hi all,
I've just recently purchase a new/used car and noticed that there's a few aftermarket accessories available.
like bonnet protectors/head light protectors. I've never used them before, but i found a couple of places that offered them at a really good price.
do they work? are they worth it?
many thanks
Not to mention that they’re ugly and take away from the aesthetics of the car
Having worked in the industry, I can tell you that headlight protectors are a complete waste of money. I once tried to damage a faulty headlight with a hammer and as much as I tried, I could not even make a mark on the front of it. The protector just makes washing your car more difficult.
If you are concerned about stone chips, then a bonnet protector may be worthwhile. Just remember that they can collect leaves and also make your car more difficult to wash.
thanks, i've seen the bonnet protectors in black don't show up as bad as the clear ones. i can see what you mean about cleaning them though.
the headlights already has a few small chip in it, but i figure in about a few years of use the clear protector will have to out.
the headlights on my 2013 camry has many tiny chips in them
+1 for leaf collector on the bonnet. I have removed them from my cars for that very reason and reckon the bonnet dosn't look any worse for it.
Might be different if I was travelling gravel roads with oncoming traffic regularly, but even solo travel on a gravel road isn't going to damage your bonnet much.
I'm not sold on headlight protectors, but do wonder if they might slow the yellowing process for modern headlights.
Agreed, headlight protectors are pointless. The headlamp lenses are made of the same poly-carbonate plastic and are stronger than the 'protectors'. Many lenses will deteriorate with age and can be restored with restoration kits or plastic polish from your favorite automotive shop.
The 'bonut' protectors (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/276135) may be of some value if you do a lot of country driving. Depending on the design of your vehicle and the design of the protector they will protect the leading edge of the bonut from stone chips.
They will of course do nothing to protect the rest of that bonut or the bumpers. For that protection you need something truly ugly like the Car-Bra. http://www.carbra.com.au
May as well leave your nanna's lounge wrapped in it's plastic.
I beg to differ, headlight protectors are effective in what they do. My old car's headlights had lots of stone chips & was very visible at close range. With my new car the stone chips are all on the headlight protectors.
but is that really being effective? Did your lights ever break? Did the stone chips on the headlights reduce the life of the lights to less than the rest of the car and the protectors increase the life of the headlights?
No they didn't break. If your using protectors then any stone damage is just on them. And a new set only costed me $62/pr. As opposed to replacing the entire light housing. Stone damage on the body of the car can be fixed but not on a headlight plastic.
on my older car, the headlights can gone dull with age.
my local mechanic wants to charge me 10$ to polish them up again each time i am there for a service. i suppose 50$ for some covers is worth it but yes they'll need to be replaced or toss out.
Not true. It is a very simple process to polish a headlight to remove the yellowing and any fine stone damage.
@MelbEng:
i have that yellowing on my headlights, can this polish you're talking about be easily done without going to a mechanic or do i need some specific tools or materials to do it?
I don't think I've seen a broken headlight on a car for a long time, other than as a result of a crash that a protector wouldn't save it from.
I know a lot of people say they’re pointless on a new car with polycarbonate headlights, but in my experience, I’d buy them again.
Had some on a car, managed to break the protectors and put a decent chip into the headlight. Not sure what would have happened if it was uncovered.
It is a habit for us to get headlight protectors for our new cars. Thirty years of cars and never had a problem. The salepersons have said they are not really necessary on non-glass headlights but check the cost of replacing the headlight assembly and you will not hesitate using protectors.
Hit a small kangaroo a few years ago in slow speed collision. Headlight protector destroyed, headlight OK.
Don't know what would have happened to HL without HLP.
I superglued the HLP back together but it separated a few months later. I haven't bothered replacing the broken HLP.
probably the best way to decide is to go to a wrecking yard and ask the price of a second hand replacement and measure up the prices
Are they worth it: This depends on what sort of driving you do. I'm on my second set of headlight protectors and the current set has three significant stars. It's $70 for a set and 2 mins to replace. For me that's worth it, over changing out a set of headlights. But I do a lot of country driving. If I was only in the city it might be a different story.
Do they work: They do the job they are designed for. They take the hit and save more expensive parts of your car.
Do they work: They do the job they are designed for. They take the hit and save more expensive parts of your car.
That's pretty hard to prove. Just becuase a headlight protector broke doesn't mean that the headlight would have broken under the same circumstances. The protector is probably less strong than the headlight, so it is entirely plausible that the headlight would survive the same hit that breaks a protector.
Having said that, I'd probably ensure I had a set on for frequent country driving, but I don't bother for city.
The protector works as a sacrificial layer for stone chips. Just change them every few years, nice smooth headlights.
On a new-ish car, no. Headlights lenses are made from polycarbonate, making them either just as strong, or stronger than the protector itself