joneschop

MY 2000 TL was just wrecked in an accident. 17 Yr old girl who had her license for 2 days ran a stop sign and hit me from the side. I am getting a 2003 Type S w/ Nav. Anyone have the Ebony interior? How is it to clean? Should I go with the parchment instead? Can't make up my mind??

edgalang

Regarding interiors, I think the rule is exact opposite. The lighter color interior will be harder to clean than the darker ones. Dirt shows up on parchment easier than black. The best color combo in terms of practicallity in the long run is Silver exterior and Ebony interior. If I had to keep my car forever...then these would be the color of my choice.

P.S.
(I have an agean blue pearl with ebony interior)

whisky112

its real easy i got a 2003
silver blak inside,
its nice and easy to clean

Dizzy

What about during the summer months? Doesn't the black leather burn ur legs?

Just a thought....I'm looking at a Silver one too...just dunno which interior.

Dizzy

Moo

I have black interior. It's really not that bad during the summer time. Just get yourself a nice sunshade. As for cleaning, they are both easy to clean, but you just have to watch out for marks, which are obviously more noticeable on the light interiors.

--Moo

edgalang

In normal cars yes. But the high end cars nowadays have a built in "green glass" which basically blocks out most of the UV rays. In addition, I also got tints that block out 98% of the UV rays that the green glass lets in, and blocks out 60% of the heat. Even if you go with light tints, the leather and dash protection alone should be enough to warrant the purchase. Anything that's darker is mostly for privacy purposes.

thephantom

Leather adjusts to its surrounding temperature because it "breathes". The seat may be hot in the beginning but not bad at all, especially after it adjusts to your bosy temp.

joneschop

What do you think of the Anthracite Metallic color? Should hole up in the long run? We have a silver 1997 TL already, and that is showing alot of scratches and chips from over the years.

thephantom

Love that color.

jl_young

Have a NBP with ebony interior. In the heat of summer, if you leave the windows closed and sunroof vented, you'll be surprised at how comfortable it is.

JPritch

Couldn't agree with you more!


Good color combo dude, that's what I have now ('03 TLP)!

RAdams

The seats of my WDP 2000 TL (Parchment) showed dirt a lot more than the ones in my ABP TL-S (Ebony) do. However, the Ebony dash shows ALL the dust. Not hard to take care of, though. Also, I haven't found that the Ebony is any hotter than the Parchment was in the summer.

malik

The anthracite is a very nice color. I have a 03 TL-S in this color. This color is very easy to maintain, providing you hand wash your car yourself and avoid car washes. Far as the interior color, I would recommend the ebony color. Reason: If it rain or if your clothes are wet the dye will rub of and show in the parchment material.

AKRY

I agree... Ebony is very easy to clean, but shows dirt.... Anthracite is the color to go, IMO... if it were available in '02, I would take it over SSM for sure....

FYI, Black Leather uses the LEAST amount of dye... so Ebony isn't too far away......

Andy Kuo

kchao2000

Doesn't matter, both of them are leather; so won't make a big difference.

Xorg

My TL/S has a dark grey interior, my Saab 9-3 has a beige interior, they're both ridiculously easy to keep clean.

One downside to a dark interior is that every spec of dust shows up, not an issue with a light interior.

You can't win either way, just keep the inside vacuumed and clean and it makes no real difference light or dark!

BJSTLS

My last car had beige leather interior and it always looked clean. My new '03 TL-S has Black (ebony) interior and it shows everything..(it doesn't help that I have a dog!) It is very easy to clean. If you plan on spilling coffee or soda, then a light interior is not the best choice If you spill the coffee or soda on your dark interior floor, it will definitely not show as easily.

Basically, lighter interiors will shows stains more, but a darker interior will hide stains better and show everything else! It is a lot easier to wipe off the dust and dirt from the darker interior than it is to shampoo your rugs from coffee in a light interior!

Southbound

I couldn't decide either. But went with the ABP and EBONY interior.

I found that the ebony interior definitely feels "sportier" to me everytime that I step into it, if they helps your mind a bit.

I agree that the black dash USED to show every bit of dust. It was like keeping a black car clean... I had to dust the dash every few days. Then I finally bought some of the AEROSPACE 303 PROTECTANT that has been raved about on this site. They say it has an anti-static ingredient that repels dust... IT WORKS GREAT! I haven't cleaned the car in two week, and there's NO NOTICEABLE DUST on the dash Before that, it was a problem... But I gotta say, I'm impressed with the 303 product. It drys with a matte finish as well, has absolutely NO smell, isn't greasy or slick like armoral at all. It's got like the best UV protection on the market, and somehow DOES seem to repel the dash. I haven't dusted it in two weeks. NO LINT!

While I'll agree with others that the black seats are easier to keep clean looking, the "shoe scuff" marks on the door panel are MORE OBVIOUS than my Camry's tan leather. You do have to watch that area...

I was worried about the heat problem as well. I live in So. Cal, and I can't say that it's been any kind of problem YET... I do use a windhield shade when I park directly in the sun. I have the stock tint at this point. I'll see how it is throughout the entire summer before I decide to tint the windows or not?

One other comment that I'll make about the black. IT ABSORBS ALL THE LIGHT OUT OF THE INTERIOR AT NIGHT! If you turn the map light on at night... you can't see jack... although my eyes are aging. But everything just disappears as compared to the tan. If you drop something on the floor, its a lot harder to find it, etc.

Bottom line, I've never had a black interior before, but I'M GLAD I WENT WITH IT!

Davidas

Black Interior : You see DUST easily

Parchemin interior : You see DIRT easily

chrism7855

i love the black interior. everyone i know digs my interior. and one good thing.. at night.. with the black interior.. and tint on the windows.. almost impossible to see inside. . regardless what she is wearing or not wearing.

oh.. and the cleaning? jsut tell the girl to clean up after.

bigbadboss101

I went with charcoal interior because I was afraid of smudging the light interior. IMO, light color seats, along with dark car door panel would be a good combination. Haven't seen it however :-)

idaten7411

I have a '03 TL-S with Ebony interior and I love it. Not only it looks more luxurious and easy to clean, but also it brings out an image that you can only describe to yourself as wow, man you gotta own one to know what the fuzz is all about. I say go Ebony and don't worry about summer, our cars have a special green tint that helps. But leather is leather and ebony or parchment is going to hit your tighs like a mad rubber band.

malik

Southbound or ANYONE WHO KNOWS:

Where can i get the Aerospace 303 protectant?

please E-mail or reply: malikacherry@hotmail.com

mr polo

A lot of boat or marine stores carry it. Take a look at their website. There is a section that lets you locate a retailer in your area. http://www.303-products.com/

thephantom

Dust = wipe off
Dirt = clean with???

kchao2000

That's ture! But you might get more rattles; especially from the seats. :p