Driver side headlight

[robo]

ok, so this morning i was sound asleep in my bed and then my mom bust in my room screaming about something being on fire. so i was like "oh no my car!" (even though nothing was said about my car). so i ran outside and i see jumper cables laying in a puddle of water and smell the sweet scent of electricity lurking in the air. i was like "..wtf you guys?" apparently my aunt's truck didn't start so they got my speed3, got jumper cables, pop'd the hood, and prepared to jump off her truck. well as soon as they hooked everything up and got everything goin, the ferakin cables started to burn and started to melt away the rubber coating of the cables themselves! it melted into the cover for the air filter, melted a wee little part of the grill, and melted two small parts of the plastic cover for the driver's side headlight. i was so tired because i only had about 3 hours of sleep in me that i wasn't upset or anything. i was like "dang.. this sucks" so i guess since i wasn't mad then, i'm not mad now. i'm just.. whatever.

anyway, after all that being said, how do i go about taking out the headlight? i've tried once before and i was like "nope.. bump this.. i give up" but now i actually have to take it out to replace it (well, the plastic cover at least). also, does anybody know if there's just the plastic cover for the headlight for sale or do i need to buy the whole headlight? i could pay to have everything fixed and pay the $500 deductable, but if i can get away with paying $200 or less to do this myself.. i'm doin it.

-r

 

[robo]

ha.. and as soon as i posted this, i saw that this wasn't a section for asking questions! neat.. i need to post more often..

-r

 

[sleeper3]

I'm 95% sure you'll need the whole headlight fixture (minus the bulb and ballast). should definitely not be more than 500.

 

[Nutari]

actually its around $600. ( I'm looking for a drivers side headlight as well)

 

[sleeper3]

not including the bulb and ballast? that's insane.

 

[Nutari]

not including the bulb and ballast? that's insane.

with bulb and ballast I was quoted $1100

 

[sleeper3]

wow. that's crazy. I'd offer them $300 and a kiss on the cheek.

 

[enganear]

I believe you should consider just knocking off the bubbled plastic with a file and living with it. Add eyebrows to cover the little damaged area if you want.
-enganear

 

[sleeper3]

if I were you, I'd make my retard family buy me a new headlight.

 

[robo]

"oops! sorry " - my blonde aunt

-r

 

[GhostMercury]

obviously they are dumb cause the cables melt when the lines aren't on the right terminal...sooo i would def make them pay

 

[sleeper3]

red goes to red on one side and black on the other, right wilbur?!

 

[robo]

"i am not a dumb blonde, i was just having a 'moment' at 6:30 in the morning" - melter of headlights

 

[fourthmeal]

"It'll buff right out"

Actually, all jokes aside, it might actually buff right out, at least good enough to be considered a minor scar. Take a sharp instrument and cut off the damaged plastic (as mentioned earlier), and polish the plastic back to clear. The damage visible should be very, VERY minor.

Now, lets talk about what blows up when you reverse polarity! Check everything, EVERYTHING for melted wires, fuses, connectors, all that. THAT's the expensive stuff. Make sure every little function and switch work perfectly.

 

[winniep]

Although I haven't done this to a Mazda 3, I would say with perfect confidence and am about 98% sure that you will have to remove the front bumper to remove the headlight. First I would try the cut and buff method. Cut off the damage and then take some 1000-1500 grit wetsand paper and sand, sand, sand, and sand some more (it will take a while...) untill you have the majority of it out, then go over that with a little 2500-3000 grit. Then bust out the ole buffer (wool pad preffered) and buff away. I wouldn't exceed 3000 rpm on the buffer and KEEP MOVING! Otherwise you will "melt" the plastic and be back to square one, or in worse shape than you were origionally. Polish and you're done. Good luck.

 

[creina1221]

the headlight alone is over your deductible, just make an insurance claim and get it repaired properly if you're not sure how to repair it yourself. sorry to hear about this. Good luck!

 

[Chris Barnett]

the headlight alone is over your deductible, just make an insurance claim and get it repaired properly if you're not sure how to repair it yourself. sorry to hear about this. Good luck!

Generally if a repair is only slightly more than your deductible, it's better to pay for the repair yourself. Otherwise you will end up paying more in premium's for the next 1 to 3 years.

 

[creina1221]

Generally if a repair is only slightly more than your deductible, it's better to pay for the repair yourself. Otherwise you will end up paying more in premium's for the next 1 to 3 years.

I think the HID headlights are 7-800 bucks, which is 300 over the deductible to begin with....However, just because there is a payout doesn't mean there will be a premium increase...Most insurance companies have a threshold, for example, 1150.00. So essentially, there would need to be 1650.01 in damage for there to be a premium increase. All insurance companies are different though.

 

[robo]

Mazda 3 headlights

on that page, it says that the headlights fit a MazdaSpeed. would these work or should i just go ahead and do the whole sand/buff method?

-r

 

[creina1221]

Mazda 3 headlights

on that page, it says that the headlights fit a MazdaSpeed. would these work or should i just go ahead and do the whole sand/buff method?

-r

It depends...If you have the HID headlights that come w/ the GT model, it won't work, most aftermarket companies dont make the HID Assy, but if you have just the ordinary halogen lights, you should be good to go, check w/ vendor to be sure first.