What do you guys feel is easier to maintain and keep looking clean(ish) with kids and dogs? I've only had tan cloth and King Ranch leather interiors in past vehicles. The pics below show the exact tan and black I'm comparing. I feel like black might show general dirtiness easier, but might also hide permanent stains easier compared to the tan. With either option, I will definitely run weathertech or husky floor mats and would probably also get good quality seat covers for the second row that will hold the heathens. Thanks.

I think there are pros and cons to both. Dog hair and crumbs show up more in the black leather. However I think the tan leather looks worn faster. Also, the black leather is hotter in the summer.

Just keep it clean by cleaning every month with an all purpose cleaner for autos like Meguiars AP cleaner or Mothers AP Cleaner. Both are sold in gallon sizes and made to dilute (usually 10:1 is about right for this) and Meguiars is sold behind the counter at O'Reillys (they get it the next day or 2 days later for you). They both end up being REAL cheap (like 30 cents a bottle when diluted). The leather specific cleaners, I've found, aren't really that good at actually cleaning but they're better than nothing. I would not use a non-auto labeled company's cleaner for this application. Car leather is coated but I still like knowing what I'm putting on it.

Anyway, wipe down with a wet cloth, spray the cleaner, use a brush to agitate (this is important), then wipe up with a clean wet cloth and dry. And no, the cleaner isn't going to dry out the leather, nor do you need to "condition" it. Depending on how much time it sits outside, you may want to put a UV protectant product on it, but its questionable how long those last given that your clothing rubs up against the leather daily.

Wet okoles

Tan leather in the wife's, black leather in mine, 7yo, 5yo, and 3yo. Open up our two cars and tell me which you think holds up better.

I'll give you a clue, it's not the tan.

Your pictures are both pre-2016, 200 series Land Cruisers. I have/had almost those 2 interiors exactly in a 2014 LX570 and 2017 Land Cruiser. I vote black. Normally I would say tan for heat, but the 200 series air conditioner is so good I don't care.

My response pertains to kids. The tan carpet shows stains worse. The black shows dirt when the kids put their shoes all over the seats. One wipes away easily. I can't speak to animal hair.

Escape Gear makes some really nice fitting seat covers for the 200.

Husky floor liners would take care of the carpet issue and look great too.

ccolley68 said:

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Tan leather in the wife's, black leather in mine, 7yo, 5yo, and 3yo. Open up our two cars and tell me which you think holds up better.

I'll give you a clue, it's not the tan.

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How often are the kids in her car compared to yours, and which one gets washed more often?

Tan seats will definitely develop a "grungy" look over time, especially in areas that get a lot of skin contact.

My concern was which ones were hotter in the sun.

I love the mahogany/brown as a compromise, but they are hard to get.

A lot of companies (like Mazda) are increasingly taking a Henry Ford approach: you can have any color you want, as long as it is black.

ccolley68 said:

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Tan leather in the wife's, black leather in mine, 7yo, 5yo, and 3yo. Open up our two cars and tell me which you think holds up better.

I'll give you a clue, it's not the tan.

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This is our experience as well. Also, you can count on Gatorade stains on tan carpet regardless of floor mats, or not. It just seems to find a way.

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I think there are pros and cons to both. Dog hair and crumbs show up more in the black leather. However I think the tan leather looks worn faster.

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I've had both, and agree with this.

I had black leather, and it drove me crazy that I could see every spec of anything on the seats. I felt like i was dusting/wiping off the seats continually.

But then I got tan leather...and while you dont see the specs/hairs, etc....it shows the wear and tear a LOT more over time.

I've always had tan interior before but opted for black this time on my new Pilot and love it. Doesn't show the wear and tear that lighter interiors do. I was worried about it being too hot in the summer but I had solar window tint done and it was fine this summer.

I think we assign too much weight to black leather being hot these days. With tint and cooled seats (if you opt for latter) I don't think this issue is relevant.

When we had littles....

Black in one, tan in another. Black is significantly hotter, and we had the windows blacked out as much as possible. Also had cooled seats. After owning the car for 10 years, the black still looked great.

Tan will be cooler, but will not look as good over a longer amount of time.

Now that the kids are in college, we have super light grey. It is cooler to the touch, and looks great because we are olds .....

we have light leather in the wife's vehicle, and the kids aren't the problem, it's blue dye from her jeans on the driver's seat.

