Why so many dark leather interiors?

wandererz

It seems strange to me so i thought i would ask why do so many people opt for dark leather interiors?

It seems to me that (especially with darker bodywork) a lighter interior would set the car off a bit better, lend an air of greater space, lightness, luxury etc.

I get into a vehicle with a lighter coloured leather interior (cream, tan, beige etc) and i immediately feel the above.

If you're spending tens of thousands on a new vehicle and have all the options available to you, what's the allure of the full black interior?

It seems a bit cold and bland to me, dark seats/floors/roof/dashboard/steering & anything else.

Not starting an argument in any way, just trying to understand the allure of an all black interior.

bazz26

Its not so much the light coloured leather but more the light coloured carpets and other trim that come with it. Light coloured carpets require higher maintenance and don't hide wear or tear as well as darker colours.

wandererz

bazz26 wrote: »

Its not so much the light coloured leather but more the light coloured carpets and other trim that come with it. Light coloured carpets require higher maintenance and don't hide wear or tear as well as darker colours.

Hmm...true. Come to think of it, all of my recent cars have had a dark set of mats. And where they've been lighter coloured i've changed them to black.

Could it also be consideration of kids etc?

One example would be the interior of the XJ in the attached pic.

I could provide a more modern example, but this is one example that just exudes luxury to me.

On another note: From what i've seen, it doesn't matter whether one has a light or dark interior the leather seems to wear down/crack anyway. Especially on the bolsters and especially on the drivers side.

rex-x

Black is always in fashion, lighter colours are marmite (that jag interior looks very old man to me, would look far better in black)

cormie

I don't get what the big deal and attraction with leather is, I hate leather seats, give me cotton over leather any day

wandererz

rex-x wrote: »

Black is always in fashion, lighter colours are marmite (that jag interior looks very old man to me, would look far better in black)

You have to see it in the flesh. There's also the matter of the type of leather.

Those creases are as a result of the softness of the leather.
Totally different from that in a Jag X-type, BMW 3 series and recent others.

It IS very old man. But go have a look sometime...

cormie wrote: »

I don't get what the big deal and attraction with leather is, I hate leather seats, give me cotton over leather any day

True, i even have half leather seats in my Jag. So i have the benefit of both.

HOWEVER, it isn't an entirely DARK interior!

Charlie19

cormie wrote: »

I don't get what the big deal and attraction with leather is, I hate leather seats, give me cotton over leather any day

I'd love to have leather seats either dark or cream, I could not care less.

So much easier to keep clean but the extra few euros is too much of a hike in price.

Boskowski

I never liked the creamy leather look, I find it can look cheap and it shows wear very quickly. It screams old geezer to me, too. I could never understand the beige leather look and when looking for a car it would be an immediate deal breaker for me no matter how good the car is otherwise. Similar with light grey although slightly more acceptable. I'm not mad on the more adventurous colours like red, blue or green or yellow :eek: either. I like a dark, subdued interior, either dark grey or black. I've seen a dark gunmetal look once with a tinge of really dark navy in it. That was very nice. Of course its all am matter of personal taste.

Marty McFly

It's part personal taste part practical.

I've always liked light leather interior my previous car was cream leather inTeri or with cream carpets and mats. So harder to maintain but when maintained it look great sadly very few people properly maintain there interiors.

Now though my current car has brown leather interior not as nice imo but still nice but cream leather and carpets don't mix well with two kids.

Terrontress

Boskowski wrote: »

I never liked the creamy leather look, I find it can look cheap and it shows wear very quickly. It screams old geezer to me, too. I could never understand the beige leather look and when looking for a car it would be an immediate deal breaker for me no matter how good the car is otherwise. Similar with light grey although slightly more acceptable. I'm not mad on the more adventurous colours like red, blue or green or yellow :eek: either. I like a dark, subdued interior, either dark grey or black. I've seen a dark gunmetal look once with a tinge of really dark navy in it. That was very nice. Of course its all am matter of personal taste.

There is a red leather which I associate with English cars from the 50s-70s. Jags and Rollers. It looks very classy.

Special Circumstances

Went to look at a used volvo in main dealers once. Even AFTER being valeted the cream leather looked like each seat base had been urinated in repeatedly over the life of the car. No thanks.

