# Headlights **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** volkswagen, passat\ **Created:** [July 10, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/headlights/33191 "2009-07-10T17:29:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tim596](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Tim596](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tim596)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/headlights/33191/1 "2009-07-10T17:29:47Z")
The plastic headlight covers are pitted and defuse the light. How do I make them clear again? ---
**Author:** ![ken\_green](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/ken_green/32/816_2.png) [@ken\_green](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ken_green)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/headlights/33191/2 "2009-07-10T17:34:22Z")
First try the plastic polishing kit at any parts place. Initially sold to the plastic windshield market ( boats, motorcycles, airplanes ) it’s now the norm for headlights. You need your electric drill, but everything else is in the kit. If that doesn’t work to your satisfaction, replace them. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/headlights/33191/3 "2009-07-10T18:11:23Z")
Macguires “Plast-X” polish, available in the car wax section. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/headlights/33191/4 "2009-07-10T18:15:12Z")
I’ve also had excellent results with regular car polishing compound, a hand drill with a buffing pad, and plenty of water. Note that I’m referring to polishing compound and not car wax. There is a difference. Polishing compound is a paste with a microscopic abrasive. Wash and wax the lenses after you’re finished and they’ll last longer. ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/headlights/33191/5 "2009-07-10T18:15:21Z")
As ken said. Don’t you love those fancy designer headlights. Back in the dark ages we had sealed beam headlights that came in only a few flavors. All they did was light up the road. If they burned out a screwdriver and a few dollars was all you needed. Today we have fancy headlights that need to be tenderly cared for and polished and then replaced for many times more than those old sealed beams (even after inflation). Those old days was not all that bad. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/headlights/33191/6 "2009-07-10T18:45:35Z")
These new “lighting modules” have one other disadvantage over the old “sealed beam” headlights…a disadvantage I consider serious. In those old days the directionl lamps were seperate from the headlamps. These new integrated lighting modules enable the designers to “group” the different lighting elements. In many cars, when the headlights are on they completely flood out the directional signals next to them in the modlues and make them impossible to see. Fortunately, additional mirror mounted directional lamps are becoming more common.