Headlight restoration is a popular/unpopular alternative to headlight replacement these days, depending on how the work is done. Headlight replacement is expensive and can range well into the low to mid hundreds, plus more if someone else has to be paid to do the work. With headlight restoration, the headache may come with the quality of the work done. You pay one guy, and your headlights look great for about three months, and then you have to get it done again. Or, you pay this other guy, and your headlights look great for years as the whole wear process starts all over again. Well that's where knowing the difference between a good headlight job, and a bad one comes in, it's really quite simple.
First of all, what causes headlights to wear? If you don't garage your vehicle, sunlight and pollution will cause the luster to dull, and the clear to yellow. Some folks don't mind buying new lights, I do, but what to spend?
You get what you pay for. You can use any cheap toothpaste to clean up your headlights, then turn around and brush your teeth, but this only brightens and whitens. Some companies sell a cleaning creme for a few dollars more which is basically the same thing, except you can't brush your teeth with it. Then there are headlight kits. Most headlight kits are between $10-$30. You can easily follow the instructions, or pay someone to use a headlight kit for a few dollars profit. Now, these kits might have you sand and resurface your headlight while using a lubricant. This is an imortant step in headlight restoration, but whatever that coating is, which you apply at the end of the job, it usually turns yellow soon after. Hopefully, now you know what you're getting yourself into if you go this route, for all others...
Quality costs money. If you're not a professional detailer, headlight restorer, or body shop guy, you should find one. They're rates will most likely range from $25-$50 per headlight. In addition to resurfacing the headlight with sandpaper and lubricant, the headlight is buffed and polished using a high speed buffer which brings it to shine naturally, it's that simple.