Wait, what's El Niño again?

Good question, and someone asked it in the comments on our video, so here's the short version. El Niño is when the ocean in the tropical Pacific runs warmer than normal. That shifts weather patterns around the world, and for California it often means a wetter winter than usual. Not every El Niño year is a soaker, but it's a good excuse to get your car ready now instead of finding problems in the middle of a storm.

The 60-second driveway headlight test

1. Pull up close to a wall. Your garage door works great. Dusk or nighttime is best so you can actually see the beams.
2. Turn on your headlights and look at the wall. You want two bright, clean beams at about the same height. If one is dimmer, yellowish, or pointed way off from the other, something's up. It could be a tired bulb, a cloudy lens, or headlights that are out of aim.
3. Try your high beams too. Same thing. Both sides should light up evenly.
4. Now back up to the wall. Check your tail lights in the reflection, then have someone press the brake while you look (or watch the glow on the wall). Hit both turn signals and your reverse lights while you're there.
5. Walk around and look at the lenses themselves. Are they clear, or are they foggy, yellow or chalky? That leads us to the next part.



That's it. If everything looks bright and even, you're good. If not, it's usually an easy fix.

Cloudy or yellow headlights? You probably don't need new ones.

This is the one we see all the time, especially on Toyotas, Hondas and Lexuses that have been parked outside a few years. Modern headlight lenses are plastic with a protective clear coat on top. California sun breaks that coat down, and the lens slowly turns hazy and yellow. The bulb behind it might be perfectly fine, but a lot less light makes it through.

A lot of people assume the fix is a whole new headlight assembly, and on some cars that gets pricey. Most of the time you don't need it. A proper restoration sands off the damaged layer, polishes the lens back to clear, and then seals it with a new UV coating so it doesn't yellow right back up a few months later.



That last step is the part the quick drugstore kits usually skip, and it's why a lot of DIY jobs look great for a month and then fade.

When does replacement make sense? If a lens is cracked, has moisture inside it, or the housing is broken, polishing won't fix that. We'll tell you straight which one you're looking at.

Headlight questions we hear a lot