Paint Care and Plastic trim

[Blacklab467]

With nothing to fix on my car currently and Covid maximizing my time away from work, my efforts turn toward detailing and improving the appearance of my trusty Volvo. I would appreciate some input on a couple things;

My car is black and although the paint is reasonably good, it is full of small scratches. I'd like to get the scratches out but am not sure how best to do it. I don't know for sure but don't think Volvo used a clear coat over the paint on certain colours. Has anyone been successful at bringing back the shine to their black car? Here is a picture of what the paint looks like, sorry about the quality:

Paint.jpg (72.88 KiB) Viewed 343 times

Exterior Plastic. I've used all the common products on the cladding and have found that those generally make it look better for a couple weeks and then it goes back to it's faded glory look, especially in the summer. I was looking on a forum some time ago and someone suggested good, more permanent results with a mineral oil and something else solution, I've since not been able to find that thread. Has anyone found something that works well on this plastic material? I'd be very interested in suggestions.

Plastic.jpg (116.77 KiB) Viewed 343 times

Thanks in advance for your input.

[oragex]

For the exterior plastic trims, I did this in a warmer weather. It's actually a cheap and easy 'fix'. I recommend a quality liquid (fluid) wax, paste wax will leave strikes. And the paint around needs be cleaned within 30 minutes- but on your black paint it's not going to be a problem

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[Mike Langlois]

I had very good luck using a heat gun on the plastic trim. I am sure I read about it on MVS. Using a heat gun on low setting, pass it slowly, but steadily, back and forth across the trim. The trim will slowly change color and you get fairly long lasting results. Be very careful near painted surfaces, the heat will damage them. I was able to do an X/C model (lots of plastic trim!) without additional protection, like tape, for the paint.
Yours,
Manic Mike

[RickHaleParker]

Has anyone found something that works well on this plastic material? I'd be very interested in suggestions.

Forever Black is a permanent plastic dye not a temporary optical trick like wax is.
You can use Forever Black to put some pigmentation back into the plastic trim.

[Blacklab467]

Was that shoe polish you used on the bumper in that video?

[nucci480]

I run an auto detailing business. Your best bet for trim is respraying it with this stuff. Everything else is basically temporary. The paint will need polished to be brought back to life. You would want to use a product like 3D One and a random orbital polisher. I like griots garage orange pads for my polisher. Then follow up with a sealant or wax of your choice. I really like gtechniq c2v3. This was a multiple-stage correction I did. wet sanded, compounded, polished & sealed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005H ... UTF8&psc=1

[BlackBart]

Agree with nucci above.

Your black has a clear coat. Mine is fading, and a random orbital with Griot's products brought a lot of life back to it, but it needs wax to protect it. If no black appears on your pad when polishing, you are not through the clear coat and into the color layers.

[oragex]

Was that shoe polish you used on the bumper in that video?

Yes, regular black liquid shoe polish

[Blacklab467]

Ok thanks everyone! are you saying that you want to go through the clear coat right down to the paint?

[nucci480]

No you don’t want to burn through the clear coat. If it has clear it won’t turn your pads black. You might want to call a local detailing company.