Meguiar's Headlight Protectant -- Good Idea? Bad idea? - Bleeh, who cares?

I use the Megiars headlight cleaner as mine are a little foggy. I think the. Protectant might make sense sort of like sunblock for your skin. But I skipped that so far.

 

I use this quick wax+sealant(on the paint):
Chemical Guys WAC10116 InstaWax + Liquid Carnauba Shine and Protection Spray - 16 oz.
And this on headlights/tailights/rear spoiler:
How To: Protect Headlights - Chemical Guys M-Seal - Scion FRS Care Care Epic Shine

 

In my experience Meguiars makes good products.
But also in my experience I've never needed headlight protectant or cleaner, my headlights have always stayed clear.
Credit the environment? My normal cleaning procedures?
I don't know? Maybe just luck.

If your headlights are clear? I think I'd spend the money on something I knew for sure I would use or need. There's got to be a product you know and like?

 

Lika an oil or air filter, or windshield wiper blades, for example - if you want to purchase a car-related product.

 

^ concur.
You know you'll need those.

Put me down for a "Meeh." on the headlight treatment.

 

I'm planning just to spray clear-coat on mine this spring.

 

I just did it. First sanded, then sprayed clearcoat. Looks good.

- Alex

 

I suggest you clean the plastic, then spray a clear coat lacquer for UV protection. I would leave the new car headlights alone.

 

Not sure if it's new, but: keep the headlights out of sun exposure as much as possible. Clear out the garage clutter, use a carport or temp car shelter, park with the car pointed North (doesn't apply for @alanclarkeau), stuff like that.

 

Most states require that you keep your headlight lenses clear (checked during state inspection). Over time they tend to fog up due to scratches from road debris and chemicals. Generic polishers work real well at polishing the plastic lenses, so I would imagine that Meguiar's would do just as well.

 

It is really easy to clear a set of headlights with sanding/polishing - and really hard to keep them clear. I used the Sylvania kit, which comes with a protective coating on a set of Civic headlights. After a couple of years they started to fog a bit, but it was different than the original problem. This time the problem was from a lot of tiny cracks and pits in that coating. Washing/stripping (just regular car wash detergent on the headlights, not necessary to do the whole car) and then waxing them cleared them each time. It held for several months at a time, a bit longer if it rained. Apparently the wax would also capture dirt and the rain would wash it off. The plastic underneath did not seem to be deteriorating from the UV. If it was that no amount of washing or waxing would have helped.

Anyway, the amount of work to wash two headlights and wax them was very small. Maybe 5 minutes total every four months or so. I would have gone on like that indefinitely but that car had other problems so I sold it.

 

I wish they'd desist with the insane headlight "sculptures", get back to basic round headlights, in glass please.

Replacement costs are insane too.

If glass isn't on, for whatever reason: basic and round please, and cheap/easy to replace. Having to pay a grand per side to get replacement for someone's styling exercise is a joke that's dragged on too long.

 

Why make a mountain out of a mole hill? Most people wax their cars more frequently than they polish their lenses. I polish the lenses only as required, when I check brake lights and turn signals before state inspection. Polishing only takes a few minutes.

 

IIRC Owner'd Msnual says to NOT polish headlights. Not sure why; maybe polish will start to remove the UV coating, not sure. Still, maybe once deterioration starts, might as well?

 

Yes, polishing does remove the UV blocking layer. And Yes, eventually that layer is overwhelmed anyway and it’s worth doing a clearing treatment.

And yes, all the clearing treatments are equivalent to each other, do whatever’s cheapest/easiest…

The critical part is laying on another clearcoat at the end so you can buy some time against the next one. I’ve never found anything that works as well as whatever they’re doing at the factory. Rattlecans that work in the field seem to give 2-3 years of protection at the most, vs. 9-12 months untreated.

 

Polish by definition contains abrasives and it will damage the protective coating (if only a little at first).

There is another problem I ran into. In the past I used to use PlastX on my taillights and headlights. The last time I used it after shaking it thoroughly it still had not mixed well, probably because the solids had dropped to the bottom and clumped somehow, no doubt aided by the furnace like conditions in my garage in the summer. So what came out of the tube had too much solvent on it and it immediately softened the coating on those headlights, with some of that coating peeling off. These headlights have not yet yellowed but those sections are doomed to do so long before the rest of the headlight does.

 

Forget all of those "mouse milks" and "elixirs" or miracle cures.

I just installed a cheap $30 sun shade off of Amazon in front of my Prius v under the carport.