Headlight covers already developing haze

Anytime my friend, always a pleasure to help others especially when one has already gone through or experienced similar symptoms in the past.

The wife's cx5 with her similar plastic headlight housing fogging ( lol ) since new didn't have many rock chips after approx 43k miles of driving ( we traded it for the Prius) she did have paint protection film on all the exposed areas but not headlights.

She claims the Prius is the one now, the ones she'll for a long time. I don't blame her, it's a quality vehicle not that the cx5 grand touring wasn't. I've temp applies 3m paint defender on her Prius until we find a good installer for clear bra. I however did the roof line with 3m Scotchgard pro as well as the area where her foot hits the rocker when she gets out.

LG-H901 ?

 

Why not protect bumper and hood also ? Trust me on this one, you don't appreciate a bra until it's gone. Lol.

LG-H901 ?

 

I saw dried moisture droplets also. No worries . if however you see water inside then upto a certain tolerance level it's not acceptable.

LG-H901 ?

 

PriusRos, I've never had a "clear bra"'put on any of my cars. But I've been told that the better quality window tint shops do that kind of work. Maybe check with a couple shops in your area. Frederick would know more about that than me. (I'm not even sure if "film" is the same as a "bra.")

I had the headlight covers polished several times on my old Camry. I don't know why, but they got hazy and dingy about every 3 months. And I hate to say this... but I think the rotary polishing actually may have made the lens worse. They kept getting hazy much faster. It was a never ending battle.

 

I'm actually getting my gen 3's headlights covered in paint protection film Monday. I had my last Prius for 9 years and that was one of the areas that really looked dingy over the years. I'm hoping the film helps because I'll have this car for just as long.

 

Simple. Google search on "Paint Protection film". The main one that shows is ScotchGard/3M, but there are also Llumar, Xpel, and others.
There's a dealer finder at the ScotchGard Pro site:
Protect your vehicle's paint with Scotchgard™ Pro Series Paint Protection Film
The others probably have dealer finders too.

And there you are.

I'd look for a place that specializes in filming only. It's a lucrative business because (wealthy) owners of exotic cars like to have their cars filmed, often with fancy graphics on the films. And naturally exotic car owners are fussy, so if you can find a place that handles a lot of that type of work they're probably good at it. And they need a clean facility to do it so they don't get dirt specks under the film.

Yes it can be applied to the headlights as well no problem, had it done on headlights of my Honda Insight and my Gen 4. Consider asking them to put it on the doorsills too.

Obviously do it as soon as you can because there's no point in putting it on AFTER the paint has been damaged! I had mine done less than a week after taking delivery.

The place I went to for my Gen 4 just did filming, no tinting. They had ties with a really experienced tinter who came to their place and tinted my rear hatch windows while the car was at the filming place. So I would not expect a tinting shop to be expert at filming as well as tinting, but I could be wrong.

 

wish I could afford this. So I gotta go the poor man route. I have 5,400k on my 2016 and I'm gonna spray a clear bra and on the lenses. Going to use Plasti Dip clear and then coat it with glossifier. Probably about 5 layers of each. Also gonna do the paint outside of the wheel wells where most of the dirt and road grime accumulates. I'll post pics later

 

I just go into a slow burn, thinking it used to be $20 glass sealed beams that were the norm.

 

I've read in the past that after a headlight polish a coat of clear coat is required to protect the headlights from hazing. Otherwise they will haze within months again.

Bear in mind, that using a rotary on a new headlight could have possibly removed the factory UV layer of protection, may start to really haze over now for the person that posted that question.

If I were him or her, I wouldn't bother with the 3M film on the headlights now. Reason being, if they do prematurely haze over due to the rotary used then warranty claims may use the film as an excuse.

LG-H901 ?

 

Yes, I'm pretty sure the multiple "polishing jobs" I had done on my Camry made the lens worse. I saw other 2005 Camrys, and their lights looked very clear.

I also used car wax on the plastic lens often. That was probably a mistake, too. I better stop doing that on my Prius.

 

Our 2010 was built in August 09, spent its first 15 months in a sheltered garage on dealer's lot, and since we bought it's spent the preponderance of its idle time in our garage. I've never waxed or done anything to the headlights; they look light new.

We walk our dog on one block where there's several elder care homes. All the cars parked along the streets there likely belong to staff, sit there all day, at least Monday through Friday. And invariably, the headlights are hazy, especially on the tops.

^ A little hyperbole: it's mostly the older cars, say 50/50.

 

That sucks , sorry to hear about it.

LG-H901 ?

 

Seems water is getting into the headlight and taillight lenses.
Water in headlights | PriusChat

 

pg 642 of the manual says that temporary condensation build up on the inside of the headlight is not an indication of a malfunction. So just a little bit of water is probably not a bad thing.