Time to change headlights

Polycarbonate (the polymer used for those plastic lenses) has terrific impact resistance, the reason it's specified for that application, but it's not very good with regard to weathering, especially in the presence of water, where it stress cracks something terrible.

Wax alone won't do much to protect the "raw" PC surface. Clear coat (ideally a 2-component) is by FAR the best way to go. Otherwise you'll be polishing them again in a few months.

 

This. What do you recommend, @crashnburn80 ?

I did the cleaning job on my wife's old Rav4. Never got to doing anything more as we sold it a couple of months afterwards.

 

Be sure to buy some Plexus plastic cleaner to keep them clean

 

Personally I’m typically reluctant to paint a contoured polycarbonate lens. I like the applied maintenance coatings as they can be buffed smooth and worst case wear down on their own, so you’ll never harm the headlight. Painting has many variables, mainly wanting to maintain perfect clarity and not introduce orange-peel or a diffusing textured surface layer on the lamp which will harm performance and increase glare. But this is just personal preference. It’s certainly possible to do the former well, I just play it a bit more conservative and don’t mind the additional maintenance since I wax my truck every spring and fall at minimum.

 

I do agree, it seems better overall to use the UV clear coat. Does Chemical Guys or someone else have a good one?

Mine are 14 years old and look like it for sure haha. I'd rather do it yearly if it has to come to that versus the additional stuff you mentioned that could come up using alternate methods

 

There are many dedicated products on the market. Admittedly I don't have personal experience with them. I typically replace every vehicles headlights with new OEM units on purchase, which have excellent UV protective coatings and I live far enough north in the Seattle area that advanced UV breakdown isn't an issue on new OEM headlights. I'd look to major name brands and products made for the specific purpose.

 

I refinished the HIDs on my RX350 2+ years ago, coating them with SprayMax 2k urethane gloss clearcoat. I've been very happy with the results, and there's no sign of weathering.

(Replacing those lights with OEM was not an option... They were $1500-2000 per side when they were available, and they seem not to be any more.)

 

Those are some absolutely exceptional headlights.

 

A few pix from the refinishing process (on my RX, but it would be the same on any vehicle). Probably easier if the headlamps come out, but it's very doable in place.

Note that the Spraymax 2k urethane clearcoat is a terrific product -- better than one would expect from a rattlecan -- but pay attention to its PPE requirements. Seriously. I spray it outside using a half-face respirator with chemical vapor cartridge. No dust masks with this stuff -- bring out the real gear.

Weathered:


Wet sanded:


Wet coating: