The Outback I purchased recently has some scratches (deep enough to make them look white) on the hatches tail light panel/assembly. I want it to not look so bad, but replacements on eBay costs $150+, which is currently out of my price range. Has anyone ever had to fix up some scratches on their tail lights before? And if so, how is/was it done?

I'd try a 3M headlight restoration kit. It runs on your drill and goes from one grit to another, finer each time, finally, ending with a polishing sponge that I put McGuires on. I don't know the roughest grit off the top of my head, but I'd bet you could work out some pretty good scratches with it before moving through the rest of the polishing process. I just did the headlights on my '96 again (a thick film of yellow degraded plastic all over them) and they look great.

X2 Try a headlamp restoration kit. The 3M kit that chucks into the drill works great. Just be careful of the painted surfaces around the lights. Use masking tape to keep them from getting scuffed up.

Another good options are the Diamondite clear plastic system kit and PlastX.

X2 Try a headlamp restoration kit. The 3M kit that chucks into the drill works great. Just be careful of the painted surfaces around the lights. Use masking tape to keep them from getting scuffed up.

 

I've had better luck just removing the headlight from the car and using the 3M kit with my drill - that way you can get all edges of the light without hitting anything else.  With the drill, it is pretty easy to nick through whatever tape (I used blue painter's tape) you put on the paint around the light with it mounted to the car.  A tail light is also easily removed, so I would go with that since you'll likely be using the heavier grit for a while to try and get those scratches out.

 

Another option is to look for some used tail lights at a salvage yard.  They should be much, much cheaper than buying anything new online.  The yard near me only charges $22.86 per tail light.

Yeah, remove the actual light from the body and do it right. Plastic is plastic. Google how to polish plastic as that will tell you what grit and polish to use. IF its a really fine scratch or a stubborn one, you can probably use a clear coat polish and a rag + elbow grease. You just want to knock the deep scratches out, then buff the plastic to get a clear, glass-like surface again.

if the headlight polishing kit doesnt quite hide the scratches enough for your liking, try wet sanding with several grades of wet/dry paper - 800/1000/1500, then use the polishing kit again - the scratches should become pretty much invisible after that.

 

did this on the right taillight of my 95 legacy. it had a nasty scratch & scuff marks where it was rubbed against a post, or possibly a larger vehicle.