TxAg20 said:

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Your pictures are both pre-2016, 200 series Land Cruisers. I have/had almost those 2 interiors exactly in a 2014 LX570 and 2017 Land Cruiser. I vote black. Normally I would say tan for heat, but the 200 series air conditioner is so good I don't care.

My response pertains to kids. The tan carpet shows stains worse. The black shows dirt when the kids put their shoes all over the seats. One wipes away easily. I can't speak to animal hair.

Escape Gear makes some really nice fitting seat covers for the 200.

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Yessir, shopping '13s and '14s right now.Yeah the AC is crazy good in these!

1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Wet okoles

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Someone on mud mentioned these seat covers. They look legit and I plan to cover my second row with them regardless of my interior color.

YouBet said:

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I think we assign too much weight to black leather being hot these days. With tint and cooled seats (if you opt for latter) I don't think this issue is relevant.

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I completely agree. And don't forget windshield tint and remote start (on some vehicles).

schmendeler said:

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we have light leather in the wife's vehicle, and the kids aren't the problem, it's blue dye from her jeans on the driver's seat.

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Yep. Happens to mine as well.

reddog90 said:

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1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Wet okoles

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Someone on mud mentioned these seat covers. They look legit and I plan to cover my second row with them regardless of my interior color.

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If you have a costco card, Covercraft has their version of the neoprene covers for half the cost.

Have them in an FJ cruiser and fit and look great. Also, being able to toss them in the washer is great.

The correct choice is obvious... Just need a few years younger model cruiser so you can get the Terra interior.

Trinity Ag said:

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ccolley68 said:

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Tan leather in the wife's, black leather in mine, 7yo, 5yo, and 3yo. Open up our two cars and tell me which you think holds up better.

I'll give you a clue, it's not the tan.

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How often are the kids in her car compared to yours, and which one gets washed more often?

Tan seats will definitely develop a "grungy" look over time, especially in areas that get a lot of skin contact.

My concern was which ones were hotter in the sun.

I love the mahogany/brown as a compromise, but they are hard to get.

A lot of companies (like Mazda) are increasingly taking a Henry Ford approach: you can have any color you want, as long as it is black.

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They are definitely in hers more often, but I take them to the dirty stuff in my truck (ranch, riding lessons, soccer practice, etc) so I get more floor board abuse. All 3 are still in car seats, and they are pretty good about not being little hellians in the car, and we don't give them food often in the car and almost all they drink is water so spilling and such is pretty minimal. Her tan floorboards are definitely a gross mess, much worse than the seats. I have rubber mats on my floors, so just pull me out and knock em clean.

Mine is much hotter (dark grey ext/black int) compared to hers (black ext/tan int) but I usually park on the driveway compared to her in the garage. And I have remote start, which activates seat coolers, which she doesn't make have.

I have black for the first time. Cleans easily and with remote start and ventilated seats these days, the temp is not a material issue anymore. Particularly now that you can start cars from your phone and not have to be in fob distance.

Salt of the water said:

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The correct choice is obvious... Just need a few years younger model cruiser so you can get the Terra interior.

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Blizzard Pearl/Terra would be lovely...

I like how the new Fords let you start your truck from your phone. I'm sure other brands do this as well. But this is new to me and pretty handy. I like having a truck

So in my research here and another forum, about 99% of people say black interior is easier to maintain long term. IE it probably looks dirtier day to day with dust and dog hair, but it doesn't look as worn and stained years from now.

Is it foolish of me to decide to get a tan interior, then cover the second row with high quality seat covers (wet okole) and weathertech or husky mats? Ive never had chirruns, so I don't know how destructive they are in a vehicle. I guess that also depends what you give them to eat and drink while they are back there though.

I have tan leather in my 2014 truck and they look brand new and that includes children and dogs. If you take 10 minutes once a month to clean them off they will stay looking good. My wife has black leather and they are fine too. Car is definitely hotter though in the summertime.

I've probably had 10 vehicles with tan leather and 2 with black. I used to prefer tan, but now prefer black. On a used vehicle where you can't always get the combination of age, exterior color, mileage, condition, location, etc. that you're looking for. Black or tan leather would be near the bottom of the criteria list for me.

White exterior, black interior, dark tint - that's all I buy. No remote start, no cooled seats, black seats are not a problem in hot summer.

I've become soft in middle age, and I won't buy another daily that doesn't have ventilated seats.

Neither. My SUV has.a darker.broqn leather. Hides light color and dark colored dirt much better.