New Car! Protective headlight sealant?

The old s-10 just had to go.Saturday picked up my new rav4 hybrid which I am really enjoying.Want to go proactive here and try to protect headlights from yellowing.Saw some 3m wipes that claims to be good for brand new lights.

Anything better? Or should I just leave it alone?

Apply a coat of automotive wax maybe once a month. I've done it on multiple vehicles and it definitely helps keep them from yellowing as fast.

The wax will keep other stuff from sticking, but its own UV protection goes away pretty quickly. Be careful not to abrade into the protective hardcoat of the lens when applying or buffing.

ak645 said:

Saturday picked up my new rav4 hybrid

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If it's NEW-new, try to get them into doing a proper lamp aim as part of the "dealer prep" dealers are so keen to charge. In fact, you could probably go so far as to tell them that Toyota should have delivered a safe car to begin with and so just like one should expect every regulated light to work (no burned out headlamp or turn signals, etc) it should have a safe *aim*.

And by *proper*, I mean *proper* (using the right equipment and/or methods as has been covered in multiple threads).

BTW: Congrats on the new car!

Don't do anything to the lights except wax them as previously suggested. Don't bother with any of that 3M wipe stuff, or anything in general that's hard to remove. Wax is readily removed with rain after a few weeks. That 3M stuff and similar won't come off without possibly hurting the light.

Why would you want a coating that's readily removable? Well, if you don't like the coating, you can just remove it. About that 3M stuff, for one, it's almost impossible to get a perfectly smooth finish with the 3M wipes. It'll go on thick in spots and thin in others, and you'll probably end up with an orange peel texture. Trust me, I've tried. And especially don't use any sort of spray, like Meguiar's "Keep Clear" UV protective spray for lamps. That's fine for lamps that were once yellowed and then restored, but I tried applying it on some new lamps, and ended up with exactly what you would expect from a rattle-can: orange peel. Looked terrible, and probably cut light output. Ended up replacing both lamps...to the tune of $2000. Another pair of lamps also fell victim to the Meguiar's "Keep Clear" stuff and it similarly looks terrible. Meguiar's is owned by 3M, by the way. All their wipes/sprays are fine for lamps that were brought back from the dead, but not for new stuff, unless you like an imperfect finish.

I just read some Porsche instructions, and they do not recommend products because they can act like a blanket (my wording) causing increased heat build up, which may end up damaging the headlights.

If you can try a VW or Porsche dealer to aim your lamps. (The aimers are listed under their service tools). I'm afraid the technical aiming instructions of Toyota is a giant paper on the wall, with sloppy specs as interpreted by the moderators here.

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jzchen said:

I just read some Porsche instructions, and they do not recommend products because they can act like a blanket (my wording) causing increased heat build up, which may end up damaging the headlights.

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Certain products definitely can (vinyl overlays, snap-on covers). Car wax probably doesn't in any meaningful way.

If you can try a VW or Porsche dealer to aim your lamps. (The aimers are listed under their service tools). I'm afraid the technical aiming instructions of Toyota is a giant paper on the wall, with sloppy specs as interpreted by the moderators here.

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But if you're lucky, the Toyota dealer has a headlamp aimer. Let your fingers do the walking-- call ahead or use the dealership's online chat function if available.

I called the Meguiar company before waxing our new truck with one of their 'advanced formula' protectants. The gentleman I spoke with said that he can't recommend putting that product over the headlights; that it is not designed for that but understands some customers do it anyways. I used it on the (sky-facing) upper portion of the headlight bezel but not where the lights project out (Tacoma) and do not see anything wrong with it. I do use two folded medium/small sized white towels to cover the headlights while I am at work, with magnets sewn in the towel to hold them in place. The lower proximal corners have nothing that will attract a magnet. I sewed a rather soft plastic part from a baby toy in those corners. Rarely the wind will blow it up enough for part of the headlights to be exposed. I also park the front of the truck towards the north because of the direction of winter sun.

No wax, lotion, soup, stew, goo, stickum, "sealant", or other compound will help anything. Most of them won't hurt anything either, except the amount of money in your wallet. The current RAV4 has LED headlamps, and the lenses are going to rul a lot cooler, therefore last a lot longer for you than they would with halogen or LED light sources.

The lighting issue to lose sleep over is at the other end of the car: the brake lights are not big enough in lit area to meet the relevant US/Canadian regulations. I've heard a rumor that the latest-production RAV4s have begun using the dumb trick of activating the rear position (tail) lights whenever the stop (brake) lights are lit, which arguably lets them pretend to meet the letter of the law -- though not its intent or spirit. But I have yet to see a current RAV4 set up that way; all of the many I have seen so far light only the stop light, a dinky little item nowhere near the required 50 square centimeters in lit area. Not that there's anything you can really do about it, but there it is.

