We polish your headlights

Thanks to Glassdrive's polishing, your headlights will look like new again! 

The vast majority of headlights - the road lighting system installed at the front of the vehicle - installed on vehicles are produced from polycarbonate, a material that is lighter and more resistant than the old glass pieces used until the end of the 1990s to glaze car headlights. The only drawback is that these new plastic surfaces tend to tarnish quite quickly, with the risk of impairing drivers' visibility. 

At your request, when renovation becomes urgent, Glassdrive can work on your headlights to restore their original gloss and transparency. There is no need to change them: a simple cleaning carried out according to the rules of the trade allows your headlights to recover their initial performance. As if they were new! 

Why renew your headlight lenses?

A driver who notices a loss of transparency in his headlights must remedy this as soon as possible, for at least three reasons: 

To improve safety: opaque or faded headlights reduce the driver's visibility at night by 30 to 40%. 

To comply with the law: a car with heavily sun-oxidised headlights can be flunked by the roadworthiness testers (this has been the case in France since 2010) and lead to their compulsory renovation, followed by a second test. On pain of being immobilised. 

Take care of your vehicle's appearance: yellowed headlights damage your vehicle's image. This is one of the many elements to be taken into account when considering a possible resale. 

Another tip: don't let your headlights deteriorate over time without taking action. Regular maintenance will prevent you from having to change them. A polishing at Glassdrive costs a lot less than replacing the entire optical block! 

What does a headlight polishing at Glassdrive consist of?

This cleaning is a delicate operation which requires a precise gesture, a certain amount of vigilance and the use of appropriate professional equipment: the abrasive action of the sanding in particular, an essential manoeuvre to attack the opaque plastic thickness on the surface of the headlight, can damage its seals and fastenings, and above all deteriorate the paintwork of the bodywork, if you miss your target. 

The 1,400 Glassdrive centres guarantee a high-quality, long-lasting renovation thanks to the technical expertise of its teams, the performance of its products and its adapted tools. 

This work, which lasts approximately 1 hour (for a pair of headlights), is divided into several stages: 

The first phase requires the use of a sander equipped with sandpaper which abrades the tarnished layer present on the surface of the polycarbonate, in order to remove it by successive rubbing. The operation is carried out in several passes: as the stripping progresses, the use of a finer and finer grit makes it possible to obtain a perfect result. 

This first and most laborious stage is followed by a second, devoted to polishing the lighthouse. A special paste is applied to the lighthouse to make it shine and give it back its original appearance and optimal lighting capacity. The operation can be completed by varnishing. 

In some countries, Glassdrive technicians apply a thermoformed film to the restored optic to protect its surface from impurity deposits and the intensity of UV light. Once tarnished, after a few years of use, this protective envelope must be removed and replaced by a new film: the procedure is done in a jiffy and our teams no longer have to polish your optics again! 

Tarnished headlights: it's not a detail!

Renovating your headlights is an absolute precautionary measure. It is necessary to guarantee your own safety, but also that of other motorists: foggy, dimmed or altered lighting makes you less visible to other road users! 

Finally, regular polishing is a maintenance action that should not be neglected as part of the overall maintenance of your vehicle: it will save you from disappointment at the technical inspection and will extend the life of your light units.