http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2007/Q1/020620071142179188.jpg

http://www.familycar.com/RoadTests/ToyotaCamry/Images2007/Dash.jpg

Does anyone actually like this new color over the reddish-brown color from before?

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I, for one, don't like it.

Natural wood colors comes in many different shades, & from the very light to very dark. The more common reddish brown wood people see may not even be natural, sometimes they are just stained to look that way.
My least favorite wood trim color for car interior is grey, but taste is always subjective . . .

My RX350 has the golden birdseye maple trim. I like the looks with the ivory interior.

I myself don't like dark-color wood trim. Really dark or grayish-color wood, like in the Jaguar R models, takes away from its looks and IMO doesn't look like wood at all. Too much polishing and gloss can also detract from the looks of wood trim...that's one of the problems with the new Lexus ES and IS models.....and one reason why I tend to like low-gloss matte-wood trim such as in the new Acura RL and the 2005-2006 Outbacks.

Now...as for the lighter wood shades posted above, the light birch and yellowish-color wood trims and shades didn't start in Toyotas.....they were, for the most part, pioneered by Volvo. The light birch-wood look is generally a Swedish thing, but perhaps its attractiveness is starting to expand into some other car brands. I don't know this for a fact, but my guess is that Toyota did some research and found that a lot of people, like me, we, didn't care for the dark polished wood-trim look....or at least enough to warrant a change in the interiors.

My least favorite wood trim color for car interior is grey, but taste is always subjective . . .

I'm with you on that one, Andrew.....see my comments above.

I only like it on certain cars such as the SC430, but I can't imagine having that color in my GS.

and one reason why I tend to like low-gloss matte-wood trim such as in the new Acura RL and the 2005-2006 Outbacks.
I would characterized the wood trim in the RL as very high gloss :uh: (as pointed out before in another thread), more polished than some Lexus wood trim. The wood trim in the M35/45, & those available as options in Mercedes & BMW 7, are matter finish wood trims.

I would characterized the wood trim in the RL as very high gloss :uh: (as pointed out before in another thread), more polished than some Lexus wood trim. The wood trim in the M35/45, & those available as options in Mercedes & BMW 7, are matter finish wood trims.

Yes, I remember that thread. I didn't agree with your assessment then, and still don't. The RL's trim, while not quite as matte as I would like, IMO is far from high-gloss. But, you are correct that in the Infiniti M cars, the Rosewood trims have a somewhat more matte-finish. I pointed that out in my review of the M35X AWD...how well-done it was, especially considering how cheap the first G35 interiors were.

Yes, I remember that thread. I didn't agree with your assessment then, and still don't. The RL's trim, while not quite as matte as I would like, IMO is far from high-gloss. But, you are correct that in the Infiniti M cars, the Rosewood trims have a somewhat more matte-finish. I pointed that out in my review of the M35X AWD...how well-done it was, especially considering how cheap the first G35 interiors were.
& you can't see the huge difference between the glossiness of the RL wood trim & those in the M35/45. They look night & day to me, & I saw them both numerous times (I usually sit inside a M45 waiting everytime I bring my G35 coupe in for a free interior vacuum & I do that quite often) :uh: :dunno:
I happen to like the wood trim in the RL a lot more than the M45 BTW.

& you can't see the huge difference between the glossiness of the RL wood trim & those in the M35/45.


Not in the specific cars that I drove. There was a difference, but it was not huge. Perhaps, as in the Subaru Outbacks, the trim in the 2007 RL was different than the 2006, which I reviewed.

Anyhow, the main question in the thread concerns the lighter trim in the Toyotas shown above. What do you think of that color? Like you, I would far prefer it to the gray stuff, which IMO doesn't look like wood at all.

I love the wood trim in the RL. The wood is thick and beautiful, and the vents are cut into the wood so precisely.

Not in the specific cars that I drove. There was a difference, but it was not huge. Perhaps, as in the Subaru Outbacks, the trim in the 2007 RL was different than the 2006, which I reviewed.

Anyhow, the main question in the thread concerns the lighter trim in the Toyotas shown above. What do you think of that color? Like you, I would far prefer it to the gray stuff, which IMO doesn't look like wood at all.
I love it, but only if it's real wood( so not the toyota stuff), it goes especially well with light color leather.
However, let me point out to you that natural wood do come in grey too, so being grey does not mean it does not look like real wood - it's just a preconception (not reality) formed in people's mind because grey wood is not frequently seen not only in cars, but in furnitures & other stuff.

I would have preferred the yellow wood trim in my RX300. I actually bought a postmarket 'stick on' wood trim, but even then the dark wood and tan interior plus gray dash doesn't quite click with me.

I think it looks good with the beige interior but definately not the grey one.

I'm opposite of many hear. I like darker wood myself and don't like the light colored wood. It is probably because I don't like tan interiors and prefer black or darker color interiors as well.

http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2007/Q1/020620071142179188.jpg



Does anyone actually like this new color over the reddish-brown color from before?

