Headlight cleaners, any luck with specific treatments?

have you tried that billy mays one?

 

i've only seen it on tv, but it seemed to work well. wipe on, wipe off. looked a little too easy though, tv infomercial and all.

 

On the basis of this statement alone, I would suggest simply replacing the other headlight.

If it was cleaned at the bodyshop, and was clear, but now has become cloudy again, my fear would be even if you clean it again, with something that works the affect will only be temporary. But...you don't have much to lose in experimentation.

There are NUMEROUS over the counter headlight cleaners. All profess to work. Depending on HOW OCD you are? I don't think you have much to lose trying some of them.

In my experience Meguiars makes good products, and they do make a headlight restorer.

I'd try it. See if you can be happy with the results and if not? Then move to replacement.

 

Walmart does a good job for around $40, they spent several hours on an old dodge van I had 3 years ago, my dad has the van now and they still look new

 

I used a headlight cleaner made by turtle wax i believe. The bottle had a green turtle on it. Used it on my old 97' Saturn. Worked great and stayed clear for a few years before i sold the car. I used the stuff on a buffer to clean the headlights.

Anything you use, use a powered buffer. Should have better results. But honestly, i'd buy a new one.

 

Do you mean dirt/condensation on the inside of the clear plastic in front or cloudiness on the external surface?
I have used the Sylvania 2-step kit to clean external oxidation off the plastic lenses on my 2003 Tundra and 2002 Saturn. The final result was clearly better than the original 10-year-oxidation cloudiness but also clearly worse than a brand-new headlight housing with new lens, which I got courtesy of a bus side swiping the Saturn.
If you mean interior dirt/condensation , I would try to re-clean and seal all the seams on the cloudy unit, possibly inserting desiccant into a cool spot inside the housing.
Had the same thing on Saturn and was also frustrated by the difference in the lenses.

 

When I got my '04, the headlights were so clouded you couldn't see jack inside of them, and you couldn't use them at night. It was like somebody had spray painted them with frosty yellowish white paint they were so bad.

I got a kit from Meguires, cost me $29 and had a sanding block, 2 grits of sandpaper, a polishing wheel for a power drill, and a polishing compound.

Followed the instructions. Took me 90 minutes, and now those headlights literally look brand new from the factory. They now look so good they are like jewelry on the front of the car

 

If the headlights are not too yellowish or hazy, using toothpaste works good.