Boxster 981 headlight crazing - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

I own a 2014 981S bought from OPC for several years and kept up the extended warranty. With the car having little use since purchasing a Macan S, I want to sell it this spring but noticed the headlights started crazing in a bad way. A little stroll around the internet reveals this is a common problem and Porsche North America seem to be replacing these under warranty. Not so Porsche UK, my OPC want over £2,500 to replace the lights and said they are not covered under warranty. I need them sorted prior to sale and have contacted Porsche HQ customer complaints to see what they say since it's happened to both lights at the same time. Car only ever been hand washed with Autoglym products. Any thoughts/experiences from other readers here?

Never seen anything like that before. Looks like it's damage... but from what??? That both have gone the same way suggests to me that it's not an intrinsic problem with the units themselves. But I'm no expert...

Can you feel the crazing on the outside, or is it inside? I have a small area on one 981 headlight which is crazed a little, nothing like yours. I can feel it with my fingernail and it would probably polish out if I was concerned.

Who’s hand washed it ?

My 981C looks very similar...

Only I've washed it, it has been parked in direct sunlight and the delamination/scratches are all external. Google reveals this is a not uncommon issue, looks like the laquer on the light has disintegrated for some reason or another. Odd that it's happened to both lights at the same time albeit one is worse than the other. If the paintwork on the car had deteriorated like this, I'd certainly expect Porsche to be liable of poor workmanship but they are telling me they have seen this on other cars (recommended aggressive polishing out with ever finer grades of wet and dry) but won't cover it under warranty. Front of lens not affected.

Look at any car with 'plastic' headlights that has lived outdoors for 8 years and it is unlikely to look any better than that. Mop them with fine abrasive and a lot of that will go.

I had the same issue on my Boxster S. The good news is that the problem seems to be really prevalent in the US and through trial and error, repairs have been worked out. The crazing is on the outside and can be repaired one of two ways. Option 1 (if you are feeling brave) is to replace the lenses with new ones. This involves a lot of quite intricate hacking around on what are really quite expensive bits of kit should you make a mistake. There was a fairly comprehensive DIY on Rennlist a while ago but can’t find it. This thread covers it in some detail. https://rennlist.com/forums/981-forum/1218813-diy-... Option 2 is to find a good detailer who can sand them back, polish and ideally apply some decent paint protection film to slow down the process of them hazing again in the sun. I went with option 2 and they came up like new. How long they last is anyones guess….

Instead of PPF you can aerosol the lenses with a good quality can of UV resistant clear lacquer.

Good luck with getting anything out of Porsche GB, terrible customer service. I'm starting a small claims action due to their intransigence over damage caused by a recalled part. 'Porsche policy'.

andygo said: Instead of PPF you can aerosol the lenses with a good quality can of UV resistant clear lacquer. Or use Arm and Hammer toothpaste and a firm toothbrush and vigorously brush the lens like it is one huge tooth. Wash off and then apply with a coatIng of mayonnaise, allow to dry until the mayo has gone hard then wash off. You think I am joking, trust me it works amazing. It’s the secret of detailers. For amber lights replace the mayo with mustard. For rear lights replace the mayo with those Passata tubes. Really works….but of course the Arm and Hammer bit is the most important step.

You can guarantee that the moment I get the jar of mayonnaise out and start rubbing it on the car the neighbours will pop round.

Today I went out for a drive in my 2014 Boxster S, and when I parked up at home I've noticed this crazing on my offside headlamp lens. A bit of googling tells me that it's a common issue. Some people talk of polishing the outer surface of the lens and others talk of the actual plastic of the lens cracking. When I run my fingernail on it you can't feel the cracking. It's definitely on the inside of the lens, rather than being a breakdown of the UV coating. I have my MOT coming up soon - is this going to cause a problem? Thanks!

No problem with mot as long as the beam points in the right direction. Mine are like that (2011) and never had an issue.

