Cashmere or Charcoal interior?
 

For those of you who had a choice between the Cashmere or Charcoal interior, just curious to get your answer to this question. Obviously no wrong or right answer. :D Thanks in advance guys!

• Which one did you choose and why? For example:

• For those that chose Cashmere:
  • Did you do so because of the "two-color/two-tone" effect it offered?
  • Did you do so because you simply thought it went better with the exterior color you chose (which was)?
  • Other reason?
  • If you've had for awhile, has it been a challenge to keep clean (e.g. stains from jeans)?

• For those that chose Charcoal:
  • Did you do so because you considered the Cashmere too light for your taste?
  • Did you do so because you considered it more "maintenance-free" than the Cashmere?
  • Did you do so because you simply thought it went better with the exterior color you chose (which was)?
  • Other reason?

I have the Cashmere and chose it because it is much cooler after setting in the sun, especially in the summer (I live in the South), and it does not show dirt as quickly as a dark interior. Also I just like the way it looks. It does show blue stains from jeans, mainly on the seat back next to the door. I just stay on top of it and do not let it get bad. A word of warning, do not let your wife us a magic eraser on the blue jean stains, she can take the color right off the seat down to the dark part of the leather. Found that out with my 7th generation Max.

I chose charcoal just because I prefer darker colors on cars, both inside and outside.

Charcoal because more maintenance free. The cashmere would have looked very nice with the Coulis exterior color however.

This was a tough choice for me. I have always chosen lighter interior colors (usually gray) because I live in middle Georgia and summers are blisteringly hot. But my only choices in my 2016 Platinum were cashmere and charcoal.

I was leaning toward the cashmere, but searched online for how owners liked each of these two colors. I found there were complaints about clothing colors coming off onto the cashmere, but not on the charcoal. Having never had a black interior, I decided to give it a try.

That was three and a half years ago, and the charcoal has held up very well; no complaints whatsoever, except that after I have left the car in full sun for an extended period, I am very careful how I enter the car. I think the charcoal interior goes well with my brilliant silver exterior.

The heat problem would have been helped by installing rain guards, which enable leaving the windows cracked open on hot, rainy days, but never saw a set of rain guards I felt would fit and work well on my car. I am hoping I will be able to get a gray interior on my 9th generation Maxima.

Off topic perhaps, but having had seven Maximas prior to my '17 SR, with both charcoal and lighter color interiors, the choice for me was the "camel" interior. It's holding up very well and gets a lot of compliments

I got charcoal, but didn't have a choice.
Would I get cashmere next time? Maybe.
Or Rakuda tan (Plat Reserve).

I always prefer lighter colors for heat absorption, so I chose cashmere.

I haven't had any trouble keeping it clean - but I'm pretty anal !! :D

Depends on how long you plan on keeping your car. If 5+ years then charcoal, much easier to clean. Else - cashmere, this one does present the advantage of not heating up as much as charcoal in the sun.

BTW I have charcoal in my pearl blue Max, but I speak from experience here. In my silver 2005 Max I had light gray seats, and over the years they sure have shown their age. But I kept the car for a good 11 years, during which I did absolutely nothing to maintain my leather interior. So I guess all in all it explains things.

I have the Coulis Red and the Black interior. I do agree that the Black ages very well on my 2016 Platinum. We condition the leather and it has gotten softer with each succesive application. One thing, those womens jeans with the rivets and designer studs will just shred the seat backs. Warranty will not cover this mistreatment either.

I have the charcoal interior. I don't like an all black interior, but at the same time I don't want a color that will show dirt more easily. To me the perfect compromise is how they do it with the Maxima, you get the dark seats/lower part of the interior combined with the lighter colored ceiling/pillars.

You are observant and I agree with you. One other reason I usually go with black or charcoal is the ease with which you can touch up scratches, scrapes, scuffs, and even worn leather spots with just a little permanent shoe dye. I've used the same brand for years and it works very well.

Black interior hides soooooo much....Black exterior accentuates every imperfection, every swirl.......Never black on the outside for me.....never light on the inside.....even though I love the light interior. I supposed if I lived in the west or deep south I would go light..winter around NW PA kills interiors....

Good idea, what shoe dye do you use? thanks

Also, I should add that having the sun roof panels open all the time (not the glass in the winter obviously) makes a huge difference and keeps the interior from looking dark when you have the charcoal. I test drove a Stinger with a standard sun roof and I didn't like the all black interior with much less natural light, it was too dark in there.

