Why is it 2025 and we still cannot produce a clear headlight cover that doesn’t get hazy or cloudy within a few years?

My wife’s van is a 2017 and it’s starting to do it but we were leaving a restaurant tonight and I noticed a large number of more recent cars only a few years old by my guesstimate that also we’re starting to get that cloudy headlight look.

You would have thought they would have figured this out by then?

I would guess it would be because they are being made with materials that suffer discoloration / deteration from prolonged exposeure to sunlight.. As in the previous times when the lenses / covers were actually made from glass.... .................. drill sgt.

Because glass causes cancer, depletes the ozone, results in global warming, is a danger to kittens and puppies and is a gateway to marijuana and dancing among young people.

The additional weight of glass over plastic also decreases fuel economy by an incremental 0.0000000000001%.

Can they make a glass lens that sticks 3" out of the sheetmetal and still keep the hideous looks that are so popular in todays cars and trucks?

Probably not.

All plastic lenses have a protective coating on them to help prevent degrading. The problem is that just like coatings on eyeglass lenses, the coating is easily damaged by using harsh cleaners or aggressive coarse wash mitts or pads or they buff them.

Since most people no longer hand wash their vehicle because it takes too long, they take it to the car wash. Car washes use harsh soap that damages the coating along with the vehicles clear coat. If you use a ph neutral car soap with a proper cleaning process, and then apply a easy wipe on and wipe off sealant safe for plastic (I use Turtle Wax Seal N Shine on my car), the coating would take a very long time to wear away.

Working in a body shop, I can tell who takes their vehicle to the car wash, and who hand washes or has their vehicle professionally cleaned properly just by looking at the headlamps, tail lamps, plastic grille emblem protecting the front radar, wheels, and the clear coat.

Would wax or some type of ceramic coating help?

or clear tint with uv protection?

Headlight protection film, same as paint protection film(PPF) is what you should install. Every time you drive, your headlights are getting beat like being sandblasted.

One time, I was driving a Porsche Cayman on the highway and a semi ran over a chunk of tire which struck my front left headlight. It left a black smear and I figured a scratched lens.

I took the car to the paint film shop and the installer peeled off the PFF. No damage and the headlight looked brand new. They reapplied a new piece of PFF and I was on my way.

Every car I’ve owned since has had a clear bra and headlight protection installed.