R Tyler

On the 2006 GS300, what do you think about these 2 choices:

1) black exterior with beige interior OR
2) silver exterior with grey interior

here are the photos:

http://www.lexus.com/models/gs/galle...or_colors.html
http://www.lexus.com/models/gs/galle...or_colors.html

I feel that the black exterior goes well with beige interior. The only problem is that dirt shows really easily on black exterior. I plan to keep the car in the garage at night, and I intend to wash the car about twice a month. Is black exterior a good choice then?

The silver exterior seems to be easier to maintain, but seems to look plain as compared to black exterior. The grey interior doesn't seem to look as nice as the beige.

My only fear is that with black exterior, I have to constantly clean the car.

By the way, why is it that there are much more black exterior sedans for the Mercedes, but I just don't see much black exterior sedans for the Lexus GS?

Your inputs would be appreciated.

R Tyler

On the 2006 GS300, what do you think about these 2 choices:

1) black exterior with beige interior OR
2) silver exterior with grey interior

here are the photos:

http://www.lexus.com/models/gs/galle...or_colors.html
http://www.lexus.com/models/gs/galle...or_colors.html

I feel that the black exterior goes well with beige interior. The only problem is that dirt shows really easily on black exterior. I plan to keep the car in the garage at night, and I intend to wash the car about twice a month. Is black exterior a good choice then?

The silver exterior seems to be easier to maintain, but seems to look plain as compared to black exterior. The grey interior doesn't seem to look as nice as the beige.

My only fear is that with black exterior, I have to constantly clean the car.

By the way, why is it that there are much more black exterior sedans for the Mercedes, but I just don't see much black exterior sedans for the Lexus GS?

Your inputs would be appreciated.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

Washing a car only twice a month???!!! I don't care what color it is I wash twice a week. DOn't get black if that's your pattern...unless you don't mind looking at a dirty car. Keeping a car clean is for looks but I believe it also helps keep the paint shiny a long time. Oxidation, acids, salts and plain ol dirt can reduce the luster with long term exposure. A car needs to be kept clean and waxed to stay pretty. People see my car and think it's a re-paint. Every car I've ever had looks new til the day it leaves me.

R Tyler

Is black exterior really hard to keep clean though?

What do you think of the combo: black exterior and beige interior; or silver exterior with grey interior? Thanks.

NeverSatisfied

Back in the day when my parents had their '98 ES (black/beige leather) and I used to care for it, I'd NEVER buy that color combo again. The exterior looked sharp only when washed & waxed. The interior was a pain in the butt to keep clean. That's why all of my rides have been silver/black.

As far as Mercedes having a lot of black sedans, it may have to do w/ the owner's choice. Or maybe Mercedes stocks a lot of black sedans on their lots. Come to think of it, my Lexus dealership hardly ever has a black model on the lot.

I had to special order my RX, 'cause black leather usually doesn't "come in" at my dealership.

Gojirra99

Black is not harder to keep clean than any color, just that it doesn't hide dirt nearly as well as a silver car.Moreover, you have to wash with very clean mitts or else swirl marks will show much much more on a black car than on a silver. Any car of any color should be washed frequently if you want to keep the paint looking new longer. If you only want to wash twice a month, I suggest you get silver.

gs400998

Although I wash my cars frequently, still like silver, gold and light color. My burnish gold GS hides the sand/salt much better than a dark color car during the winter. Then there is dust generated by our second MN season - road construction. There are other nice exterior colors available like flint mica, cypress pearl, quartz shadow, .....

Dsmart

I got a black one and this is HELL, you scratch it, you can see it and can't get rid of it. (I bought the carwash stuff ALL OF IT from 1 stop or whatever the name of the sponser is and did it today and still can't get the scratches out. White is best for not showing anything, I would have loved a white pearl but I got a good deal and only color I could get. Figure this, you just washed it, then you touch it with your hand after drying and you can see your finger prints, What other color can you do that on?

encore888

The black GS looks amazing in the new TV ads, but then the silver is more popular...I like a black with gray interior personally.

mooretorque

Black/ivory (the tan color) looks great.................for about 10 minutes. As has been pointed out, black shows EVERYTHING. And you guys can talk about washing frequently but this is only viable in a climate where it doesn't rain with any frequency. Rooster tails of road crap down the side of a black car from driving on a wet/damp road look bad AND, BONUS!!! you get to look at them often!!. Having dealt now with WIFEY'S RX for a year and a half, unless you are an absolute fanatic, you're going to have water spotting simply because there will be situations where it rains, then the car sun-dries before you can wash the rain off. I've got spotting that I just don't have the time, energy, or inclination (I tried delicately to talk her our of black for that reason alone) to deal with. So my ionized rinse water and all my great Zaino stuff is for naught since we get 50+ inches of rain a year and nice bright, hot Southern sunshine after thunderstorms. And as far as swirls?? I've Z5-d the *** off her car. It helps quite a bit but not enough. If you want flawless black paint, prepare to NOT live in a world where you drive your car.

And that nice tan interior will be some work, too. Shoe scuffs on the tan plastic seat base are not very easy..........

There was a time when I had the time to deal with such stuff; but I wasn't 50+, married, and a father then, either. I can add that, on top of all that, my friends (and my wife's friends) think that I DETAIL the cars and think they look showroom new!! (Which really says more about what they don't do than what I do, altho my 4 year old GS DOES look showroom new because none of those swirls and stuff (that I KNOW is there) show.

So I guess you know my vote..........but you have to decide for yourself. Like I said, once upon a time I could maintain something like that (but I always chose NOT to own a black car). I'm pretty obsessive-compulsive and I'd have driven myself nuts.................ymmv.

owm

Black cars look really stunning but only if the exterior is well taken care of like having a paint protection system (Glare, Klasse, Zaino etc) on it. Also, black cars tend to show swirl marks more prominently.

It also depends on the environment that the vehicle will be exposed to. Over in Singapore with the constant sun and rain, owner of black cars are often plagued with water marks and require constant quick detailing/washing to keep them looking good. I have friends who have to wash their black vehicles every 2 days during our monsoon season to prevent water spots buildup.

For the interior, black is the best since dirt can be hidden but I never liked black leather as it looks rather plasticky and makes the cabin small and cramp. Also black leather will mask over the two-tone interior that Lexus cars have. Used to have tan leather for my Gen 2 GS and they just dirty too quickly and require constant cleaning/maintenance to keep it looking good. Hence for me, grey/ash is the best compromise (especially with black wood, classy!)

kb2yza

Have a black RX now with beige leather. Looks awesome when clean as noted above and the beiege makes it look roomy which is why I didn't get black but, with my job, keeping the leather clean has been extremly difficult. As for the black paint my car looks nice in the summer but right now it is white from the road salt and really looks terrible. Father had an Avalon with black int. and ext looked really nice. I wouldn't do the black on beige again. But if your down south and will always be entering the car nice and clean deff not a bad combo at all.

I am waiting on a GS300 in Flint Met. with black leather should be in in a 2 weeks.

Dsmart

I have swirlls everywhere, I bougt the kit from the adds here. The 5 piece kit and they are still there, that is going to be hell if not have to wet sand the black stuff

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

R Tyler,

We have a third gen GS subforum specifically for questions about those cars, I'm moving your post there.

GS300Rich

Black is by far the nicest color when clean. But when it gets dirty it looks like ***. I had a black Nissan and washed it twice a week usually and I still felt it was dirty most of the time. But for that 1 day after I washed it it looked so good. But I will never buy black again because of the difficulty to keep clean.