DIY Headlight Restoration Kit vs Professional Service

When a kit makes sense

If the haze is light, you have an hour or two, and you are comfortable sanding near your paint, a kit can make a visible difference for about $15 to $40.

Kits work best on headlights that are only starting to yellow. If you can still see the bulb clearly and the lens is just dull, a kit may be all you need for now.

What a kit job actually involves

Most kits follow the same steps as a professional restoration, just by hand. Plan on an hour or more per car, a dry, mild day, and a garage or shade so the sealant does not cure in direct sun.

• Wash and dry the headlights and tape off the paint around them
• Wet sand with the coarse disc, then each finer disc, keeping the lens wet
• Polish with the compound until the lens is clear
• Wipe on the sealant or UV coating and let it cure

Where kits fall short

Hand sanding rarely removes all of the damaged layer evenly, so some haze often remains. Many kits finish with a wipe-on sealant that wears off quickly, so yellowing tends to return sooner. Sanding too close to the paint can also scuff it.

Drill-powered kits polish more evenly, but they also make it easier to burn through tape onto the paint or overheat the plastic. If you go that route, take your time and keep the pad moving.

What a professional service adds

• Machine sanding for an even finish across the whole lens
• A UV-protective clear coat applied properly
• Paint and trim masked off before work starts
• A warranty: ours covers yellowing for one year
• No time out of your day: we come to you

The real cost comparison

A kit is cheaper the first time. The question is how often you will do it. If a kit restoration starts to yellow again within a season and you redo it, the money and time add up. A professional job with a proper UV coating is meant to be done once and then left alone for years.

There is also the question of what your time is worth. Our restoration takes about 30 to 60 minutes and you do not need to be there, so it fits into a workday at your office in Fishers or Carmel, or happens in your driveway while you get on with your day.

If your kit job did not work

That is fine. A previous kit restoration does not stop us restoring the lens properly. We sand off whatever coating is left and seal the lens with GlasWeld's professional UV-cured clear coat, the kind of product retail kits do not include. Text us a photo at (317) 707-1225 and we will tell you what we see.

Quick comparison

• Cost: kit about $15 to $40; our service $99 for both headlights
• Your time: kit an hour or more plus cleanup; our service none, we come to you
• Finish: kit depends on technique; ours machine sanded evenly and professionally coated
• Protection: kit usually a wipe-on sealant; ours GlasWeld COAT, a UV-cured clear coat
• Warranty: kit none on the result; ours 1 year against yellowing