Black or beige interior with kids?

[reddog90]

We have our first spawn coming next spring and I am in the market to trade my '16 King Ranch F150 for a '13-14 200 as my DD. I have always been set on blizzard pearl/beige. A magnetic gray/black just popped up near me and it made me wonder if I could settle for something else. I have never had a black interior. I'm not afraid to pony up for good tint with this TX heat. How is a black interior with kids though? Easy to keep looking OK? Also, will magnetic gray show scratches/swirl marks as bad as black does? I had a black 2500HD before my F150 and vowed to never have a black vehicle again because I am too anal about swirl marks.

 

[JohnPW]

Black interior will be much better with kids than beige; the latter will show dirt in no time. If you get a good tint I don’t think it’ll be any hotter.

No experience with that particular grey but dark cars show dirt like crazy. Silver shows dirt the least. BTW my 2016 is BP with terra interior, it is my favorite interior color and doesn’t show dirt...but I’m not sure what year they started offering terra.

 

[dnh1]

Black interior will be much better with kids than beige; the latter will show dirt in no time. If you get a good tint I don’t think it’ll be any hotter.

No experience with that particular grey but dark cars show dirt like crazy. Silver shows dirt the least. BTW my 2016 is BP with terra interior, it is my favorite interior color and doesn’t show dirt...but I’m not sure what year they started offering terra.

Beige makes the truck feel bigger and brighter inside. I’ve had 5 200s. The LC beige is fine. The LX is super light and shows a lot of dirt. Had black in an LX. Looked good but dark and hard to find things if you lose them. Currently have terra. I do not like it. I really don’t think you could go wrong with beige or black. I’m getting a Heritage so I’m about to have black.

 

[CJ3Flyer]

I’ve rented F150 on a couple of occasions and with regard to color and heat let me offer this: The a/c on my ‘13 LX is amazing, it’s in the whole next league. I drive a variety of rentals and am coming from a ‘07 4Runner and will tell you the air on the LX is very fast, powerful and I have no doubt a charcoal color would be fine.

As far as swirl marks a poly paint hides marks better than a non-poly (metallic) paint. A friend had a ‘06 3500 Dodge with metallic black. He replaced it with a black ‘12 no metallic. Huge difference in terms of seeing swirls, scratches and light dirt. The ‘06 looked good until it was pretty dirty. The ‘12 is black and all the bad that comes with black. I know properly detailed black is gorgeous but who has time for that on a high use DD type vehicle?

 

[dnh1]

We have our first spawn coming next spring and I am in the market to trade my '16 King Ranch F150 for a '13-14 200 as my DD. I have always been set on blizzard pearl/beige. A magnetic gray/black just popped up near me and it made me wonder if I could settle for something else. I have never had a black interior. I'm not afraid to pony up for good tint with this TX heat. How is a black interior with kids though? Easy to keep looking OK? Also, will magnetic gray show scratches/swirl marks as bad as black does? I had a black 2500HD before my F150 and vowed to never have a black vehicle again because I am too anal about swirl marks.

I have that color gray. It does not show swirl marks.

 

[reddog90]

I have that color gray. It does not show swirl marks.

I'm guessing the order of easiest to hardest to keep looking clean would be silver, white, gray, and black?
I've never had a gray vehicle. I think it looks nice, just wasn't sure if it would behave like black.

 

[EverywhereBear]

My LX is has a black interior, and my wife’s 2011 RX350 had a beige interior. We could not keep the beige interior clean with the kids. I am OCD with my vehicles and the incessant stains on the beige parts drove me nuts. Most annoying was the denim blue stain on the driver’s seat - could not get it out - apparently a common issue with the beige Lexus leather. Her 2019 RX has a black interior.

 

[JohnPW]

I'm guessing the order of easiest to hardest to keep looking clean would be silver, white, gray, and black?
I've never had a gray vehicle. I think it looks nice, just wasn't sure if it would behave like black.

In my experience with a variety of vehicles, I believe your color list is correct. In the newer ones a dark blue is also offered, and I think it is beautiful, but I’ve been told it is as hard to keep clean as black.

I would second the comment on 200 series AC, it is great. I don’t think your color choice will matter regarding heat, especially with tinted windows.

