How to restore headlights to their former glory – either by using a headlight restoration kit, or by engaging a professional.
Are your car headlights a bit dull and foggy? Maybe looking a bit yellow? Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. The protective polycarbonate coating on headlights can degrade over time due to Australia’s harsh UV rays. Foggy headlights don’t just make your pride and joy look a bit worn and weary; they can also contribute to safety issues by reducing your headlights’ effectiveness. But the good news is that headlight repair is generally pretty straightforward either at home or in the hands of a professional.
Professional headlight restoration
If you choose to use an expert to restore your headlights, you can give the job to a mechanic, detailer or repair shop. Costs can range anything from $100–$600 for a pair of lights, with warranties that last anything from a year to a lifetime, largely depending on what kind of protective coating is added.
Victoria-based Sheen Panel Service sits at the top end of that range (generally $600 for two headlights, and a lifetime warranty). General manager Cameron Walker says the process starts with removing the headlights from the car. “Then we sand them back. You’re removing all the original sealer that was on the light from the factory and taking it back to a raw plastic.” Sheen uses different grades of wet and dry sandpaper: 600-grit, 800-grit, then 1000-grit. Then a two-pack (i.e. base coat and hardener) clear coat paint is applied. “It should last the lifetime of the vehicle,” he says.
DIY headlight restoration
Returning your headlights to their former glory is also something you can easily tackle yourself. Head to your local auto store and you should find a range of headlight restoration kits to choose from.
Choice – a not-for-profit organisation that tests consumer products and publishes the results – recently shone a light on a couple of these products. A cost-effective two-in-one $23 product is TurtleWax, which cleans and seals in one application. You simply wash and dry your lights, use a cotton cloth to rub the cleaner/sealant onto the lens until the plastic becomes clear, and then buff it with a clean cloth.
The $99 two-step headlight restoration kit from Meguiar’s has a cleaning solution and sealer. After applying the cleaning solution and using the supplied cleaning pads, you add two applications of sealer, which takes 24 hours to fully cure. The manufacturer says this will prevent reoxidation for up to 12 months.
The more expensive kit performed better, but both kits – after a few rounds of cleaning and buffing – did a great job of removing yellowing and making the headlights brighter, Choice found.
Some kits, such as the $66 Repco headlight restoration one, provide different grades of sandpaper and a sandpaper block to help you remove degraded plastic and restore the lens. Others, such as this $90 Mothers kit take all the elbow grease out of the equation by supplying abrasive pads that attach to your drill.
A top tip for DIY headlight restoration: use painter’s tape to protect the paintwork around your lights, follow instructions carefully and be careful when sanding.
