[Davis137]

I must highly reccomend this product to anyone with a Ford Vehicle, or ANY domestic vehicle built in the last 10 years. It's made by Meguiars, and it's called PlastX. It's actually a micro abrasive/polishing compound/wax for clear plastic. I've been using this for several years now, on the tailights and headlight lenses of my 01 Focus ZX3, my 05 Mustang GT, and most recently, my 06 Escape Limited. It removes oxidization from the sun off the surface area and pores of the plastic, and then it fills the pores in like wax does to your clearcoat. I usually just shake the bottle, apply some to a Shop Towel, and rub it right into the plastic of the lense in small circular motions. I let it start to dry to a haze, and then I buff it off with another clean shop towel. Doing at least 3 coats per lense will make them crystal clear, and they will repel water, dirt, and bug guts to some extent, making them easier to clean later. If you want a really good example of how well this stuff works, go and find a Mercury Topaz or Sable with the "Light Bar" grille. They are usually turning rather yellow from oxidization. Using some PlastX and elbow grease (or a 6" orbital polisher), you will be able to get at least 80% of the original finish back.

You can get this at Canadian Tire, UAP/Napa, Partsource, and likely many retailers in the US like O'Reily's or Auto Zone, etc.

I use this product on my headlight and tailight lenses every time I do spray waxes to the truck (between claybar and paste/liquid waxjobs).

You won't be sorry if you use it!

 

[Colleen]

Thanks very much for the tip, Davis. :thumb: This is not yet a problem on my Escape or our daughters Focus, as they are still fairly new vehicles. I will try as a preventive measure. My hubby's Dodge and Son's Ranger would most definitely benefit from using this product.

:beer: :beer:

 

[Dasha]

Thanks for the review, Davis!! :thumb:

 

[Scooter Scott]

I have some pictures at home of when I used this product on my 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse's headlights. I sanded them with 220 grit paper and then used the PlasticX to take out the scratches!!! Worked like a charm. I definitely recommend this stuff. Let me know if you would like to see the pics and I will try to dig them up.

 

[stone]

I will have to keep it in mind. Thank you for the handy tip.

 

[jpark]

Just one warning here: don't use this stuff on the crystal-clear headlamp lenses of newer cars.

One of the reasons many of the older headlamps turn yellow is that they were never coated with any kind of UV protection. Almost all of the newer headlamps have UV coatings. If you use anything with abrasives, even fine abrasives, you'll remove the UV coating and expose the plastic to UVs. If your headlamp lenses are already yellow, then this stuff works great, and that's what it's intended for.

Use NuFinish or any good wax on your headlamps and taillamps, just like any other part of the car body. Wax on the headlamps also helps keep bugs from sticking to them. If your car has external lettering on the lenses that grabs some of the wax, remove it with a fine toothbrush after it's dry.

 

[Scooter Scott]

Good pointer JP...thanks!

 

[Colleen]

Just one warning here: don't use this stuff on the crystal-clear headlamp lenses of newer cars.

One of the reasons many of the older headlamps turn yellow is that they were never coated with any kind of UV protection. Almost all of the newer headlamps have UV coatings. If you use anything with abrasives, even fine abrasives, you'll remove the UV coating and expose the plastic to UVs. If your headlamp lenses are already yellow, then this stuff works great, and that's what it's intended for.

Thanks, JP !!!

 

[futameca]

Will this stuff work on bug deflectors, the smoke colored variety? I'm guessing it would. Ours has lost it luster and over the years has a buildup of drips on the back side.

 

[jpark]

It should. It works very well on fogged plastic, or plastic with lots of very light scratches.

 

[Davis137]

I also found that if you are doing work to the lights of a fairly new vehicle, that the Turtlewax Bug & Tar remover works very nicely too...

 

[02escape]

I use PlastX often on older headlights and other things and im VERY impressed with the results. I tried it on 10 year old head lights that were pretty badly oxidized, with nothing more than a terry cloth and some elbow grease I was able to make them look MUCH nicer. Not perfect (would require me to wetsand and then buff) but much clearer. Helps greatly to remove small scratches too.

 

[stone]

Hello Latan, Tribby or escapedtroy. Do we have this product down under?