All,

I guess driving on the highway kicked up stones and broke both of my fog lights and knocked off that cover that hides the tow hitch on the front bumper. Since the fog lights are glass, they're costing me $110 each (that's after my friend's body shop's 30% discount) and that front tow cover, believe it or not, costs $41 (again, after the 30% discount).

Has this happened to anyone else? Does stones from the highway sound like a reasonable explanation?

 

on a different car, yes... just one fog light.

seems that any part not in high demand always costs more...

 

I bought this. $50 is a small price to pay. Includes both headlights and foglights.



X-Pel Headlight Protection



Protect your expensive headlights from flying debris.


With headlights costing $300 or more, even a gravel hit can be expensive. The DOT-approved 40-mil material is flexible enough to adhere to curved headlights, but has been tested to withstand the impact of gravel traveling at 120 mph. The pressed, polished thermoplastic vinyl is optically clear so it won't change the look of your car or reduce lighting effectiveness. Custom-cut to fit your specific make and model, X-Pel's special 3M adhesive backing goes on in minutes. UV inhibitors ensure that X-Pel will remain clear even in the harshest elements. Made in USA. Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.


http://www.autosportcatalog.com/inde...id=332&cid=105

 

+1 on the Xpel. I started using it for my headlights when my 2G TL's foglight was cracked during a long road trip. It is imperfect in that it won't protect you from a huge rock's impact, but for smaller stones it works great. It's also easy to apply by yourself.

 

A woman at work has a 2006 Subaru WRX Limited Edition, #65 of 800. Actually, she just sold it for $10K more than she paid after putting 9K miles on it.

The new buyer drove it back to Atlanta, got a stone in the fog, and in an email to her, he is getting a quote of $300 to replace. She also had the ClearMask on it, so it must have been one hell of a stone.

She has used the proceeds to buy a 240SX from which she will trash the engine and replace with a super JZ engine, which I gather is a turbocharged Toyota inline six. She gave up trying to find a late model Supra chassis that she could use as a basis for building a car.

It is hard to understand her sometimes because she assumes I know more than I do (thanks to you guys).

 

Looks like it'll be +2 on the X-Pel

 

Is there any worry about heat buid up with the xpel protection since it is so thick?

 

Nope. I've had them on my Land Cruiser for three years, and on my RL for one. Never an issue.

 

Are you using that material on the fog lights? These get pretty hot. I'm not having any problem with the headlights, but I've just replaced my 3rd fog light.

 

I have a cracked fog light that I need to get replaced.

 

Sorry to hear that, Jay. OK, I'm convinced. Just placed my order. Thanks for the tip GoHawks, Neuron, et al.!!

BTW the HTML link is broken, just use the main URL and you'll get there.

 

Yep, foglights on both cars. No issues.



You're Welcome VoDoc. Glad I could give back in some small way.

 

I have a hole in one fog light, the other is pitted badly. The turn signals on the mirrors are cracked up too.

I'm going to order X-PEl.

 

I lost two fogs on my M45 to rocks over about a year's time (two separate road trips). They were over $200 apiece if I recall correctly, so I just got a glass company to cut me some oval lenses, which I epoxied onto the old housings. Total cost, including high-temp epoxy, was about 30 bucks apiece.

Those fogs had nice flat lenses, though, and curved ones are a different story.

.
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Just placed my order. Thanks

 

I have X-pel on my headlights and roadlamps (CLS). It's about 10X thicker plastic than clearbra. I applied it myself but it was a little tricky. No problems with it, you can even wax it.

 

Yep, just follow the directions and make sure you spray the lenses first with the vinegar/water solution per the instructions. The adhesive is VERY sticky and if you don't use the solution, YOU WON'T be able to move it around to set it.

Also after working out the bubbles as best you can, you need to understand that you will still see bubbles for a while. The instructions even mention it. It takes a while for them to dissipate. Mine took almost a month to clear up, but they will. Just have faith.

 

I am going to place my order too. I notice there are some places selling a headlight protection film, but it is only 8mils thick. That just doesn't seem like much protection for the headlights