Silver or Black

[TX-Newbie]

Hi all,

I now this is mainly personal preference, but I would love some input on it from the perspective of managing temperature and keeping the interior clean.

I have 3 boys between 7-12 so the inside of the AI is fare game for all they bring. The silver has the moon interior seats where the black has the black interior. How easy are you all finding the ultraleather to clean and keep clean?

From an exterior perspective... I live in Austin so keeping the coach cool is ideal. i don't know how much the black will make a difference if I have to run the AC anyway to cool the coach.

Look forward to your input

Thanks,
EJ

[Boxster1971]

The ultraleather is very durable and easy to clean. If you like black get it. But I prefer silver as I only wash my van about twice a year. With black I think you will need to wash weekly to look good. [emoji41]

[Tobbun]

I am pretty sure I read a thread here (maybe the combating heat thread) where some smart people said the color of your van doesn’t materially affect temp. One thing to really be aware of is the need to run the roof ac to keep the back of the van cooler in our Texas heat. This will require running the generator. The front AC does a good job for up front but not the back. It was a struggle for us this summer with the use of the van as a people mover.

[InterBlog]

Like 50 million Elvis Presley fans, 30,000 Air Forums page-loaders can't be all wrong. You might want to read the popular thread titled Declaring war on Interstate summer heat gain to get an idea of what you're going to be up against.

Suffice it to say that I would never, ever, EVER consider owning a black Interstate in Texas.

Did I say ever? I meant to say ever, and never. I just wanted to be sure about that.

[TX-Newbie]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Like 50 million Elvis Presley fans, 30,000 Air Forums page-loaders can't be all wrong. You might want to read the popular thread titled Declaring war on Interstate summer heat gain to get an idea of what you're going to be up against.

Suffice it to say that I would never, ever, EVER consider owning a black Interstate in Texas.

Did I say ever? I meant to say ever, and never. I just wanted to be sure about that.

LOL - sadly my other vehicles are black also

[Pahaska]

From a fellow Austinite, go with the silver or white exterior. I have the black UltraLeather and I don't think the seat color is significant. The UltraLeather is so thin that it does not retain much heat. The seats clean up well with mild soap and water.

I assume you are looking at the units for sale at Camper Clinic. I have bought from them three times with reasonable success.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by TX-Newbie

Hi all,

I now this is mainly personal preference, but I would love some input on it from the perspective of managing temperature and keeping the interior clean.

I have 3 boys between 7-12 so the inside of the AI is fare game for all they bring. The silver has the moon interior seats where the black has the black interior. How easy are you all finding the ultraleather to clean and keep clean?

From an exterior perspective... I live in Austin so keeping the coach cool is ideal. i don't know how much the black will make a difference if I have to run the AC anyway to cool the coach.

Look forward to your input

Thanks,
EJ

TXNEWBIE - I mirror what MIKE says about UltraLeather. I have the Oyster interior. I believe the moon is a little lighter? I was really concerned about how light oyster was. It is by far the lightest color interior I have ever owned in over 40 yrs of owning all sorts of vehicles. This is our first UltraLeather and I am now impressed at how easy it is to maintain. Definitely much easier to keep clean than cloth, older vinyl, real leather. The only material as easy to maintain is neoprene. I will probably never, ever, ever buy another vehicle with genuine leather after this first summer's use of our UltraLeather. I have no emperical data to support this, but having used our cars with genuine leather and our AI in outside temps of 115°F (and more inside vehicle), the UltraLeather just feels cooler & more supple than the genuine leather. And my comparison is with MB S500 genuine leather that is Lexol treated multiple times a year. The only thing I miss that UltraLeather will never have is the genuine leather smell BUT my local car wash sells that "genuine leather" fragrance now I can live without the real leather smell.

