I am planning on getting a 2013 RX 450h next month. Most of the cars available with all the bells and whistles I would like have the black leather interior. I have never had a car with that dark of interior. Any feed back, pro and con would be appreciated. I live in Ca, coastal, so it's not horribly hot here most of the time. Thanks

 

Your interior will get hotter, little specks and debris will show up more, you will have to keep it cleaner than if you have a lighter colored interior, but it will be beautiful and well worth it.

 

I've had a black interior RX 300 for 11 years and my incoming special -ordered 450h is also black inside and out (Stargazer variant outside).

I prefer it and actually find it easier to keep looking clean than the parchment leather I had on a 99 RX and a 96 GS.

I don't find the heat unbearable in Northern Virginia in the summertime. I use a windshield screen to abate it some from baking quite so much while parked on the sunnier days.

 

I've had black, ecru (off white), gray, and parchment (light tan) leather interiors here in SoCal, 4 miles from the coast. Honestly, all will work, and can be as beautiful and long lasting as the others. Issue as stated, is black will tend to pick up more lint and white flecks of dust, so if that drives you nuts, keep a Swiffer in your truck and be prepared to occasionally take action at stop lights, or get another color. Light colors are great, but you must pay more attention to ensuring things like brand new jeans with their blue dye do not transfer, especially if there are passengers that don't care as much as you may about the upkeep on your ride -- that can be remedied with the right preparation and products (other threads in detailing forum on CL about that). Gray is sort of in-between the other two ... Not hard to maintain, and looks good most of the time. I had a gray interior in my RX400h which served me well and looked nearly as good when I traded it in 8 years after I purchased it, as it did the day I brought it home. I'm a neat freak, so could not go with black on my new 2013 given I have a 3-yr old white/cream golden retriever that rides with me most the time in the back seat and sheds to beat the band. Weekly vacuum and a custom seat protector in the back could never keep up. Given that, parchment is my current color, as "gray" in a RX450h, opposed to a 350, is actuallly two-toned with more black than gray when you look closely at the design.

Gook luck on your decision and a little in advance -- welcome to the RX450h family! You'll love it.

 

I live in Texas the home of extreme heat. I have a black on black Rx350 and all my other cars have black leather interiors also. It doesn't get as hot as people make it seem. I also find it very simple to keep the black interior clean. You actually don't see the dust like another member mentioned and with the carpet being dark it wont show stains either. I highly recommend it.

 

I have parchment in my 450h and black/dark charcoal in my Subaru Outback (Subaru typically only offers one color interior with a given exterior, so you end up with some tough choices). I won't be getting any black interiors in future cars. I'm sure it is personal preference, but it is just not as inviting a color.

I put black mats in my 450h and that coordinates well with the black dash and other black accents. It is an easy way to give the parchment interior a little more punch.

I would figure out which color you prefer and only get that color.

 

Welcome to Club Lexus.

Pluses and minuses to all interior colors. First and foremost should be if you will be happy with the color choice. We looked at all the interior colors during our 2013 search, and in our opinion, the parchment had the most striking looks and contrast, including the espresso birds eye maple wood. Even the new saddle interior was virtually all black, except for the seats. Each to his/her own, but we started with our color choice first, then searched for our car. Ended up driving to another state to get exactly what we wanted, both color and options. Seems like California would have what you want somewhere, if you decided you didn't want black.
As a side note, we had parchment on our 2010 450h with 40,000 miles at trade in, and it still looked brand new. An occasional cleaning with warm water and a 5% woolite type solution was all we needed. We also travel full time, and with it being outside all the time we never had an issue with cracking or fading, although we did have window tinting and a window shade to help out. Good luck on your choice, and no matter which color, the 450h is an exceptional ride, fun to drive, and has an outstanding resale value.

 

My previous ride was a 2008 Rx 400h black inside and out. That one did not have seat ventilators. My new ride is black outside, light gray inside. I also live in Texas (Houston area) and it gets HOT here in the summer. I can tell you from the few months that I've possessed my new 450h that the interior does not get nearly as hot as the all black. The light gray interior leather is much cooler, even without the seat ventilators on. I convinced my wife that I absolutely could not go thru another summer with a sweaty back from the hot seats.

But, as everyone else has said, get what you like and enjoy it!

BTW, we do get 3 seasons here in Houston - summer, July and August.

 

Love the black leather!!!

 

Black interior here. It's less eye strain for us driving on a bright sunny day. Due to less light reflection in the interior , your eyes are more focused on the road. Don't have issues with heat even when we had >100º heat as the sunshade helps, then again, leather will always be hotter than fabric regardless of color, if you're gonna have leather seats, expect it to be hot on sunny days.

 

I agree with a lot of the RX owners here who have the black interior. There's less glare due to the darkness, and I think it looks nice contrasting with the walnut wood trim(Although I guess you can't get that now with the 2013's with black interiors). I also keep a swiffer duster in the map pocket next to the driver's side which happens to be scented with lavender vanilla or something to that effect, so I get a nice smell when I swipe off the white lint and such on the dashboard. I also live in Florida, and have never had the "extra hot" feeling issue of having a black interior on either one of my RX's, neither the '07 or '10.

 

I'm all for the black leather interior but I could never get it combined with the ebony wood.

 

I agree. I think Lexus needs to rectify this. I really don't see the point of having black wood when it seems you can hardly see it! You might as well just get leather on everything or leather with aluminum trim.