Review by Chris Zee Shutterbug : BlueMagic vs Symtech headlight lens restorer comparison

Symtech (Symtech Bright Solutions Headlamp Restoration Car Care Kit) vs BlueMagic 725 headlight restore kits comparison.

I have used both products, (the BlueMagic for over a year now) and offer these comments for you.
The BlueMagic does work, despite quite a few comments to the contrary. Have used it on several different vehicles 7-9 years old, Nissans and Hondas. Perhaps some of the plexiglass compounds on other vehicles may affect the results. For me the BlueMagic works best when applied to a cotton sock, just by tipping the bottle over the sock and getting the bottle mouth sized glob on the cloth. This amount is about right for a 5" by 5" spot. I rub it vigorously for about a minute until it dries at which point I flip the cloth over and use a clean spot to remove any residue. If all goes well (always has for me) you will see a golden yellow discolored spot on the sock. Then move on to a new area of the headlight. After the entire headlight is done, I come back to the first spot and do it again, at some point redoing the process will no longer discolor the cloth, that is when you can stop. End product is a much improved clearness and brightness. This unfortunately lasts only 6-10 weeks for me. Despite the claim that the product prevents re yellowing, the best it really does is slow it down.

When I got the chance to try out the Symtech kit, I jumped right on it. The main reason was the three part treatment. The pre treat de yellowing, the polisher, and the sealer/preservative. Hope is that the preservative will prevent the need for the frequent pretreatments. To start with, the pre treat is more aggressive here than with the BlueMagic. I went about 4 rounds with Symtech before it stopped discoloring the cloth with yellow, vs 2-3 times with BlueMagic. Second, the day after, surface skin on my fingers started to peel, so it is definitively more aggressive and you do need to wear the rubber gloves that come with the kit. The kit includes towelletes, but a sock or a old T shirt work better for me. I then did not do the optional step of sanding the lens with either the 1500 or 2000 grit , and went on with the polisher and the sealer. Altogether about 15 min of work per headlight. Comparing the BlueMagic all in one formula and the 3 times more expensive Symtech, there fortunately IS a difference to justify the price increase. While the color of both lenses was very similar (very little yellow tinge remained), the clarity of the Symtech lens was clearly superior. The BlueMagic lens had a slight opacity and milkiness to it similar to a milk bottle, while that on the Symtech had a sparkly appearance.

I have not waited the six weeks yet evaluate how well the sealer/preservative solution works on the Symtech, but wanted to write this report early to show that it starts off with an advantage. I will update the report in August.

PS. While detailing the car I noticed that Armor All rim cleaner removes a lot of yellow grime from the tires. Aha! I tried the rim cleaner on another discolored headlight lens, and it had the same yellow removing quality. The car paint was not streaked at all from the overspray, but you may want to test yours if you want to try this trick. The end result was a very clear, milky headlight, which I then polished with some polishing compound. The end result was as clear as any specially designed product, but obviously there was no sealant or any preservative in the formula.

Review by Dante R. Creighton : THIS STUFF IS MAGIC

Don't know what these other people are talking about but the product worked like "MAGIC" for me. Own an older Audi A6. Both lenses were discolored. Got into an accident and one lens was replaced with a new one. The difference made the car look WORSE than with the two discolored lenses. Audi wanted to charge me $800 to replace the ENTIRE HOUSING (that is how it is made). Did the research and invested in this little $8 bottle. Took about 10 good minutes of rubbing in and wiping off and the lense is VERY CLEAR. Mind you the other lense is BRAND NEW and yes it is clearer than the buffed one, but it is not very noticeable.

Overall, I have a car that now looks great again and spent $8 instead of $800.

Review by ChiTownMom "Straight Shooter" : 2000 Camry TOTALLY worked

I have a Toyota with over 110,000 miles. About a year or more ago, my mechanic said he could clear up my headlights for $150. Since an old Camry is a bit of a money pit already, no go on that. I did a bit of research on the internet a while back and saw something that cost $25 that had a chemical name that all the reviews said would work. Never got around to it, but had doing it myself in the back of my mind.

Today at the hardware store, I saw a bottle of this for $7.99 and was like, okay what the hell. Just gave it a shot five minutes ago with a couple of paper towels and it totally worked. Obvious improvement after the first pass, better the second, a bit better the third, not much change after that. So the headlight isn't mint condition, but it's waaaaay better.

