Over the years, car headlights become dimmed and cloudy. This happens to every car, despite the headlights' protective coating; years of abrasive dirt and sand eventually wear this coating away, making tiny scratches in the lenses. Dimmed and worn headlights post a cosmetic problem for car owners who like to maintain a pristine exterior, but it poses a more serious safety threat. 

Car headlight's scratched and worn surfaces post a barrier to light, fracturing and blocking the light. As a result, headlights are much dimmer. With dimmed headlights, driver visibility can drop to dangerously low levels during nighttime driving; during fog or heavy rain, dulled car headlights can also make it difficult for other drivers to spot you on the road. Whether you're concerned about your vehicle's cosmetic appearance or maintaining your family's safety - or both - repairing dulled car headlights is an important part of auto body maintenance auto body maintenance. 

Some vehicle owners are shocked when they find out how much it costs to have their car's headlights replaced. Complete replacement of molded, protectively coated plastic headlamp parts often cost hundreds of dollars each, making headlight replacement impractical for some vehicle owners.

Car headlight restoration, a fairly new service auto body centers like Southwest Collision offer, uses chemicals which remove the headlight's surface layers, then polish the newly exposed surface. The headlight restoration process makes headlights as clear and smooth as they were when they were new. Car headlight restoration costs less than $100 on average - for both headlights - a dramatic difference in cost from complete headlight replacement. 

This process does, however, remove the car headlights' protective surface layer, making the remaining plastic become dull more quickly than new headlights. Car headlights which have been restored rather than replaced typically need to be re-serviced once each year, while new headlights only need replacing once every three to four years. To get the best savings, vehicle owners should add up the total cost of having headlights restored each year over the recommended lifetime of new headlights. In many cases, car headlight restoration is the more cost-effective option.

To find out which option is best for your vehicle, visit us at www.southwestcollision.com to get a quote on car headlight restoration.

Safe driving!