Sanded my headlights - then fucked it up

[ZionsWrath]

My 2013 headlight look like shit. Car is outside 24/7

Show me where i can buy used working brz headlights for 200$ ill buy em up right now

[OfficeWorker]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

What I don't understand is why this was necessary in the first place. My car is only a year younger than OP's. I have 85K miles on it in various driving conditions, including heavy UV conditions in Texas and Florida. My headlights are nowhere near needing to be reconditioned.

So what was wrong with these headlights to require all this sanding and polishing?

To my understanding, the quality of the individual coating over the poly can vary quite a bit - I've had two cars where one headlight became cloudy while the other did not. Road chemicals seem to be pretty brutal on the coating in addition to UV, as here in MD we don't get nearly as much sun or heat as you do further South, but headlights here are in a sea of fog (paint jobs also commonly look like the 7th day after a really bad sunburn - for some reason most people here don't seem to bother removing road salt, and many that do seem to prefer dish soap.)

[GrantedTaken]

Didn't read the replies.
You need to polish with an orbital as the last step.