My wife can not see at all at night . With kids in the car and driving mostly in Mexico it is quite dangerous. I have cleaned and changed bulbs,but with little improvement. I am thinking about changing to those new bright lights I occasionally see. But have not a clue. Anyone have experience with these?
If your headlight lenses are clouded over, which is to be expected on a 12 year old car, you might try one of those headlight lens restoration products. Making the lenses clear again does make a huge difference. Alternatively, you can check out Amazon for some replacement assemblies. A new pair of headlight assemblies for your car run less than $75 with shipping.
On some cars, the headlight assembly includes a plastic outer “lens”. If your vehicle has those, then your problem may be related to that. Older minivans - Caravan/Voyager for example, are among those afflicted, but there are probably many others. These lenses somehow get cloudy, greatly reducing the light. There’s a product available at auto parts stores to polish them, and it works well. The one I’ve tried is a one step compound called PlastX, made by a company named Meguiars. I think there’s also a two step version, probably more effective than what I used. This really does clear up the cloudy look of the plastic lens. I bought it at a Napa auto parts store.
Yea I’ve used the lens cleaner and was amazed how it cleared the lens and how much cloudy stuff was removed. Yet it is still difficult to see.
You might try the Sylvania Silverstar bulbs, they’re a bit brighter than stock. Also, aim the lights as high as you can while still not blinding oncoming cars on low beam.
If polishing the outer lens didn’t help, I suspect the silver reflector inside the unit is dirty or flaking. Easiest is to get a new pair from a junk yard. Should be plenty around. If you have a bad reflector surface, no new bulbs are going to help any because the light won’t be focused. Best thing with my Buick Riv was when I hit a deer and had to replace the headlight assembly. I could finally see again.
You might consider adding some fog lights.
Does she use the bright lights when there is no one approaching? I do that whenever no one is close enough to be blinded, either in my lane or the oncoming lane. It’s important to do that around my house because there are so many 5 foot tall rats, um, deer.