First post!
I am considering purchasing a 2018 Outback in either Limited or Touring trims. One of the issues I am struggling with is the color of the interior leather. As background, we own a 2012 Buick Enclave with a cream leather interior (my wife’s primary drive), and a 2012 VW TDI Sportwagen black on black “leatherette” interior (my primary ride). We’re in the SF Bay area and I am pretty much done with black / black as a color option.
One of the differentiators in my Limited vs Touring decision is the interior leather. I am concerned about the ivory interior on the Limited even though I like the look (I just won’t do black again, sorry, so Ivory is the only option). Part of my concern is our experience with the Buick’s light interior – definitely some dinginess and discoloration despite some (too late) cleaning / detailing / conditioning. I admire the Java Brown interior of the Touring (and the low profile rails), but I am not excited about the price bump to get the Touring compared to a loaded Limited with similar options. The remaining differentiators (heated steering wheel, different wheels, chrome, auto 4-window up-down) have some impact on my decision, but much less so than the leather interior color.
I know from long experience that although I may have good intentions and may adhere to those intentions in the first six months of ownership, I will quickly fall out of habit of any sort of regular non-mechanical maintenance. I just won’t follow through on regularly cleaning / detailing / treating my interior after six months – I may spring for a complete cleaning / detailing every couple of years, but I won’t keep up enough of a regular tempo to get the best of my car’s interior.
I’ve done numerous forum searches, but most discussions seem to end at least a year ago, and often older. I chose to start a new thread rather than bring back a zombie thread from a few years back.
I’m most interested in the experiences from Outback owners with a Java Brown or Ivory interior (especially Java Brown, reviews seem to be in shorter supply given the shorter availability) – how has the interior held up? How much attention have you paid to it to keep it up? What might I expect if I get lazy around interior maintenance? Given more current locale, sitting at length in direct sunlight is a real risk (through side windows, unshaded); lots of jeans-wearing, but have a handle on dye transfer issues from old threads; some water sports, but I’d have temp covers if I need to drive wet).
(As an aside, since it is my first post, I’ll add a big thumbs up and thanks to the forum, mods, and active members here – this is a great resource to prospective buyers and owners alike!)
I am considering purchasing a 2018 Outback in either Limited or Touring trims. One of the issues I am struggling with is the color of the interior leather. As background, we own a 2012 Buick Enclave with a cream leather interior (my wife’s primary drive), and a 2012 VW TDI Sportwagen black on black “leatherette” interior (my primary ride). We’re in the SF Bay area and I am pretty much done with black / black as a color option.
One of the differentiators in my Limited vs Touring decision is the interior leather. I am concerned about the ivory interior on the Limited even though I like the look (I just won’t do black again, sorry, so Ivory is the only option). Part of my concern is our experience with the Buick’s light interior – definitely some dinginess and discoloration despite some (too late) cleaning / detailing / conditioning. I admire the Java Brown interior of the Touring (and the low profile rails), but I am not excited about the price bump to get the Touring compared to a loaded Limited with similar options. The remaining differentiators (heated steering wheel, different wheels, chrome, auto 4-window up-down) have some impact on my decision, but much less so than the leather interior color.
I know from long experience that although I may have good intentions and may adhere to those intentions in the first six months of ownership, I will quickly fall out of habit of any sort of regular non-mechanical maintenance. I just won’t follow through on regularly cleaning / detailing / treating my interior after six months – I may spring for a complete cleaning / detailing every couple of years, but I won’t keep up enough of a regular tempo to get the best of my car’s interior.
I’ve done numerous forum searches, but most discussions seem to end at least a year ago, and often older. I chose to start a new thread rather than bring back a zombie thread from a few years back.
I’m most interested in the experiences from Outback owners with a Java Brown or Ivory interior (especially Java Brown, reviews seem to be in shorter supply given the shorter availability) – how has the interior held up? How much attention have you paid to it to keep it up? What might I expect if I get lazy around interior maintenance? Given more current locale, sitting at length in direct sunlight is a real risk (through side windows, unshaded); lots of jeans-wearing, but have a handle on dye transfer issues from old threads; some water sports, but I’d have temp covers if I need to drive wet).
(As an aside, since it is my first post, I’ll add a big thumbs up and thanks to the forum, mods, and active members here – this is a great resource to prospective buyers and owners alike!)
