I plan on having my headlight housings wrapped with something like a clear bra whenever I replace them. These headlights are horrible with fading.

You’ve got that right. They can be be a real PITA to keep pretty but I’m glad there are now some great products that are specifically designed for UV protection that can be used. One is “Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit, UV Block Coat” and the other one is “303 (30313) Aerospace UV Protectant for Plastic, Vinyl, Rubber”. My first choice is the Sylvania product because I’ve used it and it’s specifically manufactured for these problems. I have some 303 UV Protectant and it is rated 5-star (like the rest of their product line) with great comments, but haven’t tried it on lenses.

I did a half@ss quick resto job on mine last August with some mild rubbing compound and a kitchen scrub pad and they looked a lot better with just elbow grease. Put some Sylvania UV Protectant on the lenses every two weeks and just buff-wipe with a microfiber cloth and they still look good for my efforts. I plan on replacing mine in the near future because getting the long straight surface stress fractures scrubbed out is a J-O-B and my hat’s off to the examples I’ve seen here by some of the members, but they ARE 19yo and I’ll end up keeping them on a shelf for whatever.

Amazon

Amazon

Thanks for the tip on the 303 UV. Bad results are never a good thing and why choosing something specific vs “plastic, rubber, vinyl” is important. 303 has a great product line and their rubber protectant is divine.

Meguiar’s is a trusted brand and I scanned their product line so now I’ve got to get me some. In fact I was using their mild compound when I cleaned my lenses last year.

Plastic headlight lenses attract crud (corrosives) because of the inherent static charge plastic contains vs other materials. Corrosives collected/attracted to clear plastic especially will eat away at the hard surface and actually deep into the plastic surface which is why cleaning it with an abrasive is the norm. Even the very UV rays from the Sun striking plastic causes it to obtain a static charge, not to mention molecular changes in composition and why many industries are reverting back to metal fasteners because of the weakening effect caused by this effect and further exacerbated by the static charge induced by wind over the surface. Now imagine the crud/corrosives picked up from roadway driving included.... gas, oil, tranny fluid, salt, brake fluid and everything else leaked and thrown onto your headlights especially when it rains for example.

The headlight sealant I mentioned is specifically designed in much the same thinking to provide the same UV protection as clear coat on new paint. If corrosives can’t readily attack new plastic (which is only sealed by a “hardness” factor) because it’s further sealed by a UV protectant, the Sylvania product I recommended WILL in fact protect NEW lenses with no deleterious effects and in fact will further seal NEW plastic products because it is specifically engineered to do so and hence, why I recommend it.

I’m sure there are other familiar trusted named products out there that provide good UV protection, but with my “I Love My Lexus” OCD’ism always at a near “Rage Level”, I’ll recommend the Sylvania product.

Cheers

Save yourself the headache and money and just get a clear bra installed on the headlights as soon as you install them.

Here’s a link to a Clublexus thread w/pictures that may help.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/att...dlight_aim.pdf