Wanted to share something that really helped my aging 2014 Mazda CX-5 look and feel much better.
As modern headlights with clear plastic covers age, micro-abrasions and ultraviolet rays cause wear which makes them to go from crystal clear to hazy, foggy and much more opaque.
This obviously prevents much of the light from your headlight from passing through which degrades your ability to see and drive safely at night.
It also makes your older car look much older and falsely give the sense that it's not that good anymore. Because, if headlights don't look good, the rest of the stuff must be bad, right? Nope.
I tried a technique found elsewhere on the internet and I've used it on a CX-5 and a much worse Honda CR-V.
1. Buy Mothers brand "Mag and Aluminum Polish" in a little 10 oz tub for $6-10 at an auto parts store, Walmart, Home Depot, etc.
2. Get an electric drill and buy a set of buffing/polishing pads. I used the Ryobi Buffing and Polishing Drill Attachment Set at Home Depot for $16.
3. Use painters tape (which is easy to remove) and optionally some sort of simple cover to keep the polish off the paint. I used copier paper as shown in the CR-V photos.
4. Slather the Mothers product on the headlight and then spend about an hour per headlight polishing it. Just put some music or a podcast on and keep polishing for a while repeating the process as necessary. You should take a before photo and review it while polishing to focus extra time on the most effected areas if the haze is worse in some areas.
5. Wipe clean with a wet rag and inspect for areas that you might have missed. Repeat polishing until you're satisfied.
I usually stop here because it's late in the day and continue the next day with the final step.
6. Apply a UV headlight coating. Clean and dry the headlight surface and re-apply painters tape to protect paint. Then spray a thin film of UV coating across the headlight a few times with wide even passes so it doesn't build up. Let it dry for a few minutes, then remove painters tape.
You can see from the before and after photos of my CX-5 that it did a good job, but the CR-V was so much worse and the "after" photos make this process look even more effective.
The CX-5 was done in Summer 2023 and still looks great today. It really helps my car pretend its much newer than its 12 years age.
Disclaimer: I don't get any compensation from any of the brands I mention, just sharing that this worked on my CX-5 for the community.
As modern headlights with clear plastic covers age, micro-abrasions and ultraviolet rays cause wear which makes them to go from crystal clear to hazy, foggy and much more opaque.
This obviously prevents much of the light from your headlight from passing through which degrades your ability to see and drive safely at night.
It also makes your older car look much older and falsely give the sense that it's not that good anymore. Because, if headlights don't look good, the rest of the stuff must be bad, right? Nope.
I tried a technique found elsewhere on the internet and I've used it on a CX-5 and a much worse Honda CR-V.
1. Buy Mothers brand "Mag and Aluminum Polish" in a little 10 oz tub for $6-10 at an auto parts store, Walmart, Home Depot, etc.
2. Get an electric drill and buy a set of buffing/polishing pads. I used the Ryobi Buffing and Polishing Drill Attachment Set at Home Depot for $16.
3. Use painters tape (which is easy to remove) and optionally some sort of simple cover to keep the polish off the paint. I used copier paper as shown in the CR-V photos.
4. Slather the Mothers product on the headlight and then spend about an hour per headlight polishing it. Just put some music or a podcast on and keep polishing for a while repeating the process as necessary. You should take a before photo and review it while polishing to focus extra time on the most effected areas if the haze is worse in some areas.
5. Wipe clean with a wet rag and inspect for areas that you might have missed. Repeat polishing until you're satisfied.
I usually stop here because it's late in the day and continue the next day with the final step.
6. Apply a UV headlight coating. Clean and dry the headlight surface and re-apply painters tape to protect paint. Then spray a thin film of UV coating across the headlight a few times with wide even passes so it doesn't build up. Let it dry for a few minutes, then remove painters tape.
You can see from the before and after photos of my CX-5 that it did a good job, but the CR-V was so much worse and the "after" photos make this process look even more effective.
The CX-5 was done in Summer 2023 and still looks great today. It really helps my car pretend its much newer than its 12 years age.
Disclaimer: I don't get any compensation from any of the brands I mention, just sharing that this worked on my CX-5 for the community.