Exterior color - I have seen people in this forum (different thread awhile back) where others very rudely criticize current owner's choices of color. Not very nice to do since color choice is very personal. Each color has it's advantage/disadvantage. I have cars in all 3 colors. I can say my white cars look very bright when clean, my black cars look very rich when clean, and my silver AI is the closest color to the traditional Airstream alu finish. I will not say anything negative about each color except 2 things that apply to all - at 115°F summers, the interior of your AI will be hot no matter what the exterior color is & when they get dirty, they look 400% more horrible than a much smaller car, no matter what the exterior color is.

Get whatever color you like to enjoy and maintain. You only have to satisfy yourself and your 3 boys. Best of luck keeping your new rig clean with 3 boys. I only have 1 grandson & he's enough to keep me busy, so much so that I have a dedicated powerful vacuum permanently inside AI

CONGRATS!

[gmillerok1]

I have owned white, silver and black cars, and my Interstate is silver and this is why. I would never second guess anyone's else choice-it's very personal and no business of mine what they like. But you asked so here goes.

White is the coolest in temperature in the summer, with silver a close second. I currently have a black sedan and it's hotter than you can imagine in the summer. Both white and black show dirt horribly and always looks dirty so I had to wash them constantly.

Silver is in my opinion, the best compromise. Stays relatively cool in summer, and doesn't show dirt.

For cooling, the main heat source is those black windows and windshield, so the color may only be marginally effected by the black color. But for me, any additional heat gain is too much.

The 13,000 btu AC is not sufficient to cool when the temps are higher then 95F. I upgraded my Interstate to the 15,000btu AC, and even it cannot keep up with the heat load at high noon in the summer even though the air temperature is much cooler.

So, that's my two cents.

[TX-Newbie]

Originally Posted by Pahaska

From a fellow Austinite, go with the silver or white exterior. I have the black UltraLeather and I don't think the seat color is significant. The UltraLeather is so thin that it does not retain much heat. The seats clean up well with mild soap and water.

I assume you are looking at the units for sale at Camper Clinic. I have bought from them three times with reasonable success.

Hi - I am looking at CC and was set on the black but am second guessing myself. I can get OCD about the rig staying clean both inside and out as I am my cars so.... maybe i shouldn't go black?? i don't know but i am so excited to pull the trigger that I need to decide.

[TX-Newbie]

Originally Posted by Alex AVI

TXNEWBIE - I mirror what MIKE says about UltraLeather. I have the Oyster interior. I believe the moon is a little lighter? I was really concerned about how light oyster was. It is by far the lightest color interior I have ever owned in over 40 yrs of owning all sorts of vehicles. This is our first UltraLeather and I am now impressed at how easy it is to maintain. Definitely much easier to keep clean than cloth, older vinyl, real leather. The only material as easy to maintain is neoprene. I will probably never, ever, ever buy another vehicle with genuine leather after this first summer's use of our UltraLeather. I have no emperical data to support this, but having used our cars with genuine leather and our AI in outside temps of 115°F (and more inside vehicle), the UltraLeather just feels cooler & more supple than the genuine leather. And my comparison is with MB S500 genuine leather that is Lexol treated multiple times a year. The only thing I miss that UltraLeather will never have is the genuine leather smell BUT my local car wash sells that "genuine leather" fragrance now I can live without the real leather smell.

Exterior color - I have seen people in this forum (different thread awhile back) where others very rudely criticize current owner's choices of color. Not very nice to do since color choice is very personal. Each color has it's advantage/disadvantage. I have cars in all 3 colors. I can say my white cars look very bright when clean, my black cars look very rich when clean, and my silver AI is the closest color to the traditional Airstream alu finish. I will not say anything negative about each color except 2 things that apply to all - at 115°F summers, the interior of your AI will be hot no matter what the exterior color is & when they get dirty, they look 400% more horrible than a much smaller car, no matter what the exterior color is.

Get whatever color you like to enjoy and maintain. You only have to satisfy yourself and your 3 boys. Best of luck keeping your new rig clean with 3 boys. I only have 1 grandson & he's enough to keep me busy, so much so that I have a dedicated powerful vacuum permanently inside AI

CONGRATS!

