A ritual of sorts takes place every summer for those who really enjoy driving. Whether the first step to your ritual is taking your summer car out of storage, or swapping over your wheels and tires to get your “summer car” back, the next thing to usually take place is a bit of a refresh. Shake off the dust, polish everything up and protect it for the precious few months ahead.

Meguiar’s sent over some products to get our rides in tip top condition, including the Perfect Clarity Headlight Restoration Kit, Paint Protect, Air Re-Fresher and some Supreme Shine Microfiber Cloths.

Perfect Clarity Headlight Restoration Kit
First up are the headlights. My 2001 Prelude has seen better days, and it appears it’s actually been having some trouble seeing out of one of its eyes. One headlight lens is definitely more yellow and a little cloudier than the other, so this is my first target.

Using the Meguiar’s headlight restoration kit is simple. In the clamshell case are two bottles: “Clean” and “Coat.” There are also two circular pads with one rough side and a peel-away adhesive side, should you decide to use the Dual Action Polisher. Unfortunately, I don’t have one – yet – so I just use my trusty hand.

Starting with the cleaning solution, I put about a quarter-sized dollop on the rough side of the pad and apply to the headlight, alternating between small circular motions and back and forth. The goal is to make the headlight look “frosted,” which it definitely does when I’m through with it. A once-over with a damp cloth and then a dry one reveals my work. There is definitely less yellow, but I repeat this step again to maximize my results.

Next is the coating step. Following the directions, I shake up the coating bottle well and spray on a medium coat of solution to the headlight area. This is where I can really see my results. After the second coating, my headlights looked decidedly better overall. No more yellow, no more cloud and, best of all, it only took about 10 minutes from start to finish.

Paint Protect   
This is exactly what it says it is. You apply this to your paint surface and it protects it. Simple as that. Applying Meguiar’s Paint Protect is simple as well, with process and results that are very similar to a wax.

For the purpose of this review, I choose to use a section of my front fender. You’ll want to do this on a clean and dry surface, but if you’re no stranger to wax, you’ll already know this. You can apply this to your car with a microfiber cloth, but I actually have a spare foam applicator lying around, so I choose to run with it. I apply enough of the red liquid to the pad for a light coat of the area and start applying – exactly as I would a wax. However, Paint Protect does not haze like a wax would, instead it cures to the surface in about three to five minutes.

I decide to give it the full five before going at it with one of the Supreme Shine Microfiber Cloths. The Paint Protect comes off easy and leaves behind a brilliant shine and mirror-like finish. The product fully cures in 24 hours to provide a protection for up to 100 car washes.

Air Re-Fresher
There’s nothing worse than getting all pumped up to drive your pride and joy, only to sit down and smell what might just be the burrito that a disrespectful passenger may have dropped. Meguiar’s Air Re-Fresher makes getting rid of the dank easy. Best of all, you don’t need to do much!

Meguiar’s sent both “Citrus Grove” and “Summer Breeze” for testing, but seeing as it is summer and the name instantly got the Seals & Crofts song stuck in my head, Summer Breeze is a no-brainer.

The Air Re-Fresher is best described as a slow-acting air freshener grenade. To use, I set my air conditioner to full circulation, put the cold on blast and turned up the fans as high as they go. Making sure to pull the pin away from my face, I set the locking switch, place it on my centre console, close the door and come back 15 minutes later.

After pulling out the empty can, I let the car breathe by leaving all the doors open for another 15 minutes. What results is a fantastic scent. I’m not sure how they can summer breeze off-season, but I’m not complaining. Air Re-Fresher is like a seek and destroy order for odour.

Conclusion
If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to refresh your car, you might want to consider starting here. All the products are easy to use, quick and actually work! You could start with the Air Re-Fresher, restore your headlights while you wait and then protect the paint, all in about an hour.