Originally Posted by sonoronos
This isn't corrosion as much as it's the disintegration of the hardcoat applied to the lexan/polycarbonate lens cover.
The headlight lens covers wouldn't last a month without the hardcoat due to its low hardness. Just like eyeglasses made of the same material, the manufacturer coats the plastic surface with a chemical coating (like a clearcoat) designed to be much harder than the plastic, yet clear as glass.
The unfortunate thing is that the hardcoat applied to earlier XF's obviously had some sort of QC issue. Later XF's (2006/2007's) have much more reliable coatings.
Wet sanding/polishing is very easy to do. But make sure you do not scratch your paint while you work on your lenses. Mask the car parts off very carefully before doing this.
Thank you very much. I was wondering about the hardcoat. I couldn't determine from anyone if there is indeed a coating of some kind on the lenses. I found one article online talking about how UV damage is what corrodes the hardcoat much like clearcoat can start coming off due to damage.
We are going to go with the wet sanding and proper grits, etc. Like I mentioned before, I have an old nasty looking headlight assembly to practice on.
Thank you very much!