I just destroyed the headlights on my 2004 Cr-v trying to restore them with a 3m drill kit. I just want to go ahead and replace them. I have read the cheaper ones are no good as they have different light refracting qualities and the lighting is worse than oem. Can anyone recommend a good source for quality replacements that hopefully don't cost over $200 for the pair?

 

Unless you sanded through the plastic light covers, you can always save them. Very easy to do and way cheaper than finding new ones.

That said, not sure what you did to them to mess them up in the first place. I use a "powerball" polisher + scratch remover and it takes about 5 minutes per side.

 

I think I basically pulled up a weed with a hand grenade. I got the 3m kit with the drill attatchment with 500 and 800 grit sandpaper and rubbing compound and then synthetic wax. I think it was way overkill for my lights. Just an hour ago I went back to Autozone and got the 3m medium light restoration kit which included 1000, 3000 and 5000 grit sanding paper with a hand sanding sponge that they velcro to. After about 30mins the lights looked 90% better and probably 20% better than before I did anything. That heavy duty kit doesn't make much sense now. How do they expect you to go from 500 to 800 grit to rubbing compound? It seems like the medium kit is needed in between to bridge the gap between 800 grit and rubbing compound. Anyway, I think I've savaged the lights and I may try to make them a little better tomorrow with the finer grit. I hope the look holds up.

Thanks
Jon

 

Good stuff.

 

just in case you don't fix them, I bought some headlights for my parents 2003 pilot at rockauto and they seemed fine. I can't remember the price but I want to say they weren't too expensive and made a huge difference even after we had tried buffing the old ones out.

 

Just to echo this for anyone else reading. I use a meguiars kit to restore headlights. Is a wool pad for your power drill and a plastiX type paste cleaner. About 5 minutes a side to go from yellow hazy oxidized lens to crystal clear. I have yet to encounter a headlight beyond what this kit can handle. Just be sure to follow up with a good polymer wax on the lens or you'll be doing it again in a few months.