Black plastic
 

Sitting around with my friends car, I notice how all of their older cars have that black plastic trim that is now gray and cracked. It's pretty much the same stuff that our area around the window is made out of. Also our mirrors, for those of us without the body colored mirrors.

Anyways, is there anything you can do to keep them from getting gray and cracked? Or is it pretty much inevitable?

I have to park outside so I'm afraid in a few years I'll be running into the same situation.

Im not sure how to keep it from fading and cracking but on my last car I just taped it all off and bought some trim paint from crappy tire and sprayed it on and it looked fine.

The cracking and fading is mostly UV damage from exposer to the sun. If you have tinted windows, some tints will help block out some of the UV rays. Also, try using a protectant on those areas once a month or so.

Or if you want to dye it you can use the Folia Tec stuff.