One of the first things to "fade" on the base model trucks (with black vinyl bumpers) is... the black.  They fade into a splotchy gray color in about four years exposure to the sun and start looking like crap.  I bought this stuff to try on one of my trucks several years ago and I've been using it ever since.  Easy to apply (kind of like foam top shoe polish), dries quickly and lasts... well I don't know if it lasts forever, but the first truck I used it on was my 2000 Tracker and it still looks great (although I don't own that truck anymore).  I put it on my last two and it still looks great.  Buster had faded Bud Light beer sticker shadows and rodeo sticker shadows on the bumpers when I bought him. All the plastic was the faded, smudgy gray color.  Wiped the cleaner across all the surfaces then applied the black dye and BINGO!  bumpers looking good again.  This stuff works on dash boards too, but you have to use Q-tips or a small applicator to get to the tight spots.  I actually did two trucks vinyl bumpers and trim with one bottle of this stuff.  If you got the "fades"... then I recommend trying this stuff.


http://www.foreverblack.com/

interesting would love to give it a try but it seems its not available in canada

mine is fading of course after 9 years it would....

Another good way to keep your black plastic bumper black is to use pure olive oil 

Another good way to keep your black plastic bumper black is to use pure olive oil 

Click the foreverblack link in the first post and visit their website - there's a link on it to a guy, I think with a Honda, who ran some unscientific tests on a bunch of different products, including olive oil ...

I had tried Armor All,  the Mothers "Back to Black", etc... and didn't like the results with any of them.   They either didn't work or didn't last.  Then I got some kind of foo-foo auto products sales magaziine in the mail one day (don't know why I got it) and it was filled with a lot of expensive products that people who drive Porsches and Corvettes and other high end vehicles would probably want to buy (like Buffaloe skin "driving shoes") and the only thing that caught my eye was the Forever Black.  It cost like $20.00 for one kit, as I recall, I haven't bought any for years now... because the vinyl is still BLACK.  $20.00 bucks might be a bit steep, but to me this product  was worth it because corrected the problem and I don't have to dick with it anymore.  It did what it was advertised to do. 

Oh and I used blue painter's tape to mask off the truck's painted surface like around the side molding and around the door handles.  I used Cue-tips to get the area under the lip of the grill.  This stuff blackens out the door handles very well too.

Yup, I bought some at Walmart a few years ago for the dash on my boat. It still looks great.