[TheExitWound]

Just bought the car a few weeks ago, the weather broke (stupid Pennsylvania), and I've begun cleaning and doing the easy stuff on the new Insight.

Today, I bought some Turtle Wax Headlight Lens Restorer and ... restored the headlights. It comes with clarifier, sandpaper, lubricant, and a UV sealer. It was on sale on Advance Auto Parts for $10. First time I ever did headlights in this way. Took about an hour to do both and wasn't all that difficult. The end result is much much better, but not perfect. I think there's some permanent fogginess on the inside of the lenses on both sides that I can't remove. But it's 80-90% better easily. Here are the pictures.

Next come replacing the hatch shocks and cleaning the seats.

 

[jessemac]

looks great

tell us more about your car

 

[FrugalSteward]

That looks great, I've had similar results with the TurtleWax restorer.

I have only my passenger side hazing over. I've done it twice now with excellent results each time. I'm not sure if it lasted one year or two but it didn't take that much from the kit. The kit still has multiple shine capability. Got my kit at Menards on sale, can't recall the price but it is much cheaper than a lot of the other manufacturers.

 

[Mountain driver]

The lights look great. Your kit was cheaper than the 3M kit I used ($15)

edit: just noticed your location at State College, I'm in Tyrone. Maybe we'll see each other on I-99.

ditto on jessemac, tell us about your car.

..Bob

 

[TheExitWound]

Link in my signature will be a running tally on what I do with the car.

www.theexitwound.com/insight should get your there.

Pics can be found here: 2002 Honda Insight

There's another blue insight down the street from me that I never noticed before! Just a block away. I've seen 3 in town, including mine.

Haven't had the car on the highway yet, but I'm averaging 48mpg in city, which is a far cry from the 9 to 11 I got in the Porsche. Crazy awesome.

I debated between the Turtle Wax kit and the 3M kit. The difference between the boxes was minimal, other than about $5 in price. Since I'd never done it, I'd hoped for a lot but expected little...so the lesser of the prices seemed the better choice. I am happy with the results though.

167K on the engine, new water pump and thermostat, batteries still charging and discharging perfectly, no indication of any failures. Love it. Love to drive it.

 

[gilbertguy]

Check out this link for hatch struts at half the cost of Honda OEM struts. I've had mine on my car for almost 3 years and they are still strong and work great!

http://www.insightcentral.net/forums/buy-sell-insight-related-items/17179-lift-cylinders-trunk.html

 

[Willie Williford]

I think this is what you meant GG;

Lift Supports Systems | Hood | Window | Trunk | Hatch | Auto Parts By Lou

Willie

 

[FrugalSteward]

TurtleWax Restorer Kit & 0W-20 On Sale Now

I was looking through the Menards add that came today and this kit was on sale. I think the price is 6.99 sorry couldn't remember exactly. They also have Quaker State, full synthetic, 0W-20 on for $2.99/qt after merchandise rebate. That is the cheapest I've seen for 0W-20!

 

[DuckGuy]

I did mine with the Turtlewax kit and it has lasted only about two months, it's very foggy now. I don't have pics but my impression is that this is an issue that may need regular treatments to keep it clear.

That said, I did not use the included sealer. Probably this is a factor in how quickly the treatment failed.

 

[Willie Williford]

Why do you think they included the sealer in the kit?

 

[samwichse]

I did mine with Blue Magic, it only lasted a couple months and I DID use the included sealer.

I wonder if there's any such thing as an acrylic clearcoat/resurfacer.

A little Google-fu turns this up:
http://cl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=784053

Sam