V70 Headlight Damage

[dave87]

Afternoon all,

Anyone able to suggest how this might happen?




Mum's v70 has similar marks on both front headlights. Can't readily see how it has happened, if I'm honest. Any thoughts?


Ta,

[kalniel]

Over what sort of time period did they appear, do you know?

[dave87]

Mum only noticed them today, though how often she checks (computer checks bulbs on every startup and beyond a cursory glance to see that numberplate/lights are clean, it doesn't get looked at closely) I don't know.

At first I thought the outer plastic(?) cover of the headlight may have been laminated and this was the laminate coming away, but I can't see any evidence of it being laminated?

[kalniel]

Laminate peeling usually occurs at edges and wouldn't look like scratches.

Best guess would be a small lorry reversed into her while parking and contacted with a protrusion like a rear light cluster or something. Can't see how anything else would affect both sides.

[chuckskull]

Doesn't look like anything that's happened all at once(unless those are cracks not scratches), could be a case of someone squeezing past in the garage etc. Looks like a build up of little scratches. You've got the big cluster, but also more little ones around it too. Mum's handbag would be my prime suspect.

[stevie lee]

any other scratches on the bonnet? how about a dusty/mucky cat shaped splodge on the bonnet? a cat could be jumping up and using the headlights to bounce off.

[Demonwar]

She doesn't park in front of any bushes etc does she? There could be stump/fence (fence is the only thing tho that would get it in the same place both sides) unless it's a quite a wooded bush) something hidden just beyond them and causing it. Either that or I'm going with the truck and the separate lighting bar/bumper.

[dave87]

Nothing I am aware of that would be that close to the car when parked at home (reversed in on the drive), and though we do have cats around (none ours, thankfully) I've yet to see them sitting on any of our cars at any point. No other marks on the paintwork that I saw with a quick glance, either.


If it is laminated, could a stone chip allow water under the laminate and result in the deterioration shown?

[Tumble]

Can you feel the scratches or do they appear to be under the surface? The only reason I ask is because the marks look a lot like boat windows that are getting a bit old - the UV in sunlight actually makes the perspex look cracked, although it feels perfectly smooth to touch. Maybe that's a thin part of the plastic there or something - also a bit odd that they're on both sides if it's a handbag or something - if it was that, they'd be more concentrated on one side of the car. Doing a bit of googling, it seems that most cars with placcy headlights like the V70 you've got have a protective UV shielding layer on the external surface which degrades over time - the wisdom is that you need to strip that layer off, clean the outside of the light and reapply.....

[Zak33]

could possibly be petrol /diesel filler pipes at fuel stations .... while refueling from one side of car to other.... holding fuel filler hose over bonnet or roof scratch's it... but holding pipe over headlights doesn't seem so bad, so people do it.

might be that