A frequent problem one may traverse with their vehicle is foggy and or cloudy headlights. Overtime, the constant light shined through the plastic covering – this coupled in tandem with the numerous weather conditions the vehicle drives through – renders a saturation of circumstances that prelude the condensing of a cake-like cloud on both the interior and exterior of the headlight. The aforementioned factor is commonly exhibited with vehicles driven consistently from over 1-3 years —- this issue of course significantly varies individually per vehicle as a direct result of the manufacturers production quality of their series’ year, make, and model.
To remedy this occurrence, one may be self encouraged to resolve the problem themselves; perhaps by Googling how-to videos or reading the search populations provided by the search engine. Purveying these methods will lead you astray — falsely leading you to believe and then irrationally squander on doing oneself — notions such that of toothpaste, blow dryer, or Coca-Cola will remove the headlamp’s cloudiness; these are false statements that are a waste of one’s time and energy. One tactic that does work, a temporary mediocre fix nonetheless, are cleaning agents. These cleaning agents do not clean the inside of the headlamp – which is where the focal point of the issue purveys. Moreover, if this is not the case for one, if only the exterior of the vehicle’s headlamp has fogged up — a cleaning agent will remove the fog however it is merely temporary and will only last about a month before the fog returns. If one pursues this route, the fog will return onto the headlamp only to then be consistently harder to remove each time you undergo a de-fogging with a chemical solvent as one’s solution.
The best solution is an automotive center for every case. In this instance: de-fogging headlamps — what an automotive center will provide for you is a life-long resolution that everyone on the road will notice. The top-tier protocol for an automotive center is sanding the vehicle’s headlamp to the ultimate and then polishing it to its prime; this completely removes the ghastly soiled layer of product externally exposed and inturn provides a glistening renewed headlamp.
This prime restoration process generally costs $200—$300.
Now, if the cloudiness has spawned within the interior of the headlight — one cannot clean it. One must purchase an entirely new headlamp. The cost of brand new headlamps varies per manufacturer. The more expensive luxury vehicles have higher grade headlamps that conversely cost more, lower-grade models parallel this same notion of cost-grading respectively. Depending upon your vehicle — the cost for headlamps has a window of $700—$3000.
For the conjecture of preventative caretaking — there is not much one can do to prevent headlight haze. It is simply a matter of time before the headlamp’s plastic begin to blur. The constant rays of light that permeate the headlamps plastic basin is inevitably keen to corrode, this partnered with natural weather conditions parlays the retention of external/internal moisture — the continuation of this natural occurrence furthers the condensation process into an inductive heated duct — which is the reason the haze-like cloudiness forms—a slow melting of plastic fueled and perpetuated by light, humidity, and moisture. When the time comes, seek your restoration with that of top-tier professionals — those of a competent collision center will serve you justice.