I was wondering if, anyone has tried any of the stuff on the market to polish the headlights? I have a 2000 Excursion and they are starting to look dull.

Thanks,
rlay302

 

I've tried a few things on my Taurus headlights. They do the same thing, fade and yellow after a few years, and it makes the whole car look awful. What happens is the coating (similar to a clearcoat on paint) reacts to the UV rays and other environmental substances, and the result is the fading and staining you're seeing.

The product you use all depends on how bad your lights are now. I've had excellent luck with Novus polish: http://www.noscratch.com/novus/ It's a little on the pricey side, but works great.

I've also had good luck with Meguiar's Plastx: http://www.meguiars.com/?clear-plast...Cleaner-Polish . This works better for lights and plastic that's not badly faded/yellowed, or for a protection coat after you polish with something more aggressive.

I bought a 93 Taurus SHO, and the headlights were horrendous. I ended up wetsanding the headlight lenses with 400, 600, 1000, and 2000 grit wet or dry paper, and then polishing with my rotary buffer and some Meguiar's Deep Crystal paint cleaner. I followed up with some Plastx, and they look brand new.

Whatever you need to do to yours, based on the severity of the fading, make sure you use some Plastx every month or so to keep them clean and protected.

 

the only other option is to get some new light assemblies. either aftermarket or factory. they aren't that bad on the wallet either and look pretty cool. even from ford, they aren't that bad of a price--$129 each/ list price. i get them for $87...i work for another dealer down the street from ford.

 

I know this sounds silly but the bathroom spray cleaner "Scrubbing Bubbles" works great on yellowed headlights. I have used it on my fox body Mustangs with excellent results. Just spray it on the lights and you'll see the yellow running off... just have a towel handy to wipe them off and keep them from dripping. Also, the plastic polish used for motorcycle windshields that can be found in any chain auto parts store works good too and its cheap.

 

buffing compound and a buffer like they use in the body shop,they will be like brand new.