> We tend to think of plastics as "forever products" but most plastics are only truly guaranteed/rated for 15-20 years of active use. They just degrade in weird

> We tend to think of plastics as "forever products" but most plastics are only truly guaranteed/rated for 15-20 years of active use. They just degrade in weird ways compared to other materials we expect to last That was the case for one of my cars, but only for a rarely used part: the push button for the release of the fold-down rear seats. Being exposed to the sun all the time (via rear window) caused them to deteriorate after about 7-8 years to the point where they had a huge hole in the middle of them (otherwise flat button). But plastic in the rest of the car, when I eventually got rid of it at about 11 years old, was still all fine. That said, I think more modern cars are more tolerant of environmental degradation (vs. from daily average use) now.