 

[SF1911A1]

I live in Houston and have a 13 LX with black interior. It’s definitely easier to keep the black cleaner looking. I have three kids under 5 years old so that second row gets a lot of use. I bought a dog cover that covers the entire row as one piece and it has worked out great. The most important thing I can recommend to you is to get the clear window tint on your windshield. It makes such a night and day difference with heat coming in on sunny days. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth every single penny. I paid $250 just for the windshield and would do it again in a heartbeat if I had to replace the windshield for any reason.

 

[CJ3Flyer]

...most important thing I can recommend to you is to get the clear window tint on your windshield. It makes such a night and day difference with heat coming in on sunny days. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth every single penny. I paid $250 just for the windshield and would do it again in a heartbeat if I had to replace the windshield for any reason.

I never knew such a thing existed. Thank you for mentioning it.

I had a short love-hate relationship with an ‘08 GL320 just prior to the LX570. The A/C was great and the windshield and sunroof did a much better job of fending off radiant heat (fuel range, ergonomics and interior space were nice, rest of the car not-so-much). I did put some 50% on my LX’s sunroof and I’m very satisfied with that. Clear tint on the windshield may be exactly what I want.

 

[grinchy]

Kids will destroy any color. They are not discriminating. Just plan on not having nice things for 20 years.

 

[Markuson]

Neither.
Dark grey.

Or Even better... Get a used, older 200...when the “leather” seats still came from plastic cows.
The “pleather” in my 2008 is SO robust compared to the real leather in my 100.

 

[tirewater]

Definitely black since you'll have a young one. If you had older kids, I'd recommend a lighter color as the vehicle feels so much better inside. The light grey of our Lexus was a spot magnet and impossible to get fully clean no matter how much carpet shampooing you did. Often times just smearing stuff into the carpet, ending up with an off color. The "oak" color of my 80 series wore pretty well, it would stain but they weren't as noticeable.

 

[Fisher23]

There are not very many of these 200's around so for myself the options on colors was very limited.

I would have preferred the saddle/tan interior, but ended up with black. The thought of putting a rear seat cover has crossed my mined several times, but I've found the black cleans up easily. It does show any sand or dog hair more dramatically.

The black is fine in the heat, I added a remote start (some come with remote and some do not).

 

[Cruisin911]

Kids will destroy any color. They are not discriminating. Just plan on not having nice things for 20 years.

This. So much this. I have 3 kids. Every time I get the itch to get a new 200, I go out and vacuum my 2011. Cures me of that real quick.

 

[reddog90]

I guess if I was really set on a beige interior I could invest in good seat covers for the second row. I was already going to get husky or weathertech mats. That still leaves doors, ceiling and pillars though.

 

[tincan45]

It's a trade-off. You can either be cool or clean but not both. I spent the summer in and out of many 200's on dealer lots. Sometimes both colors on the same day and I can say from first hand experience, the tan is considerably cooler getting in and takes less time to cool. I was actually on the hunt for black (I think it looks better) until I realized what a big difference it made. I also have an 8 year old and a golden retriever. They definitely leave their marks when in the back, but nothing that doesn't clean up easily.

Additionally, you will notice the ventilated seats take forever to feel the cool air on a hot day. The black seats simply adsorb too much heat when sitting. The tan/beige will get your crack cooling much sooner.

 

[OregonLC]

Beige/Tan beyond all doubt. Black shows every crumb, every bit of dust, every grain of sand, etc. Tan hides. Having owned both I would never purposefully buy black. Unfortunately, the current market trend across most makes is to be 80% black interior.

 

[JohnPW]

Beige/Tan beyond all doubt. Black shows every crumb, every bit of dust, every grain of sand, etc. Tan hides. Having owned both I would never purposefully buy black. Unfortunately, the current market trend across most makes is to be 80% black interior.

True but it all can be easily vacuumed out. The light grey leather in my Lexus shows dirt and stains easily and wiping it off won’t remove them. This hasn’t been a problem with black or terra leather.

OP, I think rear seat covers are your solution regardless of the color you choose.

 

[OregonLC]

Interesting. Never had a single problem with staining on either of my 100s with tan or grey interior. And that's with three kids and a dog. Even muddy shoes pressed against the back of the front seats wiped right off. Every once in a while I would hit it with Lexol to bring back the richness of the texture. Maybe the 200 LX has a leather that is more susceptible to stains?