Modern cars have polycarbonate plastic headlights, which look fantastic when cars are new, but within a couple of years they often end up looking cloudy and frosted over. Not only does this not look as nice, but it can actually be a safety hazard because it reduces the effectiveness of headlights at night and reduces their range and your night vision. This discoloration is caused by UV radiation, so there’s not really any way to stop it, though it can be slowed by parking out of the sun in garages or parking decks.
In recent years, many do-it-yourself headlight restoration kits have come into the market at auto parts stores and other places. While these kits might make your headlights look better in the very short term, they do not actually provide a long-term solution to the problem of headlight restoration. Your vehicle started with a UV hard coat on the headlights. That’s why it wasn’t a problem for the first few years. The do-it-yourself headlight restoration kits actually remove any of this hard coat that’s left and don’t replace it, meaning that the polycarbonate will re-oxidize very quickly, leaving them cloudy all over again.
Professional headlight restoration is the best way to clean your headlights and keep them looking great for several years because they will reapply the UV hard coat, making them more resistant to the effects of the UV radiation your vehicle is exposed to every day. For a longer lasting solution, professional headlight restoration is the way to go.