Has anyone found a product that will stop the crazing on the rear light covers on the 850 and, I guess V70's). The light covers(lenses - whatever)when I bought the wagon, with 65K on it, were quite badly crazed, and these were replaced with "new" old one's that I got on ebay - these are now beginning to show crazing. I enquired at the local dealer if they recommended anything, their answer was to buy new ones (at around a couple of hundred bucks!! I have seen a product called "Ultimate Protectant" on www.detailersadvantage.com, has anyone tried this? I have used 303 Aerospace Protectant which supposedly helps to stop UV rays, and seems to slow the crazing process down.
Any help would be much appreciated.

The Bear

Hi, Bear:

I think the crazing is a problem with the plastic itself. I work in the auto lighting industry, so I have some experience with this issue. Red in particular is vulernable to UV - that's why a lot of red items seem to fade out faster than other colors right next to them. Also, the UV resistance of the plastic is important. Adding a protectant to crazed lamps will have minimal effect. Polishing with plastic polish may remove the crazing level, revealing "fresh" plastic that will then start to craze.

My 850 wagon is doing the same thing, and it looks worse since I replaced a damaged lower portion with a new part. Once possible solution would be to purchase new old stock 850 lights or V70 lights and apply a plastic film with UV protection - like those used on hoods - assuming they have UV protection.

Another possibility is to apply a clear coat that has UV properties. Many headlamps are coated with a UV hardcoat to protect against the sun and also chemicals, etc.

I wish I had a magic solution, but I don't. If someone else does, I'd be glad to try it out.