ClearLens Headlights

What you actually lose

A clouded lens throws about a fifth of the light it used to.

AAA put headlights from two eleven-year-old sedans on a lab bench and measured them against new ones. On low beam, the weathered lenses produced roughly 20% of the light. About half of all crashes happen at night.

New from the factory100%

After restoration~70%

Clouded and yellowed~20%

Low-beam light output measured by AAA. Restoration does not return a lens to factory output — AAA measured about 70%.

I'd rather tell you that up front than oversell it. Seventy percent isn't a new headlight assembly. But on Highway 90 at nine o'clock with no streetlights and deer in the treeline, seventy is a different road than twenty.

The other half of it

Oxidized lenses read as neglect.

Everything else on the car can be straight — paint waxed, interior clean, service records in the glovebox — and two foggy lenses still make it look like it's been sitting in a yard. It's the first thing people notice from the front, and it's the one flaw that shows up in every photo if you ever go to sell it.

The cause is simple. Headlight lenses are polycarbonate with a thin factory coating on the outside. Sun breaks that coating down, and on this coast you get sun plus salt air, on a car that probably parks outside year round. Lenses start hazing at three to five years here. By eight they're gone.

What it costs

$119, in your driveway, warrantied.

$119both headlights · I come to you

Wet sanded through seven grits, polished, then sealed with a Cerakote ceramic UV coating
Twelve-month warranty against re-yellowing, in writing
About two hours in your driveway — I bring my own power and water
Before and after photos of your car, sent to your phone

Fog lights and tail lights can usually be done at the same visit. Text me a photo for a straight answer on whether your lenses are worth restoring or past saving.

Why mine lasts

The seal is the whole difference.

Most headlight restoration is a polish and nothing more. Polishing takes off what's left of the factory coating and leaves bare plastic pointed at the sky. It looks great for a month. Then it hazes again, usually worse, and people decide restoration doesn't work.

I sand through seven grits, polish out the sanding marks, and then seal the lens with a Cerakote ceramic UV coating. That coating is what the factory had and what the cheap job removes.

4006008001000 150020003000polish Cerakote UV seal

See the whole process, step by step →

Proof

Cars I've actually done.

Cloudy headlight on a silver Honda Civic — Honda Civic — the everyday case

The same Civic headlight restored and clear — Honda Civic — the everyday case

Heavily oxidized Mercedes E-Class headlight — Mercedes E-Class — chalked over completely

The same Mercedes headlight clear, reflector visible — Mercedes E-Class — chalked over completely

Pitted, chalky headlight lens — Past the point most shops will touch

The same lens restored to mirror clarity — Past the point most shops will touch

Dull, hazed Ford Explorer headlight — Ford Explorer — projector lens

The same Explorer headlight clear with projector visible — Ford Explorer — projector lens

See all nine →

Where I work

I come to you, both sides of the state line.

Driveway, office parking lot, condo lot, wherever the car sits. I bring my own power and water, so nothing needs to be plugged in or hooked up.

Little River, SCHome base · Highway 17 & 9 North Myrtle Beach, SCCherry Grove to Windy Hill Myrtle Beach, SC501, Kings Highway, Socastee Calabash, NCBrunswick County line Ocean Isle Beach, NCThe island and the causeway

Also Longs, Loris, Conway, Shallotte and Sunset Beach.

Text me a photo of your headlight.

I'll tell you whether it'll come back clear or whether you're better off replacing the housing. Free either way, and I'd rather turn down a job than take money for one that won't hold.

909-285-7906 Text a photo of your headlight and I'll tell you straight whether it's worth doing.

Open a text

Your headlights are cloudy. Your car looks older than it is.