Im in the market for a new used IS but having a hard time finding the right color combo. I tend to keep my cars in immaculate shape for up to 10 years. Black interior is always easiest to keep clean and hide stains. Even if I keep up on it regularly will I still be able to keep light interior in tip top shape?

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I've had no problem keeping up with my gray interior with just basic care every other week (wet cloth on plastic surfaces, leather cleaner/conditioner on all of the leather surfaces). Of course if you don't care for the interior, it'll start looking pretty bad fairly quickly. I've noticed the gray leather seats likes to pick up the dye from my shorts/jeans, though it's easily taken out with cleaner. If it's been sitting for a while, it's a little more difficult to get the stains out. Of course, black interiors are nice, though I unfortunately had to stay away from black unless I preferred burning myself every time I got in the car here in the south.

Regarding the carpets, I've highly advise getting some floor mats (such as Weathertechs) regardless of the color.

 

Like Zmon said the grey interior tends to pick up dyes from clothes so the arm rest and seats might discolor a little but can be helped with a bit of cleaner. I've been using mother's VLR and it's kept it pretty clean aside from the really hard stains. I once put brand new tires in the rear seats of my car and the oils from the tires have implanted themself into the seats, so now I have a light brown sticker of "michelin pilot super sport" on my rear middle seat lol... I don't use the rear seats enough to bother me but it annoys me that I can't get rid of it.