Fogged Headlights....You Can Fix That!

With the average age of vehicles on the road being 10 years old, this means more maintenance for the owner. While there are big jobs that require a trained technician, there are still a few things you can do yourself.

If you have an older vehicle and you've noticed that your headlights have a fogged look to the plastic, don't fret....I have a fix for you. Getting your headlights polished can cost you anywhere from $40-$100 at a shop, but with a kit from 3M you can do it for around $20.

I decided to get this kit and do it myself. I had plenty of volunteers with vehicles that had headlight problems. The vehicle I worked on was a 2002 VW. My concern was that the car belonged to a new driver and safety is number one with me.

One of the first things you'll notice after you use this kit is how you can make them clear again and the next is how much brighter your lights will shine the next time you drive at night. You can purchase this kit at most automotive stores or online. The kit comes with everything you need but a drill. They even have a new kit out that you can do by hand. It's a little more time consuming, but works just as well.

The directions are easy to follow and provides pictures at each step so that you know you're doing it right. I used my cordless drill and it worked just fine. It took me about an hour to do both lights my first time. The nice thing about it is if you don't get it right, you can do any part of the process again.

Here's a picture of the vehicle after I did the headlight on the left. It's hard to see because of the sun, but if you look you'll notice that you can see the inside of the headlight on the one I cleaned and you can't see it on the other. I would say to give it a try. You can even go online and watch a video about it as well.

Once you've cleaned the lights it best to keep them waxed so that this doesn't happen again. If it does, you know that in an hour you can clean them up again!