Don’t Neglect To Look After Your Car Headlights – Aftermarket Parts Accessories

Aftermarket Parts Accessories – As has been repeatedly reported on the mainstream news, Americans are holding on to their cars for far longer, which is bad news for manufacturers both local and foreign, but good news for aftermarket parts manufacturers. Sellers of aftermarket accessories should enjoy better business too, as the owners of these older cars will want to spruce up their vehicles to keep them looking fresh.

Dont Neglect To Look After Your Car Headlights - Aftermarket Parts Accessories
image : renault.co.in

If you are one of the very many car owners who have older cars, you may have probably done some simple maintenance to your car, such as rotating the tires, even changing the oil or doing some detailing.

One other maintenance item that most anyone can do is caring for their headlights. Unless you have a rally car or Baja racer (in which case you would know more than simple DIY maintenance), caring for your plain old headlights doesn’t require a degree in electrical engineering.

Very basic to maintaining your headlights is keeping them clean. And this doesn’t just mean wiping a wet rag over the lens. Over time, dirt and grime, not to mention exposure to sunlight, will put a haze on your headlights. Apart from being unsightly, this haze can noticeably reduce the light output when you’re out driving at night.

Most headlights have glass lenses, but some manufacturers have resorted to plastics which cover projector-type lights. More than glass lenses, these plastic lenses are more susceptible to the effects of UV rays, car wash chemicals and ozone contamination. The effect leading to the hazy lenses is known as headlamp clouding, and it has been recognized as a growing problem on cars with plastic headlamp lenses.

When new, these lenses are practically indistinguishable from their glass-enveloped cousins, but with age, the hazing and yellowing becomes highly evident. Apart from the drop in light output, hazy headlamps are also unsightly and are cause for a drop in value when the time comes to sell the car.

While a fine polishing paste used to work for glass lenses in the past, the chemical composition of plastic headlight lenses means that these are more sensitive to abrasive pastes and strong chemicals.

However, aftermarket accessories stores (both online and brick and mortar) now regularly stock headlamp restoration kits that are easy to use and produce excellent results.

It’s highly recommended that you the car owner just buy a kit and do the cleaning yourself. Doing it yourself should not take more than a few hours, and the money you save on labor should be enough for a burger and a beer or two.