While a lot of cars have moved away from that matte black texture trim that used to adorn entire bumpers and large slabs of plastic these days, there are a lot of older cars out there that now look sad and tired due to faded, greying plastic.
Autoglym have a fix for that. Autoglym Exterior Trim Restorer Kit.
What is it?
Well, as the name suggests, it restores trim! It’s an ultra-durable, advanced coating that restores faded trim to its original factory colour, giving it a deep black satin finish that’s meant to last for over three months.
It’s designed to resist further UV damage and protect new trim from future fading – if you’re lucky enough to be at that stage.
Now, the bottle may be small, but 30ml is enough to treat up to five average-sized cars. You only need a couple of drops on the foam pad, so I can see that’s entirely possible.
What’s the Autoglym Exterior Trim Restorer Kit like to use?
Super easy. First off, make sure any plastics are squeaky clean, so use a degreaser or all-purpose cleaner, then give it a good soapy wash down. Dry it off, and then you’re ready to restore.
Grab the foam pad from the box, make sure it’s grey side up and drip a few drops of the Exterior Trim Restorer onto it. Then gently wipe across the faded trim in straight lines. You want to avoid painted surfaces and glass, so keep a microfibre nearby to wipe it off if you colour outside the lines.
Wait five minutes. Then gently buff off with said microfibre.
Instantly, it leaves a nice satin black look.
Now, the car I tried this on, I was resigned to the fact that I’d have to carefully remove the plastic trim that sits above the bonnet and respray it all with bumper and trim paint. As that’s the only way I’ve ever been able to fix black trim that’s faded.
Not anymore. This was far easier, less hassle and took minutes to do.
A grille section like mine isn’t going to be as easy to treat as a nice flat bumper; there were several small bits that I ended up missing on my first pass. It also meant I had to really squish and squeeze the foam pad to get it into all the hard-to-reach places.
It’s not going to be an issue for all, granted. But you could also use a small foam detailing stick, one of those little foam triangles on a wooden skewer or maybe even a brush to get into the trickier bits. It also probably doesn’t help the longevity of the little foam pad, so you could equally cut it in half and use one bit more savagely for detailed areas.
But has it lasted?
Well, this was two weeks ago, so it’s early days. But so far so good!
It’s definitely a lot blacker than it was, but in places I think it looks a bit patchy. But bear in mind this was like a worst case scenario, full fade jobby.
And what it hasn’t done, which most do, is run. If you use a lot of ‘black restorer’ products, they tend to run at the first sign of rain. Which leads to streaky plastics or black lines down your paintwork.
I would think the more applications you apply, the better the effect too.
Autoglym Exterior Trim Restorer Kit Conclusion
As it has saved me many, many hours of stripping apart trim, priming, then painting, YES, I fully recommend using the Exterior Trim Restorer. I’ll do my best to remember to update this in a month to see how well it’s lasting after another few weeks.
Currently priced at £29.99 on Amazon, it’s a quick, simple fix that will help smarten up any tired-looking car, whether that’s for your own viewing pleasure or to get a vehicle ready for sale.
