First of all, I sincerely do not believe that headlights are coated with clear coat or anything else from the factory. If I'm wrong, someone please post where I can go read about it, and please make sure it's an authority post, not just someone else's opinion. I work on fact alone and need to hear it straight from the manufacturer's mouth before I'll believe it.

If the manufacturer does "coat" the headlight with something, it obviously doesn't work, or else it wouldn't fade in the first place. I think the parts store guy may not have known any better, so they sold you what they thought might work. And it may help a little, but I seriously doubt it. You'd be surprised how many "sugar pills" there are in the automotive industry.

I've done headlights that didn't fade again for more than 10 years. I believe it depends on how good the headlight is made in the first place.

As for spraying any "magic potion" after sanding with 600 grit, wouldn't you sand it right back off when you sanded with 1000 grit? I'm sorry but that just doesn't make any sense at all.

And finally, you said "after sanding with 600 grit which makes sense since I have never prepped a car for painting with anything finer than that". All I can say is, wow, what a statement! 600 grit sandpaper is like sanding it with a handful of gravel, it's EXTREMELY abrasive. You do know that the lower the number goes the more abrasive sandpaper is, don't you? Are you sure you've ever prepped a car for painting? I ask because the final sanding before painting should be done with at least 2000 grit, and I'd recommend at least 3000 grit if you want a nice paint job. Where do you work, I just want to make sure I never go there! Seriously, you use 600 grit sandpaper, then paint the car? Wow!

And last but not least, you said you had a question,but you didn't ask one!

 

Coating: Here's a link with some info regarding the coating. It's from an ebay seller but it is a pretty accurate summary. You can see the coating for yourself during wetsanding when you start to break through. It looks just like it does when you sand through the clearcoat on the body. That point when you say "oh crap!" Revisited | eBay

Magic Potion: Sand with 600 grit, spray on the clearcoat and that's it. No additional sanding required.

Topcoat Prep: Umm, yeah. I guess you don't do too many paint jobs. The topcoat needs something to too adhere to. Anything over 600 grit is typically too smooth. Most people paint over 400 grit. The paint fills that size scratch very easily. If you have orange peel in the final clear coat, then you bust out the 1500 and 2000 grit followed by buffing. You work on the top side of finishes, so your area of knowledge is on the shiny side. Building up to that point is all about getting the layers to stick together.

Question: That's true. I hit submit before I typed that part in. My question was if anyone else had heard that that the lights were coated from the factory.