I spilled some on the paint and it didn't seem to harm it, but I noticed the paper towel picked up what may have been a little paint color-- so if you're a paint job freak, would make sense to protect it or be careful.

Only problem now is, I know my mechanic is full of crap.

Review by lolcat : alot of work!

IT WORKS! all the people here who are saying it doesnt work arnt going over the headlight enough. it takes about a good 20 or so times over to really get it perfect. if your looking for a cheap product and dont care about the work get this, but if you want something easier try another brand. it DOES remove yellow * it comes off green on the towel from the heat*, and it DOES remove haziness.

Review by Vic : Worked For Me - Specific Cars

Picked this up at a 24-hour auto store for $7.50 last night.
We were doing other work on my daughters Eclipse and had to go there so I picked it off the shelf.
They had this and a couple of the more expensive kits with buffing pads.
I would have picked up the Meguiur's G12310 Plastx from reviews here but they didn't have it.

Daughter's 2001 Mitsubish Elipse.
Headlight lenses so fogged and dulled you couldn't see the bulbs. No yellowing.
Took no more than 2 minutes per lens to just rub this on with a clean rag using moderate pressure.
Then another minute each to clean residue streaking with regular spray window cleaner.
Then I cleaned her instrument panel plastic that was fogged up, but not as badly as the headlight lens.
She had messed that up using furniture polish on it. A spot in one corner didn't clear up because it seemed the furniture polish had etched it.
The instrument panel is about the same size as a lens and also took about 3 minutes total.
In both cases I tested a small area first just to make sure there was no bad outcome with the plastic.
Now headlight bulbs are easily seen, the lens are "almost" transparent, and the dullness is "almost" gone.
Amazing difference, and I expect another application would improve them more.
But I'm lazy, and don't seek perfection in plastic.

My 1993 Pontic Grand Am.
Headlight lens were fogged like the Eclipse's, and very slightly yellowed.
Same deal, it worked. Now no yellow and fogging gone.
Didn't try it instrument cluster panel, as that's okay.

I used so little of this product I could repeat everything 5 more times with what's left.
I used a few different small clean rags, all with mostly cotton.
Three or four nickle sized blobs on the rag per lens.
You can't go wrong, as you can see it working immediately.
This does not remove "real" scratches as far as I could tell, but I don't care.
Bugs, dust, pebbles, etc. are hitting these lenses at high speed all the time.

Bottom line is it cleared up fogging/yellowing for those 2 cars easily and quickly.
I expect it works for most cars, though plastics are different, which is why I specified the cars.
One thing I recommend is unless you have solid evidence a certain product works best on your particular car,
try this first. I don't think it will hurt any car due to the liability involved.
Why use multi-step procedures and spend hours with the expensive products if this will do for you?

Review by Paintchips : Baby got her eyes did.

I read the other reviews and was a little skeptical. Especially the one about it scratching that guy's headlights - EEE! However, I am cheap and had already purchased the product so I figured I'd give it a shot. The results were wonderful. No scratches despite needing two applications of it. I was left with a crystal clear scratch free beauty of a headlight. Picture can be found at http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/amnestyastrae/eye.jpg . I hope someone finds this helpful! :D

Review by Shannon Frickleton : smfrickl

I have a 2005 Camry with moderate oxidizing/hazing mostly on the top half of both headlights. I went into Auto Zone today to purchase an actual Headlight Lens Restoration Kit to help my lights but when I asked the clerk for advice for choosing between the two kits they sold he first asked how bad mine were so I showed him. He then reccomended this product to me instead and said the kits would have scratched my lens since the kits are mainly for severe cases of yellowing, oxidzing or what ever you want to call it. Mine hadn't gotten that far yet. The clerk even took the bottle off the shelf and walked outside with a paper towel and rubbed a spot on my headlight with this stuff and wow...the spot was clean!! I was amazed at how easy it was and so thankful he saved me from spending the money on those kits which would have destroyed my headlights and costs me more money in the long run. For those who bought this and had no luck it's probably because your lights were too severe and you need some major sanding and buffing. The more you use this stuff the better it looks. Also, rather then selling me the sealant the clerk told me just to use regular car wax to protect them. Good stuff!