I just found the stuff. It is called "Tarrago". Says it is made in Spain. www.tarago.com. Looks like a paste that smells like a jolt of lacquer thinner if you take a good whiff. :-) The container is more like a small jar, about 2" in diameter and 1" tall, with a built-in, snap-out applicator in the plastic screw-on top. I purchased mine before from a local shoe store in dark gray (no silly, not the store, the dye color), and then another time in black. Fantastic stuff. I used it the first time to re-dye a ton of scuffs on a beautiful, supple lamb skiin leather coat I inherited from my dad. Boy, did it do a nice job on that! Next use was for my leather seats. It does not come off like regular shoe polish.

Just want to thank everyone here who has replied so far to my original question. As I expected, great insights shared, pros and cons thoughtfully laid out, additional, helpful points made. Thanks again guys.

thanks!

Re: Tarrago Shoe Cream, while this corrected www.tarrago.com link does work (two "r's" in tarrago), also found on Amazon:

I choose Cashmere in my 16' Storm Blue SL cause' I thought it looked cool. After a couple years the driver seat had a "dirty" look to it,
I just picked up my Shiny New 19' Platimun and went with the charcoal.

groovyv03, thanks. Just curious: Did you try to keep clean and just found you couldn't?

I know when I buy an 8th gen Maxima next summer (2020), I will likely get the Cashmere in a Platinum unless there are none within 250 miles. I had charcoal in my 2012 and it was just so dark inside. I had Cashmere in my 2015 Murano Platinum, and never had any issues keeping it clean. It will be my daily driver, but I have a 2017 Pro-4x Titan if I need to do anything that could get crazy dirty or taking the dogs somewhere.

I didn't have trouble cleaning it, It just was just more "High Maintenance". Don't get me wrong, It looked sweet. But I felt like a change.

Not trying to be smart Rob but I've always heard that auto leather surfaces are treated so that conditioners have no effect because the conditioners can't get through to the leather surface to do their thing unless the leather coating has been compromised with wear, cracks, and the like. I should probably study this a bit more. It's been awhile since I read this somewhere in an auto journal.

I just did a little searching and found out that new leather is coated with a very thin vinyl so the leather will repel water, and other liquid gunk. I do use conditioner on a couple of my older cars because the leather seats are worn and I can actually see the leather absorb the conditioner to produce dark lines where the worn sections are.

I'm starting to see this. What product do you use to remove it?

Welcome to the new 2019 Platinum ownership. Would love to hear your observations about what has improved and what you don't care for VS your 2016 and 2019. We also went with black interior and instead, white exterior

Wish they had a red interior option like the new top end Camry
perhaps the new "orange" interior looks better in person, it doesn't look too good in pictures

Fishlet, I've seen the new "orange" interior (Rakuda Tan) in person multiple times, in different lights. To each his own, but I thought it looked totally gaudy -- and especially so with the Red exterior which, ironically, Nissan chose to use to debut the 2019's in LA.

For those that chose the Cashmere leather, I'm most interested to know: If you've had for awhile, has it been a challenge to keep clean? My dealer tells me he gets customers complaining about it all the time, asking the dealer to clean. My dealer added that every time they do, it removes a "layer" and over time (a few years) the Cashmere just won't hold up. In his opinion, no big deal if you're leasing, but if you buy and plan to keep the car much more than 3 years, his opinion is the Cashmere is a total no-go. Just interested in opinions on this specific topic.

I have to agree with you. The cashmere color also shows color transfer from bluejeans.

I have had my blue platinum with cashmere for over a year and It looks great but you need to be on top of it all the time, not only with the jeans color transfers but also with the dust from the street if you open your windows . I really like how it looks and during the summer it was not as hot as my previous charcoal interior Infiniti. But it does requires a lot of maintenance..I didn't chose the charcoal interior because it looked too dark inside

Thanks Alrondon. Has anyone here had the Cashmere Leather 2 or more years? Really curious how it's holding up long term.

I had the Cashmere leather in my 2016 Plat and , although it was not as hot in the summer as the Charcoal, it was a PITA to maintain. Jean transfer was prominent and required consistent cleaning with Griot's leather treatment to clean monthly. Looks great but changed to Charcoal in my 2019 Plat.

rbaker100, that's pretty much what I'd expect the experience to be after 3 years of having the Cashmere. And after having the Charcoal now for a bit, are you happy with it?