I'd noticed that headlight lenses in our '05 RX have a bit of surface oxidation (haze) on them, not as clear as on newer vehicles. Is this something that can be addressed by a Lexus bumper-to-bumper warranty? Is there a reliable cure for this haze?

Tried plastic polish etc on my old Maxima's headlights, and made things even worse.

 

try using toothpaste to get rid of the oxidation....i think what you did with the maxima is that you used the white bottle plastic polish...instead of the CLEAR plastic polish that comes in the greenish bottle.

i think i ran into the same problem with the maxima. what you can do with the maxima is that keep using the polish that comes in the white bottle, but don't let it sit and keep rubbing till the haze disappears

 

Should have brought it to the dealer, might have been covered by waranty. Now that yuou have worked on it, warranty might be voided. You can always try.

How would yours haze prematurely? Hazing is caused by heavy oxidation and UV rays. Is your car out in the sun all the time?

 

Do not use any abrasive material to remove oxidation! Headlights are made from hard plastic (usually Lexan) with special coating. When coating wears out, base plastic begin to deteriorate/oxide.
Whatever you will use to get rid of hazing, will only work for short period of time. Brining it to dealer and have them take care of it under warranty.

 

If the dealer won't do this under warranty, this is a very easy DIY kind of job. I have done this on other cars, although my 05 330 shows no sign of needing work on the lenses. I have used Meguiar's plastic cleaning/polishing products in the past and I have been quite happy with them. I even used them to bring a 1966 Corvette convertible top window, the clear (supposed to by) plastic type, back to usable condition. Here is one product:

http://www.meguiars.com/?clear-plast...Cleaner-Polish

 

I agree. If you are covered under warranty by all means get yourself new headlights. I bet you will find it very difficult to get the dealer to warranty slightly cloudy headlights though even if it is under warranty. They will consider it normal wear and tear. That said, if you can't get new headlights, just use the plastic polish. Even if you have to repolish once a year it is still worth doing rather than living with hazy headlights.

Kostyan, You must have not fully finished your Maxima headlights as plastic polish will clear up 1500/2000 grit sanding marks. I've done it on other cars before with great success. Turns crystal clear once polished up.

 

thanks for responses. Looks like I had confused everyone. Maxima is my old ride, RX is my wife's current ride. No longer have the Max, but the lesson I learned is not to touch the headlights myself lol. The RX's headlights are the ones that seem to have a bit of haze on them...will try to get them replaced under wtty....has anyone on this forum was able to persuade their Lexus dealer to do that?

 

We have a DIY for clearing lenses here.

 

HERE:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=285498

Enjoy!

 

Many of us had our headlights replaced under warranty for the condensation problem. Now, in my case one side had moisture visible, and the other side had cleared up, but left the water residue inside the lens, thus they replaced them both. Never tried to have it replaced due to the scratches or haze though as that is usually just happens over time to all plastic lens headlights. I've had the cloudy haze on my old ES300, old SC400 as well. My RX330 also showed signs of it although I didn't notice it until the replaced my headlights as they replaced them 1 week apart. It was obvious the new one was much clearer than the old. Only my LS seems to not really suffer from the cloudy headlights yet.

 

When the clear coat (there's an actual term for this coat, same coat found on safety glasses, for impact strength) protection wears off, that's when the haze will start to develop. Your LS obviously has a thicker clear coat protection.

 

I don't have a tip for cleaning off the oxidation, but I thought I'd mention that I always have a clear bra added to my car including on my headlights and fog lights when I first buy it. (I never buy the clear bra from the dealer because I have found I can get the entire front facia, lights, mirrors, wheel wells edges and lower panels behind the rear wheels done for less than the dealer price to only protect the hood). They make a thicker film designed for the lights that really seems to help them look like new forever. I live in Colorado where we get a lot of stone impacts and this really helps the lens last for the life of the car.

Dave S.

 

RX has great light distribution and as much as I like your method, I would be concern about road illumination. Does clear bra effect light pattern? Also, how long does that coating last?
Tnks

 

I would agree with others that have recommended trying to get this resolved under warranty if that is an option.

I have used Crystal View restorer on an older car and was very pleased with the results. I found it at Advance Auto Parts.

 

It's hard for me to say since I always do this on the first day or two I own the car, but the headlights work great and you cannot even see the clear bra on them unless you look very closely. As far as I can tell it has no noticable effect on the light pattern. I haven't kept a car for more than 10 years with this stuff on there, but it has never dulled or yellowed. Always looked like new.