I know a lot of guys will probably laugh at me for detailing an off roader but I like a clean ride. Treat her well and she'll treat me well. That's the theory anyways.

All the exterior trim on my truck was looking pretty faded being a '96. So I got to work. There are plenty of trim restorer products but most will end up pretty expensive if you're doing a lot of trim and most also don't last very long.

The best solution I've found is below. This will give you a like new finish again, without streaking or a shiny armourall effect. Just nice black new looking plastic.

All you need is a 60:40 mix of Paint Thinner and Boiled Linseed Oil. Mix it up and apply with a foam applicator or microfiber. Just wipe it on and clean off any excess. It's best to work with a clean surface so give the truck a wash before hand. My truck is dirty in the pics, but I cleaned the parts of I was working on.

Then let it thoroughly dry. I gave it 24hrs. Results are below.

Before


After

 

By paint thinner - do you mean mineral spirits? Toulene? or something else? Looks much better than the "back to black" product I bought.

 

No I mean literally paint thinner. That's what it says right on the bottle.

 

I don't do this on a Land Rover (I took that plastic stuff off and hauled it to the dump), but I empathize with you anyway because I have a street vehicle with the same kind of trim. I've tried back to black, the Meguiars product, Armor All etc. Linseed oil -- the paint thinner is just to make it spreadable -- isn't going to last longer, and it's still just an oil to darken the appearance of the damaged plastic. The other products are typically a silicone oil.

So oiling it is a temporary fix. Obviously I've done it many times, but I think if you want a longer term fix, you've got to replace the part with an undamaged (new or n.o.s.). On some vehicles, the black plastic serves a purpose -- it's tougher than painted ABS, more dent resistant than aluminum, and yet has better energy-absorbing qualities and lower weight than plate steel. The lower weight helps both fuel economy and handling (because the parts are hanging at the extremitys of the vehicle's balance point). Unfortunately, manufacturer's have stopped short of finding a resin or whatever that is really UV resistant for much longer than a warranty period. But, it's a plastic part. It shouldn't be that expensive to replace it occasionally (Land Rover excepted). For my pickup (and most pickups that sell by millions) there are aftermarket options as well -- copies of the oem part at a fraction of the cost and in the case of an inert plastic part, the third parties often have no trouble making them as perfectly or better than the originals.