Headlight lenses are polycarbonate with a factory UV coating on the outside. UV eventually breaks that coating down, and once it fails the plastic underneath oxidizes — that is the yellow, cloudy layer.
This is why the internet fixes do not last. Toothpaste, baking soda and a polish all remove the oxidized layer without replacing the protective coating, so the bare polycarbonate is straight back in the sun and yellows again within weeks. Sealing afterwards is the part that matters.
Headlight restoration is $50 per headlight, so $100 for the usual pair, flat at every vehicle size. It is quoted and arranged by hand rather than through instant booking.
Headlights used to be glass. Modern ones are polycarbonate, which is far tougher, far lighter and far easier to mould into complex shapes. It has one weakness: it degrades under ultraviolet light.
Manufacturers deal with that by applying a hard UV-resistant coating to the outside of the lens at the factory. That coating is what is protecting your headlights right now, and it is sacrificial — it degrades over years of sun exposure, road grit, washing and heat cycling from the bulb behind it.
Once the coating starts failing, it usually goes patchy first. You will see cloudy areas and clear areas on the same lens, often with the top of the lens worse than the bottom because it takes more direct sun. Then the exposed polycarbonate oxidizes, turns yellow and goes microscopically rough, which scatters the light coming out of it.
In San Francisco this happens on the same clock as faded black trim and a dried dashboard, and for the same reason. If a car parked outside here has gray trim, look at the headlights — they are usually next.
It matters beyond appearance: a yellowed, scattered lens genuinely reduces how much usable light reaches the road, which is a safety issue on unlit roads at night.
The lens is cleaned and the surrounding paint and trim are masked. Sanding residue and compound on paint is a problem that outlasts the headlight job, so this step is not optional.
Progressive wet sanding through decreasing grits. This is the part that looks alarming and is entirely normal — the lens goes uniformly matte before it comes back.
Each grit removes the scratches left by the previous one. Skipping steps leaves a lens that looks clear from ten feet and hazy up close.
Machine polishing brings the polycarbonate back to optical clarity. At this point the lens looks new — and is completely unprotected.
A UV-resistant sealant applied to replace the factory coating that failed. This is the difference between a restoration that lasts and one that yellows again in a couple of months, and it is the step every kitchen-cupboard method skips.
| Price | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Headlight restoration | $50 per headlight | $100 for the usual pair. Flat at every vehicle size. |
| Booked with | Any interior, exterior or full detail | Arranged by hand rather than through instant online booking. |
| Black trim restoration | $75 sedan / midsize, $100 large | Often worth doing at the same time — same cause, same clock. |
Headlight restoration is not in the instant online booking list. Tell us when you book a detail, or text (415) 360-1964, and we will add it.
A restored and sealed lens holds for a long time, but it is not permanent — the sealant is doing the same sacrificial job the factory coating did, and it is under the same UV.
Sun exposure is the variable. A car garaged overnight and driven in the day holds a restoration far longer than one parked facing west on an exposed street. Nothing about that is specific to headlights; it is the same story as leather, dashboards and trim.
Practical things that help: park facing away from the prevailing afternoon sun where you have the choice, and wash the front of the car rather than letting road film and bug residue bake onto the lens. Both are free.
If you are having the car detailed anyway and it is more than a few years old, headlights and trim together are the two highest-visual-return add-ons available. $100 for the pair of headlights plus $75 for the trim makes an older car read as several years younger, which matters most if you are selling it.
Restoration works when the outside of the lens is oxidized, which is the overwhelming majority of cases. It does not work when the cloudiness is on the inside of the lens, when there is condensation inside the housing, or when the polycarbonate itself has cracked.
Send a photo and we will tell you which one you have before you book anything.
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That last part is why it lasts. Add it to any detail — just tell us when you book.