Headlight & Tail Light Restoration

Hi, I just wanted to get your feedback on headlight & tail light restoration. I have just finished my headlight restoration on my .2 using the AG kit. Would you guys have used some other product to finish the job? Having read up about doing it before hand (was rather worried about sanding headlight), I am fairly happy with how they have turned out but cannot get them to look quite as clear/shiny as I hoped. I understand I can do the process again but didn't want to over do it but read some of you guys and on other forums use a final product after restoration although AG do not recommend. I am pretty sure they have already started to fade again. I also need advise on whether the same process can be done on the tail lights. The tail lights look a bit worn and wanted to tackle these ASAP but not sure if they would need replacing or would benefit from restoration. I am a bit miffed with the tail lights as my .1 tail lights looked new even 17 years after being manufactured, my ,2's are much newer and look much older. Regards, Chris

I've always had good luck with Meguiars PlastX on headlights and tail lights. Specific for plastic and will get out all the wear/scratch marks. My head and tail lights look 100% brand new afterwards.

Thanks Palestar, I may have used that on a 986 Boxster rear window when they were plastic and had good results. Totally forgot until you mentioned. Chris

Recently did my headlights with the Sylvania kit, I used my orbital on the polishing step. They came out like brand new. The critical step is applying the UV clear coat

I'd suggest using an orbital polisher with a white polishing pad (as @Trainmasta suggested, then when done find a place that does Paint Protection Film, and have them cut out and install some "10-mil" PPF on them. Mine are 13 years old, have had PPF on them since new, and still look like new. The PPF adhesive will also fill in any fine scratches left on the plastic making them even clearer than without them. I have PPF on my Boxster and my Cayenne - 13 and 11 years - and they both look like new and have never been polished. I didn't put it on wife's '11 Lexus, it's been polished twice and still looks like crappola..

Whatever you choose, Plexus afterwards and with every other wash is a good call.

I used 3M finess it/foam waffle pad(slllllllow speed) of course then I tinted a little.. not the headlights tho

I had good luck using the Sylvania kit on my Cayenne . I then tinted them with Lamin-x . Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

So I have already used the Autoglym restoration kit on the headlights but need to get something to protect them. Plexus seems to be hard to find for some reason in the UK. I've ordered some Plast RX and I am going to take the rear lights out and get them looking good over the weekend. Are there any other protector spray/sealants anybody would recommend that may be more accessible in the UK?

Check out Chemical Guys Jet Seal as a final sealant.

Chris - is there some reason to persist in looking for an inferior solution? NO magic liquid is going to protect the headlights as well as PPF. The PPF may cost a bit more to initially have installed, but since it's a one time expense it seems rather silly not to spend the money and be done with it. Headlight & Tail Light Restoration Hi, I just wanted to get your feedback on headlight & tail light restoration. I have just finished my headlight restoration on my .2 using the AG kit. Would you guys have used some other product to finish the job? Having read up about doing it before hand (was rather worried about sanding... www.planet-9.com

Sure a film over the headlights will be the most robust choice. Regarding plastic glass, been dealing with that since age 16, it would go opaque on Fiat spiders. Tried all types of applications to clear it with limited results. That plexus spray was developed for aircraft polymer maintenances (says them) anyway on the plastic side markers, taillights and bare headlamps it works very well. Also bonus, on sunglasses and bifocals? Plexus is the secret sauce of now they're clear! Amazon carries it, I don't work for them but it's a banging product.

Last word, 13 year old headlights with PPF : No Plexus. Just did ceramic coat the entire car, including the headlights, but they looked like this before I did it and they look like this now. 13 years, 68,000 miles. Never touched aside from regular wax while the rest of the car was being done.

I have found a PPF kit for the headlights which I am going to get once I can get them looking as good as possible. Just need to re-do the process with the headlights and fix up the rear lights then I will PPF them. Thanks for all the suggestions, much appreciated! Chris

11 years naked and afraid

Miles? Has the car been out of the garage much?

It gets out, miles around 16K, it never sits outside though, no need to let the super strong sun here at it. It's not a contest here, there is no question your methodology is the correct choice for maximum protection. In fact I was thinking it might not be a bad idea to apply some. When my car is out, like the last trip, I use an outdoor cover. Is that a job for a professional? What are the average charges? With our cars I'd bring the headlights out. Most people don't do the markers and taillights, the spray is nice for that. One thing about that stuff is someday it has to come off, I already have a lot of clear bra the dealer applied which happily has stayed clear and is an advantage with a low car on a public highway.

I paid about $70 to have my Cayenne lights done. That's some time ago though. I found a place near me that did PPF , whose primary business was advertising wraps - cars/trucks/buses wrapped with some advertisements. The guy had a pattern on his computer that he punched into his film cutter and out popped a pair. Took about 3 minutes each to install, and about 2 days to become totally clear (the liquid used to slide them into position has a bit of white in it..) I don't worry a lot about removing the film, I'm old, long term things aren't a real worry for me. So far I've seen no discoloration on the headlight film - and that's 13 years - so I'm hoping it lasts at least as long as I'll still be driving.

Porsche replaced the headlights on my 2006 / 2014 / 2017 Cayman S all under warranty , I just bought a 2022 Cayman S and hope I have better luck with this car, I would think they would come up with a solution to the problem ~

I’ve used a few of these mentioned like Plexus and it’s pretty good as a one step solution. The 3M headlight restoration kit is just ok for multi step. The Sylvania kit is the best by far IMO. I’ve used it on my ‘05 987 and wife’s Range Rover Sport. If the headlights are looking worn and yellow and you want them to look new I’d say Sylvania kit is it. Someone mentioned the clear coat step and they’re spot on.

I've used most of the kits at various times. I was actually the author of an article for the BMW -CCA Roundel back around 2 decades ago describing how to polish out headlights . I suspect I kicked off an industry. The Sylvania kit is one of the kits with a spray or smear on clear-coat? (I have the remains of it in my garage somewhere..) None of those is long lasting. Within about a year (not garaged) the add-on clear-coat will start to fog up and yellow, often making the headlight look worse than when you started (I used these on a BMW 525iT that I owned...) The only thing I found that lasts is PPF over the freshly polished headlight. In some cases the PPF will make it look better than when you finished polishing it. STORY: On an E36 M3 I owned I had one cracked foglight. These were glass foglights made by Hella. I bought the replacement and installed it, first giving it a PPF cover to hopefully avoid it getting cracked again. It obviously looked like new... but it made the other foglight look really old and pitted. Just for the heck of it, since I had the PPF out, I cut a piece for the old pitted foglight and installed it. Turns out the glue used on the PPF filled in the pits and apparently was a close enough "index match" (Google it) that the pits basically disappeared. The old fog light now looked like the new one, from 3 feet away you couldn't tell the difference. One of the various kits I tried had an interesting procedure - they had you sand the light through the various grits of sandpaper (600, 1200, 2000) and then simply clear-coat the headlight lense. The clearcoat they used index matched to the plastic well enough that the scratches/haze left from the 2000 grit sanding stage simply disappeared. Same sort of thing with the PPF , but it's much longer lasting. YMMV, but I doubt it..