Marcusm

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Went to look at a used volvo in main dealers once. Even AFTER being valeted the cream leather looked like each seat base had been urinated in repeatedly over the life of the car. No thanks.

Without urine, we would never had leather!

I too prefer non black leather interiors. One of mine is a navy/cream interior and despite being 10 years old, it's in great shape. I also have another car with chestnut coloured seats. Plain old black is not that inspiring to me. I have a black A5 on rental this week with black leather interior. The leather looks very cheap and just darkens the whole car.

Marty McFly

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Went to look at a used volvo in main dealers once. Even AFTER being valeted the cream leather looked like each seat base had been urinated in repeatedly over the life of the car. No thanks.

As I said very few people properly maintain there interior but that can also be said of cars in this country.

A well kept cream leather interior is quality looking imo.

jimgoose

Would I have to bugger off and go and live in a cave if I said that, given the choice, ideally, I'm not really a fan of leather interiors, particularly seats, at all at all? Having said that the cream leather in the brother's F10 is class.

5W30

I agree with OP, dark car like black or navy and cream leather interior sets the car off a lot more than black leather

Oafley Jones

Not a fan of dark leather interiors either. The lighter colours really brighten up the space and give a bit of contrast to show the interior detail. I really dislike red leather interiors. Feel like they're burning out my retinas. I'm sure I'm alone on this, but I really like the look of the blue seats in the new mini clubman.

Leonard Hofstadter

Much prefer dark leather. More desirable second-hand and much easier to keep clean. Has anyone ever tried keeping beige carpets clean? It also works with fake wood, fake aluminium/titanium and piano black inserts, beige or lighter colours only work with wood, which is very old-manish.

bazz26

Any car I've had with leather has always been dark grey, granted they were second hand so didn't have much choice but personally I think while cream/beige or ivory leather looks and feels more upmarket when new I they just don't age as well and really look tatty after a few years of wear.


This was the dark grey interior of my last car a VW Passat CC, I think the seats look really smart, much nicer than the standard seats in my current BMW F10.










Of course not all leather is of the same quality either. There is a big difference in quality as well as price between pleather and Nappa.

Marty McFly

Light coloured leather doesn't always go tatty looking if maintained right.

My old e90 was 9 years old when I got rid of it and the interior still looked as good as new when I sold it on.

bazz26

Your part of a very small minority though. Most people would not even vacuum their car interior from one end of the year to the next, not to mind treating leather properly.

Special Circumstances

Marcusm wrote: »

Without urine, we would never had leather!
...

I have a black A5 on rental this week with black leather interior. The leather looks very cheap and just darkens the whole car.

Lol :pac: this crowd must have gone very oldschool on their leather treatment, yellow brown patch like a puddle of rank pish on every seat.


I have black leather in the scooby, tbh it would look preposterous with any other colour leather. I can see how other colours would suit other cars alright. Heavily dyed jeans or anything leaching into cream leather would be a nightmare I'd say!!

Marty McFly

bazz26 wrote: »

Your part of a very small minority though. Most people would not even vacuum their car interior from one end of the year to the next, not to mind treating leather properly.

I might be in the minority but it's certainly not impossible to keep it looking fresh that was mine before I sold it

JoeA3

Cream leather is marmite. I think it works in some BMW's such as in that pic above but generally black/grey looks and wears far better imo.

Cream leather is just wrong in certain cars too, I don't think it works in anything "sporty".

R.O.R

You should see what the majority of light coloured interiors look like after 3 or 4 years of heavy usage.

That would be the reason to recommend dark leather, although a contrast between light leather and dark carpets works too.

Try everything to avoid ordering cream or beige carpets as they look grubby very quickly.

colm_mcm

you often get the ivory coloured dash too which usually looks gack

fifth

I always go for a light interior. I had a lovely F10 520D in alpine white with beige dakota leather and black trim on the dash.

Doesn't sound so nice on paper but was lovely to be in! Now I have a 530D with a slightly darker shade of beige.

