Which headlight polishing kit?

I need to polish the mega-dull headlights on the Subaru that I just picked up before I register it. I've bought headlight kits from Chemical Guys before, but I don't have time to wait for shipping. Is there a preferred kit that available at Advance Pep Zone?

I got the 3m deluxe kit with the cordless drill attachment. Did two cars worth of headlights, foglights,and taillights. GGreat ptiduct. Great results.

the 3m product is the "best" I've found so far

3M. Don't waste your time on the others.

I used rubbing compound and a fine grit sandpaper on a Neon that I used to own. They were really bad and the wet sanding and compounding them did the trick.

I used the MMM with good results as well. I was able to do 3 cars with it before it disintegrated.

I just use 3M rubbing compound and microfinishing polish. I do that because I already have them, but they also happen to work perfectly.

Another vote for 3M

Toothpaste. (Yes, really).

Failing that, the 3M is the best auto store stuff.

In reply to Javelin:

Kind of makes you wonder what its doing to your teeth...

I should have specified that I'm looking for absolutely minimal effort here.

keep in mind that with the headlight polishing, you pretty much get back how much you put in

if you just want them clear for inspection.. any of the 'polish' things from advance/rock/boys will work. All they are is some sort of waxy substance that fills in the haze and scratches and makes it look clear for a week or two

Woody wrote: I should have specified that I'm looking for absolutely minimal effort here.

Oh well now that you specified that...

Vegetable oil. Duration of effectiveness dependent on the weather and headlight usage.

I would recommend any kit that comes with a clear coat. I can't find the package for a brand/part # that I used though.
The final clear coat makes a huge difference in appearance and keeps them from yellowing for at least another year.

NAPA had a kit from Mothers, but it was just a pad and polish, no sealer. I'll try to find a 3M kit somewhere else.

Against the advice of the 3M kit, I cheaped out and used the Turtle Wax kit on the MPV. It looked great for 2 weeks. I imagine toothpaste would have been better.

I've tried 'em all. The latest one was the Meguiars kit, it was OK at best, just like all of them. The headlights and (especially) driving lights on my GTO were really bad when I bought it. After flailing around with the Meg's kit, I removed the lights and finally did it "right". Wet-sanded with 220-600-1000-2000-3000, then buffed with my Makita buffer with various compounds until they were clear. It took a while. I then sprayed them with a light coat of Duplicolor clear.

Here's a before-and-after with the driving lights:

I've had good luck with the 3M kit. I've also had good luck with PlastiX and a touch of elbow grease.

Civic headlights are notorious for fogging - these cleared up and stayed clear for a good time with just PlastiX

The Turtle Wax kit works for about 5 minutes, just like everything else they make. Don't waste your money. Like others have said, the 3M kit is the best "kit" you are going to find.

I usually do one of two things: I either wet sand in stages using Meguiar's PlastX, or if I'm lazy (or the headlights really aren't that bad) I will either do the PlastX by hand or with my buffer. I have a little 6" cheap Walmart palm buffer that I sometimes use for stuff like this.

I recently detailed my Mazda and I got even more lazy and used 3M liquid Rubbing Compound while doing the rest of the car with my Harbor Freight random-orbit buffer with a polishing pad on it. That also worked well.

I had good luck with progressive sanding, then a finish with Mothers Chrome Polish. Worked great on my old Dodge Intrepid.

I used Meguires #17 Plastic Cleaner, followed by #10 Plastic Polish.

They took about five minutes each, by hand. It couldn't have been easier, and these were as bad as any lights I've seen. I couldn't believe how well this stuff worked. I was about to drop $30 on a 3M kit, but I remembered that I had this. It was in the trunk of a Miata that I bought in 1999, so the price was right.

Woody wrote: I used Meguires #17 Plastic Cleaner, followed by #10 Plastic Polish. They took about five minutes each, by hand. It couldn't have been easier, and these were as bad as any lights I've seen. I couldn't believe how well this stuff worked. I was about to drop $30 on a 3M kit, but I remembered that I had this. It was in the trunk of a Miata that I bought in 1999, so the price was right.

I've used that stuff on helmet visors , gets out small scratches works real well.

Subarus... My wrx looked like that. I used a 3m compound and polish ( so the bottle says.. ) I'll see how long that lasts. Stuff worked really well by hand and only took a few minutes for each light. It cost about 9 bucks from amazon and there enough in there for me to do my wrx, civic and Miata with plenty left over.

I like the idea of a light coat of clear cloat sprayed on. I'll try that if I have to do any of these cars over.