I recently purchased a used 2003 Saab 9-3 Arc that is in excellent condition except for a couple of minor cosmetic defects. In particular it suffered from faded door handles. This is not surprising because that year of that model was known to have a problem with the paint used on the handles and Saab actually issued a service notice on them and was replacing them for free. Unfortunately, this particular car is past warranty and I don't think Saab is still replacing them (I'll look into it when I get a chance). At any rate, the handles were in bad shape. Not only were they faded to almost grey, much of the paint was worn off, especially on the driver's handle - which was actually down to bare metal!I had browsed the web and others had suggested using Forever Black to restore parts painted with flat/satin black (such as wipers) so I thought this was worth a shot before any more drastic measures (new handles cost $80 and are quite a bit of labor to install) or spray paint (labor).Based on a tip, I picked up a couple of foam paint trim brushes to use for detail work rather than try to use the push-pin foam applicator on the bottle. I squeezed a little of the black liquid at a time into a plastic cup and then used the foam 'brush' to apply it. This gave me more control and kept runny drips to a minimum. I still found it necessary to carry a barely damp microfiber cloth while working. I used this to wipe up splotches and drips as needed. An alternative would be to mask everything off with tape, but it comes off pretty easily with a firm wipe of a damp cloth so unless you know you are particularly clumsy and messy, you don't need to mask for most uses.Note - if you decide to use this product for interior surfaces I would definitely mask off there because there are absorbent surfaces inside a car that would definitely be permanently stained by FB instantly!I ended up giving the handles 3 coats. I focused on making each coat as smooth as possible and not trying to put it on too thickly. After three coats, they now look brand new. A beautiful smooth black satin finish. You can't even tell where the paint had flaked away to bare metal!!!!Encouraged, I then went crazy and treated every bit of external black trim on the car. Amazing results. It took years off the car. The plastic bulkhead in front of the windshield from which the wipers come out was also practically light grey. Now it is a beautiful rich black like it was originally supposed to be. Same with the collars around the side mirrors. I was able to do the entire car with a little more than half a bottle. I don't have large black trim areas like say, all black bumpers - if you do, that could take a lot more. Probably a full bottle or more.When all was done and dry I sealed up everything with a coat of Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax to protect from the evil sun and the elements! We'll have to see how long the deep black color lasts. But for right now, my 'old' car looks brand new!Some black recovery treatments work by abraiding away faded surfaces to show fresh black surface from underneath and others restore oils to revive pigments. Still other's just gloss up the surface giving it a 'wet look'. Forever Black seems to work both as a dye and a paint - if anything it is reminiscent of a 'stain'. It is much thinner than a conventional paint so it absorbs deep into surfaces. Yet unlike a pure dye it seems to have a strong binder that allows it to fill in minor scratches and voids, smoothing rough, cracked surfaces. That is just my take on it from watching it work.

I tried several different products on the market that claimed to be a permanent solution, but most failed. Before purchasing this, I was using Bondo Restore Black, with pretty good results. The only problem with the Bondo product is that is takes dozens of applications to get it to stay black. Now, with Forever Black, all it took was a single application, and presto, my grey plastic was now black. The package comes with the bottle of black dye, and a bottle of cleaning solution. The solution is concentrated, and it instructs you to make a gallon of it, but you don't need to make that much. I only needed about 16 ounces of cleaning solution for my entire vehicle, so I diluted it down and put it in an empty plastic water bottle container, and I have 2/3 of the bottle left for future uses! If you want to dilute it, just do the math and have some concentrate for later!The dye bottle has a sponge tip applicator on it, and it only comes out when firm pressure is applied to it. Be careful, as you can easily apply way too much to the surface. Have a clean paper towel handy in case of overdose and wipe it off quickly before it dries to avoid streaks. The dye goes on fairly even on narrow surfaces, like around your window trim, but if you are doing large areas you are going to see lines from where the dye overlaps. I took a clean blue sponge from under my kitchen sink, soaked up some dye until it was saturated, and applied it that way to avoid this on the larger surfaces. Now, I did have to apply about 3 coats to the really ugly stuff, but it's worth the extra time. I live in the desert, where it's hot and windy with blowing sand, and this stuff refuses to come off, and yes, I have washed it!Be warned, this stuff only works on porous plastics. If you have hard plastic with a very smooth surface, this stuff will flake off eventually. I wanted to use it on my mirrors, but the plastic was hard and would not soak up the dye. Also, do not apply in direct sunlight, and wash off areas where you touch the body paint quickly with soap and water. Just for yucks, I tested this stuff on 2 fender flares. I took both of them off the vehicle and cleaned them as suggested. I purposely let one sit in the sun to warm up the plastic, and the other I let cool in the shade. After one became very hot, and the other cool, I quickly took them both into the garage and gave them an application. I found that the warmer plastic accepted more dye than the cooler one. The heat caused the plastic's pores to open up more from expansion, and it looked darker after one application. So, while I don't suggest putting this stuff on in direct sunlight (streaks are bad!), I do suggest that you make sure your plastics are at least warm, as they will hold the dye better. If you are going to remove parts from your vehicle, try to put them back on as soon as possible...my fender flares relaxed a little after being off the vehicle for half the day, and the mounting holes were tough to line back up.So, to end this review, I just want to say that this stuff works great...just use a little common sense and know that porous, softer plastics and vinyls will come out way better than hard, smooth painted plastic surfaces! The Bondo product is also very excellent and I highly recommend it as well, but it does take a little more effort to apply...and yes, you can use them both together with excellent results!

Taking this to Finland for my son! Will let you know how it goes. Saran wrap and double bagged them! Not taking any chances. Pictures to follow!

This is the only bumper and trim black that i have actually found that works for any length of time. Everything else i have tried only lasts a couple of weeks at most. This is easy to apply with the supplied foam brush. I applied it several weeks ago and it still looks the same as when it was applied. I will definitely be using this every time from now on.

Buen producto

Cumple su función. Como en la foto

Top spul! Na verfen ziet het eruit alsof het nieuw is. Hoop dat deze lange tijd mooi blijft. (zo te zien en te voelen en de recensies, zal dat voorlopig blijven. Heb er vertrouwen in.