I've got a 2012 Fit with about 80K miles on it. New-ish tires, runs great. We keep it around as a second car...doesn't get a ton of use, but at least a half dozen times a month. We're debating selling it to buy something new. But I'm torn because it's served us well and appears like it'll run for many more years. There are, however, a few things that drive me nuts....by far the biggest being the headlights being SO dim they're functionally worthless. It completely sucks to drive at night. Aside from that the other issue is that the clear coat on the hood and roof has been baked off by the central Texas sun. The window seals are baked away as well, but i've tracked down some replacements for that.

So my main question is....do any of you have suggestions for the these two issues? I've read about polishing the plastic on the lights but not sure that's going to make a big difference. Are there any replacement options that are more modern/bright? (ideally that I could do myself). As far as the clear coat....has anyone tried wrapping themselves? I'm not about to wrap the whole car myself....but the hood and roof seem like they might be some of the easier parts. (I could just do matte black or something that would vaguely match the grey of the car paint). Has anyone done a reasonably cheap paint job and is that something worth investigating? Is there anything else you've done to your older Fit to extend its life a bit that you've been really happy with?

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

You don't need much to clear the headlights generally. Some LIGHT buffing with a LIGHT compound, then use gloss paint as a cover in appropriate conditions/humidity.
The buff alone is what I do, takes about 12 mins from setup to take down for 2 light assemblies. If bulbs are an issue, plenty of reasonably priced LED or otherwise upgrades.

Seals are straightfowards, clear I would just paint myself. Get a $20 spray gun from HF if you have a compressor (one time use basically), or just do it the old fashioned way. Plenty of decent vids on how to properly prep and paint using a rattle can. Prep is JUST AS important as the painting and curing processes.

And to steer you even more into holding onto it. The new cars are JUNK. I mean GARBAGE. Hot steaming piles. I work as a mobile mechanic and it seems there's been actual regression in terms of simplicity, $/use and pretty much anything else made after 2013. It keeps getting worse especially with concerns over right to repair, data being sent to foreign countries on some models, sold even regarding driving habits, gatekeeping part costs etc.

I still have a 2015 with over 200k on it but bought a 91 Jetta Diesel as a backup. I tell people, take control of your investments and life choices/assets because this ship is not going the way you'd like. Transportation is huge. Good luck out there.

 

When I was looking into LED lights for my Fit one of the brands I was looking at was VLED. I don't have personal experience with their new V50 Monochrome series LED, but their supposed output is 5000 lumens each. Expensive but probably among the highest output LEDs in the market.

 

Cerakote makes a headlght restoration kit that removes all the fogginess on the headlights and brings the brightness back. It'ls like $17 at Walmart or Amazon. These cars are a ton of fun and will run a really long time with proper maintenance.

 

You could also retrofit your headlights with projectors. Expensive at around $1000 but that’s a lot cheaper than a new car.

 

Retrofit HID projectors make any old car feel brand new. It's nuts. I'd say definitely cheaper than $1000 if you do it yourself. But regardless, it's not the cheapest mod to do.

 

Roadmanners mini projector kit for lighting. Completely transformed the night driving experience.