Headlight Restoration: Chrysler Crossfire

Headlight lenses oxidise over time as UV light breaks down the polycarbonate plastic. The lens goes hazy, then yellow, then opaque -- and on this Chrysler Crossfire, they were about as far gone as we see. You could barely make out the bulbs through the clouding, which is both an MOT risk and a real safety issue at night.

Connor carried out the six-stage headlight restoration, working through progressively finer grits of wet sanding to remove the oxidised surface layer, then polishing through multiple stages until the plastic is clear again. The grime and yellowing that comes off in the early stages makes it obvious how much of the lens has degraded -- it is not just surface dirt, it is the plastic itself that has broken down.

New lenses leave the factory with a thin UV-inhibiting coating on the outside of the polycarbonate -- the same principle as the UV filter on a pair of glasses. Road use and washing gradually wear it away, and once it is gone the bare plastic has nothing protecting it from the sun. That is why customers sometimes find themselves back at the garage two years after a polish: the work was done well, but without a new protective layer on top the oxidisation starts again almost immediately.

At New Again, polishing is only half the job. Once the lens is clear we apply a ceramic coating -- a three-year grade on headlights -- which reinstates that UV barrier properly. A ceramic coating tends to outlast its stated grade; in practice most customers do not need to revisit it.

On this car, the top of the lens was the worst area -- the part most exposed to UV over the years. By the end of the six stages it was fully clear, and the overall result was a significant improvement on what came in. Manufacturers rarely sell replacement lenses separately; a full headlight unit can be expensive. For most cars, headlight polishing is a cost-effective fix that restores both the look and the light output.