In an attempt to find out when this happened, I've been reviewing doorbell security camera footage. On Friday 24th March, the headlight looked normal at the time a parcel was delivered at around 10.30am. Another one just after midday is triggered by a cat wandering past, and again the car looks the same. Later that evening, another video clip is triggered by me leaving the house and you can see that the headlight is reflecting the security lights outside the front of the house in a certain way that makes it look cracked. Videos the following day in daylight confirm. So what happened on Friday 24th March? A MASSIVE hailstorm hit my area. There's no video of the hailstorm itself as the camera is triggered by a PIR sensor. But it's confirmed. I guess I'm lucky that there's no other damage. Just wish I'd had the car garaged on that day!

LunarOne said: From this pic it looks more like a delamination issue?

Armitage.Shanks said: LunarOne said: From this pic it looks more like a delamination issue? I agree, maybe mopped and polished in the past and then sprayed with some sort of lacquer, which is now coming off.

981Boxess said: I agree, maybe mopped and polished in the past and then sprayed with some sort of lacquer, which is now coming off. I don't believe so - it's on the inner surface and there's nothing to feel even with a fingernail on the outside.

LunarOne said: 981Boxess said: I agree, maybe mopped and polished in the past and then sprayed with some sort of lacquer, which is now coming off. I don't believe so - it's on the inner surface and there's nothing to feel even with a fingernail on the outside. How is any kind of hailstorm going to affect the inside of the lens?

LunarOne said: In an attempt to find out when this happened, I've been reviewing doorbell security camera footage. On Friday 24th March, the headlight looked normal at the time a parcel was delivered at around 10.30am. Another one just after midday is triggered by a cat wandering past, and again the car looks the same. Later that evening, another video clip is triggered by me leaving the house and you can see that the headlight is reflecting the security lights outside the front of the house in a certain way that makes it look cracked. Videos the following day in daylight confirm. So what happened on Friday 24th March? A MASSIVE hailstorm hit my area. There's no video of the hailstorm itself as the camera is triggered by a PIR sensor. But it's confirmed. I guess I'm lucky that there's no other damage. Just wish I'd had the car garaged on that day! Claim on your insurance? Depending on your terms and conditions they might cover a singular event causing this damage (if you can prove it is not long-term deterioration). Saved me nearly £5k on an incident, thanks to clear T&Cs and a very reasonable insurer.

LunarOne said: Today I went out for a drive in my 2014 Boxster S, and when I parked up at home I've noticed this crazing on my offside headlamp lens. A bit of googling tells me that it's a common issue. Some people talk of polishing the outer surface of the lens and others talk of the actual plastic of the lens cracking. When I run my fingernail on it you can't feel the cracking. It's definitely on the inside of the lens, rather than being a breakdown of the UV coating. I have my MOT coming up soon - is this going to cause a problem? Thanks! Really odd, I wonder if something has whacked it at some point and caused slight damage. Then the hail has been enough to cause the cracks to open up. I did notice a chip here that looks like it could be on the outside Would have had to have been a hard whack though, polycarbonate is nails.

It's really sad to see Porsche not take any ownership and responsibility to help rectify. This is the second thread I've seen today where Porsche have basically told their customers to do one and that it's not covered under warranty. Other thread being the issue with the Panamera Turbo. I've had Merc's and BM's in the past, and they've always been good with sorting things under warranty. Seems like Porsche always want to get out of doing anything under warranty. As a first time Porsche owner, it's not very confidence inspiring that you'll be looked after should I ever need to make a warranty claim.

Schuey_911 said: It's really sad to see Porsche not take any ownership and responsibility to help rectify. This is the second thread I've seen today where Porsche have basically told their customers to do one and that it's not covered under warranty. Other thread being the issue with the Panamera Turbo. I've had Merc's and BM's in the past, and they've always been good with sorting things under warranty. Seems like Porsche always want to get out of doing anything under warranty. As a first time Porsche owner, it's not very confidence inspiring that you'll be looked after should I ever need to make a warranty claim. I agree! I have had many BMWs over the last 25 years and there have been numerous occasions when they have provided goodwill cover, most recently about 3 years ago when they covered about £8k of suspension and subframe replacement on my M3, at age 8 years, due to excessive corrosion.