Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics Uh Oh.... headlights starting to fade

Unfortunetely it appears that the headlights in my 98 csvt are begining to fade. It just began to happen over the past month or so. All of the sudden I began to notice lots of tiny little "scratches" or "wrinkles" in the plastic on my headlights. It is primarily on the upper half of the light which leads me to believe it is the sun beating down on them and begining to fade them. They look a little foggy and feel slightly rougher when feeling the surface incomparison with the unaffected parts of the headlight. I'm worried that this problem will quickly get worse. So I have a few q's...

Does anyone know of a way to protect the headlights from sunlight fading? (i.e. wax or some other protectant)

Could this be from something else??? Maybe my piaa headlights? Possibly lots micro-scratches from road debrie?(I first noticed the problem just after a cross-country road trip)

need help this is really bothering me, thanks

It's a common problem that eventually occurs to all Contours.

Any sort of plastic polish or mild scratch remover will work fine. Some people have good luck with Toothpaste, and seeing as you caught the problem early, that might work for you. I bought my 'Tour used some months ago and now regularly buff on some plastic polish. It took a long time at first, but now I just do it for a few minutes when I wash the car to maintain the clarity. I picked it up at PepBoys; it's made to remove minor plastic scratches and clean the rear windows in soft-top convertibles.

For more severe problems, some very mild grit sandpaper can do the trick, but I don't think you need to do that.

All our cars have that problem, don't worry! I have removed all the tiny scratches on mine last week by using Meguiar's PlastX. It works great, and doesn't cost very much (10$ CDN at Canadian Tire).

I was able to get glass-smooth lenses, yellowing is gone too. I was at my parent's house when I did this, and we also fixed their Grand Am's where the block heater plug had scratched the headlight lens. The large scratch disappeared completely, leaving a perfectly clear lens.

Having a Contour, you also have the option of buying new assemblies, they are available for your car - I don't have that option with the Mystique!

Thanks for the tips. I purchased some plastic cleaner/polisher/scratch remover at Pepp boys the other day. I washed my car then scrubbed my headlights with the stuff till i was blue in the face. Unfortunetely it did not get rid of the fogy/scratchy haze on the upper region of the headlights. My headlights have honestly gone from crystal clear brand new to "what is the top of the headlight a whitish color" and it scares me. Im afriad to think of what my headlights will look like by the end of the summer. I hope this plastic polish protects the plastic like it claims so this does not continue.
Also, you mentioned i could replace my headlight assembly. You mean the entire light unit? thats got to be a good $300-400 or more for two. Seems like a ridiculous amount to spend just for a new plastic lens. Not only that, I don't have the money waste on something like that. Projector headlights down the road would be a nice replacement i suppose, but that wouldnt be for at least a year or two. Anyone who has any experience with this problem please help me out.

Johnny SVT

Bulbs over 55 watts without UV coatings will cause deterioration of the plastic from the inside. Bad.

If it is on the outside, there is a harder UV resistant layer that has to come off or it will look mottled.

I ground the bothersome little plastic protrusions off the outside so I could use a buffer without ripping the pad.

Once the protective coating is gone, you will have to re-do them periodically.