Foggy, yellowed headlights are not just ugly, they scatter your light instead of throwing it down the road. Clearing them is one of the cheapest safety wins on an older vehicle.
Modern headlight lenses are polycarbonate with a thin factory UV coating. Sun breaks that coating down over the years, and once it fails, the plastic underneath oxidizes and turns cloudy and yellow.
A toothpaste trick or a wipe-on kit polishes the very top of that haze and looks fine for a month, then it comes back worse because there is no UV layer left at all. The real fix is to sand the failed coating and the oxidation completely off, work back up through finer grits until the plastic is optically clear, polish it, and then seal it with a fresh UV protectant.
That last step is the one most jobs skip, and it is the difference between a headlight that stays clear for years and one that is yellow again by next summer.
Tape around every edge so the sanding never touches paint or trim.
Wet sand off the oxidation, then step down through finer grits and machine polish until the lens is clear again.
A UV sealant goes on so the plastic does not start oxidizing again the moment it sits in the sun.
With the UV sealant applied properly, usually a few years. Without a sealant, headlights start hazing again within months, which is why the kits from the parts store disappoint people.
Most can. What cannot be fixed is damage on the inside of the lens, moisture trapped in the housing, or deep cracks. We will look at yours and tell you honestly.
Yes. A clear lens focuses the beam the way it was designed to instead of scattering it, so you see further and oncoming drivers get less glare.
Tell us what you are driving and what you need. We answer within 24 hours, and the quote is free either way.