Show Me the Light

The 17 year old headlights are so yellow and oxidized they are just about dead. I'd love OEM replacements, can't afford them, Santa ain't bringing them, so I'm thinking eBay. I figure I will have to do a little silicone seal work before installing. Anybody have these? About $70 on eBay, same item at Amazon is over $100.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3148794106...kafuao7qss&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

Restore them. I used Meguiars heavy duty restore kit on my 15 year old lights a few years ago and they still look like new. I just spray them with UV Protectant once a year and they are good. The truck is outside 24/7. Here’s a pic
The lights you show are made in china. They are likely crap

 

Save yourself some grief and spend the extra money on oem.... you won't regret it.

 

Check am-autoparts

 

I purchased some ebay aftermarket headlights, look very good but do not reftact the light correctly looks like spotted shit at night.

 

I have aftermarket DEPO which has a good reputation.

With harness and bulbs upgrade.

Not going to waste my time touching original 15yo headlights for a halfass result.

AL PVD halogen plastic is not worth $600.

 

Half ass results?? What an ignorant and completely pathetic statement. You only get half ass results if you do a half ass job. My lights look like new but of course I didn’t do a half ass job like some do.

 

O.E.M.!!!
I started wet sanding and actual automotive clear coat. Look brand new.

 

You may want to redo that. Automotive clear might not hold up. Im waiting to redo mine with wet sanding an a 2k headlight rated clear coat.

https://www.amazon.com/SMT-3684068-...d=14873933324175123773-B09642P1XQ-&hvexpln=73

 

I did three.
one turned yellow again. Other didn’t keep the car.
Third had a pro do it. Didn’t last.

generally old plastic is old and has been penetrated and yellowed by UV.

if it works for you, great.

materials have cost. Labor has cost. It was cheaper to put DEPOs years ago and so far no issues that I’m aware of. And resolved burned TSB signal area internal to the light that lens work would not address.

halogen by definition is a cheap disposable as basic as it gets headlight not worth $100 of work. Below HID. Below LED. It’s not an expensive bi-xenon e code. Regardless of how much someone may mark it up over their production cost to make profit. There is what a part actually is. And mark up. Which Toyota seems to do. And other MFGs for sure do.

 

Many people do not have good success when they restore headlight lenses. They polish the headlights until they are clear then sit back and complain when the lights start to fog and yellow after 6 months or so. The reason they get hazy again is that a UV protectant isn’t applied. I apply UV protectant twice a year (even though it only calls for once a year) and my lights remain clear as new (or almost new). I originally did my lights about 7 years ago. I did a 15 minute touch up on them about 2 years ago. Here’s a pic I took 2 weeks ago. It’s not a good pic of my head light but it shows how clear it (still) is. The pic was meant to be of the scratches on my bumper , (which are now painted and can’t be seen)but it shows one of my headlights. Also a pic of the protectant I use.

 

I may, time will tell. I have a new bottle of the 2 stage 2k, but it just so happened I had the hood on my Sienna being painted AND a spare set of (O.E.M. h.i.d.) so I figured I'd try. Worked great! We'll see how rhwy do? So far excellent

 

One headlight is newer than the other, replaced by the previous owner after a minor crash. The difference is noticeable. The newer one will buff out, the OEM one won't. The plastic is just baked.

 

These are 15 year old originals (got replaced with the smoked in post #3) and had never been restored/buffed, ect. Installed Expel uv headlight film when new... that's it. Truck spent half it's life parked outside in the sun (High Desert of Central Oregon.) Back then the film was thick... real pita to work with. The film now days is alot thinner... hoping it works just as well.

 

Mequire's "PlastX" Clear Plastic Cleaner and Plastic Polish works well to restore initial clouding on my OEM 2014 units. They are still fairly decent even after 10 years. It's not as aggressive as their two-part product, and it brings them back and it lasts for 10-12 months. I haven't had to spray them with any clear-coat yet. The label says good for convertible top windows, tail lights, helmet shields, etc.

Most of the clouding seems to be along the top edges of the units. When/if they get too far gone, I will save my money and replace them with OEM units. The aftermarket choices all seem to suffer condensation failures within a short period of time and you'll end up shelling out close to the OEM price anyway if you have to replace them twice.

It also brings back the 3rd brake light on my truck: >>to a point<<: it still looks a little worn and dull no matter how much you polish it. It never looks new: I think maybe it came with that crappy dull look right from the factory. I'd replace it, but it will probably leak. Seems like a touchy part.

 

After some research, I think I will give Cerakote a try.
I always save money here.

 

I used Cerakote on my daughter’s daily driver about a year ago and it has held up great.