Thanks so much Alex. I welcome all this feedback. Much appreciated.

[Titus]

It is a struggle to keep the outside clean, and silver is definitely better from that perspective. We (the wife part of 'we') sweep and/or vacuum the floor regularly, but never have issues with keeping the seats clean. I think interior color is (was?) independent of exterior color, but if it isn't I wouldn't be afraid of oyster.

[WillieJ]

Black vehicles only look good in the shade. Silver is a more traditional looking Airstream color.

I Had the choice of buying a silver or black Interstate. My experience with owning 2 black Audi’s in a row (yes I can be a slow learner), and my concern about heat gain in a black vehicle led me to buy a silver AI.

[InterBlog]

I doubt that I will ever have anything other than Ultraleather. No more "real" leather for me because it sucks in comparison. Our Interstate is 11 years old now. The only wear that our Ultraleather shows is a slight loosening of the tension of the fabric on the seats (not offensive to the eyes). And that's with:

(a) a 50-pound dog jumping on them for the last 4 years, and

(b) we routinely sleep on our couches without sheets, often when we are filthy dirty from having done chainsawing in our softwood forest.

Here's what 11-year-old light gray Ultraleather looks like (pics originally taken a couple of months ago to show my newly-installed Lagun table, but our seats are also visible there).

Moral of my story: There's no demonstrable reason to be concerned about lighter-colored Ultraleather. It stands up superbly.

[rmkrum]

Owned a black exterior vehicle with a gray interior...a nice Volvo 4-door sedan.

The Air Conditioning could NEVER keep up with the heat gain in the summertime.

Never, ever again!

Last time we bought a car, had a heck of a deal going with a choice of colors.

Dealer rep said, "Black, or white?"

DW and I, in ONE voice, "WHITE!!!"

DW actually wanted a red one, but decided otherwise when she accidentally leaned against a red car out in the sun at the dealer's lot.

White cars and Silver cars don't get near as hot around here. You can fry yourself on a black vehicle out in the high desert.....

[Bill M.]

Black and dark green are hot inthe sun. White would be my choice. Whoever said “color does not make much difference” in regard as to summer temperature never had a black car.

[Tobbun]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

Black and dark green are hot inthe sun. White would be my choice. Whoever said “color does not make much difference” in regard as to summer temperature never had a black car.

My statement was more about someone having scientific data about color not making a huge difference.

I have had two black cars in Texas (Ford Thunderbird and 7 series BMW). My last three cars have been white including my AI... It might be scientifically mute but psychologically I am a fan of white in the heat.

The windows are the biggest heat generator for me... using the 3M on front and driver/passenger side has made a big improvement. Debating on trying to do the rest of the windows (that are accessible without taking a lot of stuff out).

[TX-Newbie]

Originally Posted by Tobbun

My statement was more about someone having scientific data about color not making a huge difference.

I have had two black cars in Texas (Ford Thunderbird and 7 series BMW). My last three cars have been white including my AI... It might be scientifically mute but psychologically I am a fan of white in the heat.

The windows are the biggest heat generator for me... using the 3M on front and driver/passenger side has made a big improvement. Debating on trying to do the rest of the windows (that are accessible without taking a lot of stuff out).

Makes a lot of sense. which 3m product are you using?

[Tobbun]

Most of us are using 3M crystalline tint. It works very well and there are some different options on shade versus clear depending on state laws or risk factor.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by TX-Newbie

Makes a lot of sense. which 3m product are you using?

Short answer: 3M CR-70.

Long answer: Here's the thread on that topic:

Front clip protection & Window tint

[mykytiukr]

I know this is kinda late but I just saw the post. Ok, this info comes from an article written in a trucking fleet publication about this exact question. It was some years back but I remember it because at the time I was pulling a painted black refrigerated trailer. The conclusion was that painted white or black it made no difference on the temp on the inside of the trailer or how much the Thermo King had to work to keep it cool. Hope this helps!