(See also: Lexus NX-series's brake lights until '19 or so, the current Mazda CX-5's brake lights, the current Mazda3's rear turn signals, at least one Mercedes model...)

I saw the Rav4 brake lights (for the first time) taking my son home from school maybe last week. Those dots, I told my son, were mentioned by you to be non-compliant, that they may not cover the effective lit area requirement. (I sadly forgot the specific/correct terminology)...

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Uggh.When I checked all lighting before bringing her home the brake lights looked small but I figured a big company like Toyota would at least obey the regs.They could have just skipped the seperate turn signals and met the regs.Wonder If we get rear ended I'd be found liable for not having proper brake lights? A shame on such an otherwise safe vehicle.

Although IIHS rated my headlights as only marginal I am quite pleased with them.Will see if Toyota has aiming machine at first service.

I've been using Plexus for headlights, motorcycle visors & windshields, anything plastic --- for decades.
http://www.plexusplasticcleaner.com/about.html
You can get it at small airports like I used to or from Amazon these days. A buddy of mine that was a forensics chemist and pilot turned me on to it.

Like Alaric said though, don't abrade the lens to begin with and it will last longer.

ak645 said:

They could have just skipped the seperate turn signals and met the regs.

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As much as I'd like the larger stop lamps, I'd also like to have the unambiguous signal presented by separate yellow rear turn signals. Sure, the larger stop lamps would be more visible but then the ambiguity introduces problems. Also, there's still a CHMSL for the additional stop signalling.

Not that Toyota shouldn't fix it-- but they definitely should not fix it by sacrificing the turn signals.

Wonder If we get rear ended I'd be found liable for not having proper brake lights?

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No, I don't wonder that. Besides, if it's the fault of anyone other than the driver that hit you (check the law for your state, but in most cases it's the fault of the driver that rear ended you, and in many cases even if your stop lamps aren't functional) it's Toyota's fault. You didn't certify the vehicle as complying with FMVSS 108, Toyota did. So long as you have been making sure the lights come on in the first place (for example, in lamps with replaceable bulbs, you make sure you keep good bulbs installed) you're doing your due diligence having bought the car in good faith based on Toyota's self-certification that the vehicle complies with FMVSS 108.

However, now that you are aware of the problem, please file a complaint with NHTSA. You'll need your VIN (surely you have that!) and the complaint is based on the stop lamp not meeting the Effective Projected Luminous Lens Area (EPLLA) (also described as "functional lighted lens area") required by FMVSS 108.

The best strategy for reducing UV fogging/yellowing degradation that I have found is to keep the car pointed away from the direct sun and if possible keep them in the shade when you can. I have followed this since the the move away from glass headlamps and I have never had a set of headlamp fog/yellow...if anything they have always suffered their damage from pitting due to road particulates (translation: many many highway miles )

ak645 said:

They could have just skipped the seperate turn signals and met the regs.

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Yes, they could have done that...and that would have been at least as big of a reason to be upset. Amber turn signals, separate from the red brake lights, are known to be more effective at keeping you out of a crash.

Here's what they actually could have done: made the whole red area light up at an appropriately high intensity (significantly higher than tail light intensity) when you step on the brake. Take a look at the 2019-20 Volkswagen Atlas. Its rear lamps are very similarly shaped to the RAV4 items, but VW managed to provide reasonably and legally adequate lit areas for the red brake light and the amber turn signal light. The Tiguan has smaller, still similar-shape rear lamps with a turn signal compartment too small to meet the US requirement, but rather than take Toyota's approach ("We know, we just don't care"), VW chose to do as you had in mind and just flash the brake light for the turn signal function. That's inferior, but ignore it for a moment: the key point is that the whole red area lights up dim for the tail function and bright for the brake function. It could have easily be done that same way on the RAV4.

What about the film like XPEL?

boo5ted said:

What about the film like XPEL?

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Ick.
I wouldn't use that stuff unless you're going into known sandstorms and other Biblical plagues.

Hilldweller said:

Ick.
I wouldn't use that stuff unless you're going into known sandstorms and other Biblical plagues.

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And why is that? I know people who have used for ages and I've not heard one bad thing about it. Have you used it on your personal vehicles or have direct experience with it?

boo5ted said:

And why is that? I know people who have used [XPEL] for ages and I've not heard one bad thing about it.

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There's worse than XPEL (such as the 40mil films that not only have reduced transparency and clarity, as well as causing excessive lens heating), but you will need to carefully apply it such that there are no wrinkles or bubbles in the film, and you must frequently remove it and apply new film when the old film is visibly degraded (at least once a year-- by the time you see visible degradation it's already blocking a lot of light and, seemingly counterintuitively, increasing glare for other traffic). But even the 20mil film will increase lens heating compared to a bare lens.

Remember, UV is not the only threat-- heat is a major contributor to lens degradation.