Keep your car headlights shining: maintenance and restoration

You may not think they’re that important, but your headlights are your Orlando Toyota’s main line of defense when it comes to driving. They warn other drivers that you’re there and illuminate the road, so you can see. All in all, your headlights are an important piece to your vehicle and they need to be maintained or, in some cases, restored. Our expert auto service department at Toyota of Orlando is here with some tips for how to keep your car headlights shining bright.

Maintaining your Orlando headlights

While car headlights may have a long lifespan, eventually they will degrade and either burn out or they won’t shine as bright. Having malfunctioning car headlights puts you and other drivers at risk and our Orlando auto service team recommends these maintenance tips:

• Do some research on replacement bulbs. When it comes to replacing your car headlight bulbs there are a variety of options to choose from based on brightness, lifespan, and performance. Incandescent/Halogen, HID/Arc, LED, and laser are some common varieties of car headlights that you can choose from. Each type has different characteristics regarding their brightness and lifespan and, in some cases, their style. See which type is best for your vehicle and if you have questions you can always ask our Orlando auto service techs which type is right for you.
• Replace your fading bulbs. Be diligent when checking your car headlights as they may be nearing replacement time. Driving with only one working headlight will not only get you pulled over, but it disables other drivers from seeing your entire vehicle when driving at night or in low visibility conditions in Orlando. Replacing your current car headlight bulb is actually very easy. Open your hood and look behind your car headlight assembly. There should be a collection of wires there with a piece that screws into the actual assembly. Unscrew it and there’s your lightbulb socket!
• Make sure to replace your headlights in pairs. To avoid having the problem of your car headlights burning out at different times, replace them in pairs. While you may have a current bulb that has some life left in it, replace it anyway and you can always keep it around in case on of your new bulbs turns out defective or gets damaged.

How to restore your car headlights

If your Orlando Toyota is getting on in years, chances are that foggy residue has built up on your headlight assembly and that’s why they’re not shining as bright anymore. Having an Orlando auto service mechanic restore your car headlights is always a viable option, but if you’re looking for a personal project or a way to save some money, restoring them yourself is a straightforward process. Here are some instructions for how to restore your vehicle’s headlights using a restoration kit:

• Make sure your Orlando Toyota is clean. Giving your vehicle a bath should always be the first step before any headlight restoration project. This will ensure that during the additional steps, dirt and residue doesn’t find its way into the car headlight assembly or scratches don’t show up after you’ve finished. If you’d rather not wash your entire vehicle, at the very least you should clean the area around your car headlights.
• Use plenty of painter’s tape. Our Orlando auto service technicians recommend using this for any DIY vehicle project. Painter’s tape will keep headlight cleaner and sanding material away from the surrounding paint and prevent unintended damages.
• Sand your headlights. Included in your restoration kit should be sandpaper or an abrasive pad. Use this to scrape away the top layer of residue and prep the area for the next steps. Our Orlando auto service techs recommend using an orbital sander to make the project a bit easier but doing it by hand will always work.
• Polish for a clean finish. After your sanding has removed most of the foggy residue, wipe your headlights clean and apply a layer of wax with a microfiber cloth. This will take care of any leftover haziness and fill in the scratches from the sanding process.

If you’re not looking to invest too much time and money in an at home headlight restoration kit, toothpaste and baking soda can always be used as a quick and easy solution to your foggy headlights.

Toyota of Orlando will make your headlights shine

If DIY restoration or replacement isn’t for you or if you have any questions, Toyota of Orlando is here to help! Our expert team of auto service technicians can help get your headlights shining bright again so you can stay safe on the road. Give us a call at (407) 298 – 0001 to schedule your service appointment or visit us at 3575 Vineland Road, just off I-4 near the Millenia Mall.