Eric Cartman

I personally like light leather interiors, always prefer them to black.

the cream interior on my e38 is perfect (cream carpets, wood trim and a brown dashboard/ door ledges to contrast)

so many cars nowadays if you want cream seats you get awful black door cards and carpets with it , this whole two tone craic is very hard to pull off as far as I'm concerned.

i got a set of thick cream carpet mats for the e38 and I have to say they keep really well. I kept the black set the car came with for winter , but for 7-8 months of the year the cream works. Also high quality carpet is really easy to clean .

in second hand cars cracked black leather shows its age a lot easier, cream holds.

black exterior, cream interior and wood trim is the perfect colour scheme for any car in my book.

Voodoomelon

I'm with the OP, no clue why darker interiors are more popular than lighter ones apart from eaier maintenance, as light colours are without doubt nicer placers to be and look infinitely better, especially with darker exteriors. So much more luxurious.

ironclaw

Trying to find a 535d at the moment and nearly all are cream interiors. Look nice but wouldn't suit my lifestyle at all, would be cleaning it every day!

beertons

I prefer lighter colours myself. Her new motor has cream leather and I think the lighter seats aged better than if they were dark.

Timooo_23

I got cream leather interior for the first time in my curent car. It does look better them dark interiors imo, but I have a job where my backside gets dirty! I hate seat covers, so I find myself cleaning it a bit too often. For that reason I see the logic in getting dark interiors. Anyone who doesn't have a white collar job, or is just too damn lazy to clean their interior is gonna go for the low maintenance option. Its scary the dust and dirt a black polyester seat can hide.

Eric Cartman

Timooo_23 wrote: »

I got cream leather interior for the first time in my curent car. It does look better them dark interiors imo, but I have a job where my backside gets dirty! I hate seat covers, so I find myself cleaning it a bit too often. For that reason I see the logic in getting dark interiors. Anyone who doesn't have a white collar job, or is just too damn lazy to clean their interior is gonna go for the low maintenance option. Its scary the dust and dirt a black polyester seat can hide.

Id rather the dirt not be there than hidden well hah.
and i suppose thats why its more luxurious , its like rich people having that second sitting room with all white furniture and carpets, super high maintenance but its a serious display of wealth and always looks plush as fook.

Marty McFly

Timooo_23 wrote: »

I got cream leather interior for the first time in my curent car. It does look better them dark interiors imo, but I have a job where my backside gets dirty! I hate seat covers, so I find myself cleaning it a bit too often. For that reason I see the logic in getting dark interiors. Anyone who doesn't have a white collar job, or is just too damn lazy to clean their interior is gonna go for the low maintenance option. Its scary the dust and dirt a black polyester seat can hide.

Bring a change of clothes to the job problem solved . I've gotten stick in work for doing it but I'd rather that than a filthy interior.

Brian Scan

The consensus seems to be that, "What I have is best".

kirving

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Went to look at a used volvo in main dealers once. Even AFTER being valeted the cream leather looked like each seat base had been urinated in repeatedly over the life of the car. No thanks.

Was it an S40? In Silver? 2008? :pac:

To be honest the drivers side of mine isn't in great condition, and would be wary of a Volvo interior if I was buying new.

Special Circumstances

Blue V40 (or were they V50 then??). Every seat.

kirving

To be fair mine is only the drivers seat. Would definitely consider getting it repair if it didn't break the bank.

H3llR4iser

It's subjective and depends on a lot of factors, including the market the car is sold into. Depends on the car also - a Lancia with cream interiors (and wood trimmings) is an instant classic while a Mercedes with the same screams "back to the '70s!" from every angle.

My own car has the most basic of the basic specs, as it's customary for the kind of car in Ireland - all black Alfatex seats, black dash, black door cards and so on. I honestly prefer the looks of the black/cream interiors (that is, black dash top and cream seats/carpets); My dad's 159 is set up this way and it feels a bit classier inside - even 'though it's a total b1tch to keep clean as his cream seats are Alfatex as well.

As a proof of how things depend on market, motorists from southern Europe tend to avoid leather seats altogether - they are not a pleasant experience when it's 39 degrees outside, and you get into a car that has been sitting in direct sunlight for 8 hours!!! Plus, with the temperature excursions and sunlight they tend to crack and flake over the years, unless you maintain them maniacally.