Which XC70 model years have glass headlight lenses?

[pbierre]

I'm considering purchasing an XC70 in the 2008+ range.

I already have a 2004 XC70, and one of the best things about it is they used glass for the headlight lenses. There is no aging effects like with the plastic lenses.

Did Volvo keep up with glass lenses thru the current XC70s?

[ssicarman]

No. Glass headlamp lenses probably do not exist anymore in any modern car.

[pbierre]

It's possible the 2004 XC70 has polycarbonate lens. When you tap on it, it doesn't sound 'hollow" like my wife's 2007 S60 (those are definitely plastic that blurs from UV.) When I tap on the 2004 XC70 headlight, it sounds very solid, not exactly like glass, but more like safety glass. I'll try to find out if it's polycarbonate.

[Leto Atreides II]

They switched to plastic when they replaced the headlight wipers with headlight washers (sprayers).

[netpres1]

Great cars.
Bad headlight material.

I have one of the early models (Build 2008 / MY2009)
The plastic headlights have fogged up and no matter what product I try, I can't keep them clear.

New ones are approx $400 each !

[netpres1]

Thanks for the reply but the issue isn't with water getting into the light.

The problem is that the plastic material the headlight is made from degrades and becomes "foggy" rather than clear.

[Tipster1947]

Sylvania Headlight restoration kit works well! I found it near the headlights, not the car cleaning stuff in one store.


https://kpaulindustrial.com/sylvania...8aApFVEALw_wcB

[pbierre]

This is an ideal question for this discussion board, as Volvo doesn't specify the headlight lens material in its product literature. Let's see if we can get people to chime in with their year and model number. You can tell immediately by the sound when tapping your finger on the headlamp cover....the thin plastic cover sounds hollow and plastic-like. The Polycarbonate lens sounds thick, solid, heavy, like glass.

In perusing the junkyard, my impression is that the polycarbonate lens was put on Volvos up through 2004, but then replaced with a cheaper to produce thin plastic cover. Has anyone swapped in the polycarb headlight assemblies obtained off a junker?

[KilimanjaroBaby]

If you get foggy headlights you should look up some different methods to clear out the plastic. In most of the cases the surface plastic gets scuffed up and fuzzy and it can be renewed.