Another year

[Dippydog]

Took the V70 for its M.o.T. today instant pass A couple of "advisories" were for the headlamp reflectors[pretty common on these I understand]so will have to check out sources/costs of more headlamps in due course.

[amazondean]

just polish them up. You can use 1200 grade wet or dry, then just polish them. It is hard labour though!!

[Joe H]

Originally Posted by amazondean

just polish them up.

Huh? Polish the phase 1 reflectors? I don't think so as they are plastic with a reflective deposit that after a decade of heat will come off if you blow hard on it....

There are a few options talked about on this forum - new pattern parts, sticking reflective tape on, getting them resilvered etc but ultimately the best solution seems to be buying new Volvo ones if your pocket is deep enough.

I was lucky enough to be offered a pair from a breakers that were in excellent condition. I found they have date stamps which should be a good indicator of how good they are. These were under 2 years old and the difference in light output was massive using the same bulbs.

Joe

[Luxobarge]

Originally Posted by amazondean

just polish them up. You can use 1200 grade wet or dry, then just polish them. It is hard labour though!!

Sorry, polishing won't work. If they were metal, it might, but the reflectors are made of a sort of yellow plastic, then coated with the silver reflecting material. The silver material comes off over time, leaving the yellow plastic underneath, no amount of polishing will help this.

New ones of perfectly good quality are available from PFV from around £80 a side, my view is as that it's usually at least 15 years before the reflectors go, then if I have to invest in new headlamps at £160 every 15 years I'm happy enough. Folk who buy new cars are paying that in depreciation alone per week!

[Dippydog]

Yes I was already aware that the reflectors couldn't be polished and faffing about trying to resilver them in some way was never going to be for me.New from Volvo not an option-the car isn't worth spending that kind of money on[to me at least]-I'll make do with what's there for now[I don't do a lot of night driving and if I did I'd use the Omega with its HiDs] and then see what's what in due course.To buy second hand I'd probably have to see them before buying or they'd have to be from a well trusted source,but they'd have to be pretty cheap in comparison to new aftermarket ones.

[Martin Cox]

I bought the PFV ones about 5 years ago and they've been absolutely fine so far. They're not as well made as the originals but they're good enough and are a fraction of the price. Transferring the height adjustment motors over was straightforward.

Although mine never got bad enough to cause problems at MoT time, night driving had become something of a trial and replacing the reflectors made a huge difference. At little more than the cost of a tank of fuel per side, it was money well spent.

I subsequently bought the PFV front indicator lamps since the originals were very dull and full of moss! So far, they've been fine too.

Martin

1998 V70 Tdi Auto, 223,000+ miles

[jack taylor]

Have a look on ebay, about £90.00 for a new pair.

[CNGBiFuel]

elp this.

New ones of perfectly good quality are available from PFV from around £80 a side, my view is as that it's usually at least 15 years before the reflectors go, then if I have to invest in new headlamps at £160 every 15 years I'm happy enough. Folk who buy new cars are paying that in depreciation alone per week!
__________________

Gotta say, Luxobarge, well done, I just love the standout logic to your statement. My car, and yours we trust, are worth nothing. Except I reckon, they save us £4-5000 a year, before we drive them.

Put me down for the £160. That'll mean this year's motoring has cost, all-in, £310 including the MOT.

[Simmy]

Originally Posted by CNGBiFuel

Gotta say, Luxobarge, well done, I just love the standout logic to your statement. My car, and yours we trust, are worth nothing. Except I reckon, they save us £4-5000 a year, before we drive them.

Put me down for the £160. That'll mean this year's motoring has cost, all-in, £310 including the MOT.

we call it bangernomics