[96ToyoCam164K]

I don't know...I tried the sanding thing and it made my original headlights all chalky.

I find it easier to just order new ones from online for $46 LOL. Makes the car look brand new.

From experience, most of the extremely yellow headlights are from water in the inside.

[Mister_Perkins]

We use a kit at my workplace for clearing the headlamps. It works really really good.

Comes with a foam block, wet / dry sand paper, Silicone / wax Removing Spray, microfiber cloths, clearcoat, and High powered lights on a stand.

you spray the silicone / wax removing spray on it liberally and then wet sand the headlight ... then once you wet sand it and get the light evenly sanded, you grab the microfiber cloth and wipe it down. Then spray the clear coat on it, and grab the light stand it comes with and put it one each head light for 7 minutes to allow the headlight clearcoat to harden.

Very Effective, and the headlights look like new. Thanks for sharing, Headlight looks really good!

[mail2_jb]

I used a Meguairs kit from walmart ($15) and am really impressed with it (~10min per lense to clean it). It doesn't come with clear coat. Just their plastiX scratch remover, microfiber and a polishing pad that you attach to your drill. It is been going strong for 2 years now, I started to see little bit of fading now.

[Jawadali]

Originally Posted by nathanours

Hey all, I recently went to Auto Zone and noticed they had Turtle Wax brand headlight restore kits on sale for only $6. My headlights were completely foggy looking and not clear at all. There was no yellowing, but the kit says it also works for that as well. Anyway, I was thrilled with how well my car looked after it was done. These are the original 14 year old headlights, and this took about an hour of work. Just wanted to let anyone know about this that may have headlights that looked like mine. Sorry, no before pics, I wasn't expecting much, but here are the results:

Does the Turtle Wax kit require a drill or any other special tools?

I have been meaning to do this to my headlights too, as they have gotten quite foggy. I have heard decent things about the 3M kit, and have seen the Meguairs , but it requires a drill. Since I just moved, I don't have a drill (or any other real tools, for that matter).

[fenixus]

I use Turtle Wax kit from Autozone too. the pads are good and reusable, almost indestructible
Used it like 6-7 times already and still have 50% left of both the wet sanding lubricant and the rubbing/wax compound.

Posted my pics here some time ago:
review: Turtle Wax head light lens restorer kit

good kit. I like it.
I heard that pads in 3M's kit get destroyed easily. I never tried the kits for a drill, always used my own elbow (~10-15 mins per lamp does the trick).

I like the outcome on OP's car, lamps look great!