Silk beige or black. Feedback from owners please

[Paul Butler]

Hi Everyone
I am about to place an order for a new silver Marco Polo and an agonising over which seats to choose. I intend to use it abroad for much of the time where hopefully there will be some sun !
Although colours are a personal choice there are some practicalities:

1) Black could be hotter in strong sun but doesn’t mark
2) Beige might mark or not wear so well.
3) The Bandrup storage for the back of cabin seats appear to only come in black :-(

I have trawled threads to see if there are any comments but can’t find anything to help me decide.
Members views and experiences good and bad will be most welcome.

Oh We have no dogs to worry about. Kids grown up and I spill more wine and beer than they do.

 

[Ian]

I thought the beige looked better but went for black for practicality. Whilst some people are either more careful or less messy than us, I think beige in a camper van would drive me mad worrying about marking it.

 

[Roy C]

I also went for black. I had beige leather in my previous car and did find there were stains from jeans and dirty marks showed more, although most came out with cleaning although the blue dye could not be removed completely. I was worried that black leather might make the cabin gloomy but there is still plenty of beige and light trim to lighten it up. Overall I'm pleased with the choice of black - the practicality of black edges it for me even though I think beige slightly edges it for me on aesthetics, at least in a brand new car before the kids, dog and British winter has set in!

 

[mptripsaway]

Silk beige with dark floor for me, I was just drawn to the light interior because of the windows being so dark and felt that with the black seats it looked quite dark by comparison although if you have the light floor it may lighten it somewhat. We are up to 17k miles in sixteen months with lots of those miles being camping trips, there is not a mark on the leather, I clean and treat the seats every couple months or after a trip away using the kit provided when I picked up the MP.

 

[GeorgeG]

Silk beige with dark floor for me, I was just drawn to the light interior because of the windows being so dark and felt that with the black seats it looked quite dark by comparison although if you have the light floor it may lighten it somewhat. We are up to 17k miles in sixteen months with lots of those miles being camping trips, there is not a mark on the leather, I clean and treat the seats every couple months or after a trip away using the kit provided when I picked up the MP.

Like you Braysaway, I went with Cavansite blue and silk beige. I agree that the heavy tinting on the windows creates a gloomy interior which is lifted by the pale leather. I understand the argument regarding practicality, particularly for cars that suffer heavy use from families, dogs and visits to the tip (although I must admit my car has a light grey leather interior). However, I think it’s worth bearing in mind that the MP is a vehicle you live in much of the time and as such the comparison with a car is somewhat misplaced.

I treated the beige leather with Dodo Juice to give them a measure of protection. I’m not entirely convinced yet, but time will tell. What helps in my favour is that I use my MP only occasionally as a ‘second car’ and it’s not in daily use. Perhaps if it was I would have considered a black interior.

Can you tell me what was in the kit provided when you picked up your MP? I didn’t get anything with mine. Did it come with a leather sealant?

 

[WILLH]

I have the light interior and although I have not used my van that much,it is holding up very well-I have no reason to believe it is not high quality and won’t stand up to prolonged use.The dark interior,whilst perhaps more practical,just made the interior too dark for me.

Interestingly though,it is surprising that MB have used genuine leather in the MP when on most of their other passenger car ranges they use the dreadful ‘Artico’,or pleather as its known in the motor trade.VW still do not produce a leather interior in the California-the only optional trim being the suede which is surrounded by a vinyl that makes Artico look positively luxurious!

 

[GeorgeG]

I have the light interior and although I have not used my van that much,it is holding up very well-I have no reason to believe it is not high quality and won’t stand up to prolonged use.The dark interior,whilst perhaps more practical,just made the interior too dark for me.

Interestingly though,it is surprising that MB have used genuine leather in the MP when on most of their other passenger car ranges they use the dreadful ‘Artico’,or pleather as its known in the motor trade.VW still do not produce a leather interior in the California-the only optional trim being the suede which is surrounded by a vinyl that makes Artico look positively luxurious!

Agree about the California Will. I bought a California back in 2007 with genuine grey leather seats with beige Alcantara inserts. Sounds terrible, but was actually very nice. I was shocked when I went to see a brand new Cali, before I decided to buy an MP, to discover they now use dreadful pleather on the seats despite most of the models costing in excess of £60,000. I think VW must see the California as a cash cow (or not, in the case of the seats!), largely because it’s ‘iconic’ status means they can charge pretty much as much as they like.

 

[Ragga]

Black. Worrying about spillage, colour bleed from clothing, sun tan lotion etc etc isn’t worth the grief

 

[mptripsaway]

Like you Braysaway, I went with Cavansite blue and silk beige. I agree that the heavy tinting on the windows creates a gloomy interior which is lifted by the pale leather. I understand the argument regarding practicality, particularly for cars that suffer heavy use from families, dogs and visits to the tip (although I must admit my car has a light grey leather interior). However, I think it’s worth bearing in mind that the MP is a vehicle you live in much of the time and as such the comparison with a car is somewhat misplaced.

I treated the beige leather with Dodo Juice to give them a measure of protection. I’m not entirely convinced yet, but time will tell. What helps in my favour is that I use my MP only occasionally as a ‘second car’ and it’s not in daily use. Perhaps if it was I would have considered a black interior.

Can you tell me what was in the kit provided when you picked up your MP? I didn’t get anything with mine. Did it come with a leather sealant?

Hi George,
Leather care kit came as part of the starguard option on new vehicle. It includes leather cleaner, stain remover, leather conditioner and various applicators, cloths, sponges etc.