MYSTERY HEADLIGHT SCRATCHES. Witches Broom, Bigfoot Fur or Space Alien Dust

Bigfoot

 

I have a 2015 Tacoma and have the same exact problem. My truck is garage kept and looks immaculate except for the scratches on the top portion of the headlights lenses. The right side tip of headlight lenses has more scratches than the left side. WTH!? Is this?

 

How do you wash your truck?

I would look at things you do when it comes to washing your truck,how you dry it, how you walk past it in the garage etc.
Those look like scratches from drying/washing or brushing against the truck.

It could be something like when you park the truck in the garage someone is walking in front of it running something along the light.

It also could be you use too abraisive of a pad when you apply polishes or sealers (Ultimate is not a wax its a sealer) and you are rubbing the end of the pad against the light which can scratch it.

Scrubbing bug guts off?

Just throwing ideas out.

I can’t remember off hand what it was but I was getting odd wear on something on/in my truck and had to pay attention to my movements and I found out I was rubbing against something that was causing issues.
I’m a deatailer so normally I’m very conscience of my movements.

 

I am pretty sure sun exposure does this somehow. Had a similar thing happen on my car headlight lenses after a couple Arizona summers.

My oem headlights had the same markings in the same spot too on the upper ledge. The aftermarket ones i have now have yet to get the scratches.

 

Clear coat checking? It's probably just the factory coating breaking down. Sand them down with some 1500 grit wet sand paper and recoat them with some Meguiar's clear coat.
I did this to my Corolla last week and they turned out really well.

 

Cocaine. They pour it on use a razor blade to scrape make dem strait lizzines and then snort it up. I heard the headlight coating makes the high even more intense. Especially if you have high intensity bulbs.

 

Its probably the clearcoat breaking down due to age. Polish it, apply uv protectant, and call it a day.

 

Had same thing on my '06 (yours very nice) and I found out it was from all the outrageous sex on the hood, I need to get back to the back seat, back to the back. I have proof... sold the "06, no sex since, no scratches on my new vehicle

 

3rd Gen and no sex?

 

I have them too, not as bad, on the same year truck. I think it’s just wear and tear.

 

I have an '05, and have the same issue (mine have a slight haze in this area only). I have had the truck since new, and it's been in a garage for the last 10 years. It has always been well taken care of.

I would guess it's more to do with road grit, and the aerodynamics of the front end that cause the headlights to get sand blasted in that spot.

Of course, it could also be Squatch encounter as well. It's a well known fact that they are attracted to 2nd gen headlights.

 

These headlights are molded out of polycarbonate and have an optically clear coating for enhanced UV protection. Over time the coating degrades and those are probably the "scratches" you see. Eventually, the lens will become opaque and need refinishing or replacement.

 

These scratches are continuing to get worse. Maybe it is just age and normal wear and tear. I've see headlights haze over due to age and oxidation but never really seen any just develop scratches like this for no apparent reason. Any one else continuing to see this problem get worse with the 2nd gen headlights? 3rd Gen's starting to having any issues?

 

Man some of you don't know what you're talking about. Injection molded headlights won't have clearcoat on them. Polish on plastic would dry to be a chalky white substance.

OP - Put some thin masking tape on the scratched area for a week and resume life as normal. In a week, check the tape. If the tape is also scratched, then the cause is external.

 

Yes

 

Yes, 3rd gen headlight.

 

It's HEAT from the bulb!!

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Looks like age, and sun exposure related failure, of the factory UV protection coating. Mine coating failed, and in the beginning looked a lot like that last photo. Mine got worse, and hazed over, that's why I recently replaced my headlight assemblies. I got tired of buffing them with compound, and it didn't help for long, they would just haze over again.

 

Air, including all the debris in it, gets pushed forward, compressed and speeds up going over the leading edge of the hood. The top of the lens is part of that airfoil. Redesign back to the old days would fix it, but mileage would suffer, so it ain't gonna happen.