What's up with Japanese cars and headlights?
 

I've had both Japanese cars and European cars.

One thing I noticed is that Japanese car headlight housing turns all foggy and blurry as the years go by, while my german cars stay clean and clear.

You guys ever seen the G35 coupe or the Celica with messed up front light housing?

haha yes! i own a 2005 Celica GT-S, i buff out the headlights every now and then. And with in a week or two, it's foggy and blurry again!

glass type, lots of Japanese makers don't use real glass for their lens covers unless they use sealed beam applications. Its cheaper, and usually more flexible so in the event of an accident they don't shatter, but absorb impact. Downside is yellowing after being exposed to the elements over time, which can be just buffed out normally.

European cars will use a stiff sturdy headlamp lens and will last until its damaged, and the replacement cost for most glass lamps are astronomical compared to other makers.

+1

The European Supras use glass

http://www.suprastore.com/toyglashead9.html

I guess, you had cheap JDM cars. My Impreza never get foggy. Both Headlight and Fog lights are made out of glass, THICK glass. I have owned Impreza for 4 yrs or so now, but never broken or got foggy on me.

iv seen a few impreza Ls and early 90s GC bodies with very foggy and yellowed plastic lens headlights. All the 2.5RS imprezas iv seen had glass headlights, and im sure there are other trims and years that had it differently. It really depends on the year make and model.

I believe that most of the cars built today either use glass or reinforced lexan, both of which should not fall victim to element wear easily.

Honda never use glass, they're too cheap... I kid, I kid :bellyroll:

Could buy a running Mk3 for the price of a pair of MK4 headlights. Damn!

I wonder how much for the limited '98 black housing headlights cost...

Not that much more

http://www.suprastore.com/tosuhe19st.html

For one side or for both? Either way, bout $190 more than other supra head light

That would suck if they were priced each. That price is for the pair.

isnt a easy solution to cover the lenses with clear film (tinting film but clear?)

Those clear films get foggy quicker than regular headlights.

my family owns only japanese cars and all the headlights are fine. ;)

i wasnt talking about some cheapo film. iv done this b4 and it worked fine. same material as the 3M paint protection film ;)

some products that claim to protect headlights from wear are not always applicable, depending on the situation.

Even if the film that covers the plastic headlight, protects it from water and certain bacteria. Its still a plastic headlight thats exposed to both heat and cold which still puts wear on the lens, once the lens starts to see hairline cracks, its very difficult to repair especially ones that were damaged by UV rays from the sun.

if you want to protect plastic headlights or just do some maintenance on them, use a headlight polish like meguires plasicX and cut off that top layer of crud caked on the light, then spray some meguires40 on the lens and have it soak, it will help elasticity of plastics and keep the natural oils from leaking. Then wipe down and use like rainX products so that heavy elements wont get stuck to it and it will bead off. If you choose to wax your headlights along with your car after a wash, look into UV protection waxes.

I bought a 99 Miata when they first came out. Their lenses were plastic. I now have an 02 and they're glass. Different years-different manufacturers.

That's true about my a4, it never gets cloudy or foggy but ive seen benz's and bmw's that fog up just as bad as some japanese cars though not all japanese cars fog.

excuse me guys! sorry for digging this one but i think not all Japanese cars messed up with the headlights getting foggy. maybe it depends on how they sealed it. me and my cousin have a yota with the same model and same glass type headlights with black headlight covers. but mine was clear while his headlights are foggy. maybe there are also some small holes that made it foggy but we cannot see any indication that it has holes. how do you guys deal with this kind of mess? any kits that you can suggest that we can use?

I have a Celica and my headlights do get foggy after months, or if my car is outside a lot.

But I wouldn't call them cheap. Have you ever seen pictures of Celicas in front end collisions? THOSE HEADLIGHTS ARE INDESTRUCTIBLE!!!! I swear!!

The "fog" is actually on the outside and it's from UV rays eating away at the surface of the headlights. This is why you can buff them out.

I've never had a problem with moisture in the lamp itself. That would be a seal leak.

hah, those quad headlight benz always seem to have the worst condition headlights I ever see.