What interior is that top one from? I do not recognize it but I do like it, I think it looks pretty good with those lighter colored wood. Is that real wood or simulated. The lighter colored wood to me is the best looking thing in the new Camry interior which is not saying much. I really like the light colored wood option in the Audi A8 and the Bently Continental GT. The new RLs wood is beautiful especially the way it goes around the dash and my favorite for cars under 50K. I don't like really dark brown woods either in car interiors but do like dark or cherry wood in home furniture. I think I have more of a problem with some of the browner colored woods that have a cheap orange hinge to them. The wood on my GS that surrounds the shifter does not look good and looks fake and has kind of an cheap orangish color. A couple people who have sat in my car thought it was fake wood and it looks worse then alot of simulated woods I have seen. The wood on the shifter and door stills looks much better though. I would take a nicely done simulated wood interior over a crappy/cheap looking real wood interior.

i want real aluminum or carbon fiber.

http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-2005/2005-Brabus-Rocket-Interior-1024x768.jpg
I'm using the CLS as an example, but this doesn't work in my favor. It's aftermarket though. I like CF, but I wouldn't personally buy it in my car because it's not classy. I like to have the idea that I have a murderer dressed in an Armani suit :)

http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/media_library/unitedkingdom/mpc_unitedkingdom/passenger_cars/products/new_cars/coupes/cls-class/models/interior/cls_interior_zoom.object-Single-MEDIA.tmp/cls_interior_zoom_still.jpg
This is a good picture. Personally I prefer Piano Black though, or as dark as wood as it can get. Not like BMW's dark wood (I don't remember the name, my sisters X5 has it, it's nice, but not like the kind in my LS430. The LS430 just screams refinement because it's a rich, dark red which fades to black; I think it's called shadowline or something).

http://www.carguidemagazine.com/archive/dec2004/roadTests/images/benz_cls_interior.jpg
This is what I was especially trying to get to, I love the low-gloss wood that the CLS can come with.

http://media.diariomotor.com/imagenes/Interior_Mercedes_CLS-2.jpg
Absolutley beautiful!

http://www.bmwm5.com/articles/Geneva2005/BMW-51.jpg
I think Piano Black is really classy. I'm a fan of dark colors. My LS430 is black exterior, black leather, and as I said before, dark red wood that fades to black. The X5 is black exterior, a very dark wood, and black interior. All the other cars are the same. Only the LX is black exterior with java interior :(

http://www.bmwm5.com/articles/Geneva2005/BMW-49.jpg
Another shot.

I think next I'm going to go for a dark blue exterior with a lighter interior, perhaps java or baseball-glove colored. I think it's called saddle with Mercedes. Not sure.

The piano black on that BMW is very nice. If that were my car, I would make passengers wear gloves

http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-2005/2005-Brabus-Rocket-Interior-1024x768.jpg
I'm using the CLS as an example, but this doesn't work in my favor. It's aftermarket though. I like CF, but I wouldn't personally buy it in my car because it's not classy. I like to have the idea that I have a murderer dressed in an Armani suit :)

thats perfect for me.
suede and carbon fiber :)

What interior is that top one from?
That's the 2008 Highlander.

i want real aluminum or carbon fiber.
Yick. That was the one jarring note on the Hyundai Azera I had as a rental. (Quit snickering. Before you slam the Azera, go drive one. Hyundai has some things to learn from Lexus, but not very much.) The center console was aluminum, and it just looked cheap - and out of place with the rest of the interior. It also was easy to scratch.

I'm a fan of dark colors. My LS430 is black exterior, black leather, and as I said before, dark red wood that fades to black. The X5 is black exterior, a very dark wood, and black interior. All the other cars are the same. Only the LX is black exterior with java interior :(
You live in Sugarland??! I'd NEVER!! own a black-on-black car in the Houston area. Not only is it impossible to keep clean, but parking outside from March to October means you come back to an oven.

Yick. That was the one jarring note on the Hyundai Azera I had as a rental. (Quit snickering. Before you slam the Azera, go drive one. Hyundai has some things to learn from Lexus, but not very much.) The center console was aluminum, and it just looked cheap - and out of place with the rest of the interior. It also was easy to scratch.

ive been in tokyo a lot lately and i havent driven an Azera yet but did read some good reviews. and didnt look bad actually. but i guess its a different story in the inside. and maybe it was easy to scratch b/c it was a Hyundai?

I like wood in my interior too, especially that long one piece on the current IS. I dunno if its real or not but sure impressed me. but i dunno, wood trim makes it kind of dull for me.

and maybe it was easy to scratch b/c it was a Hyundai?
Aluminum is easy to scratch, period. It looks nice when it's new, but after it's been used a while, I suspect it'll look terrible.

Lighter woods match better with lighter color interiors, thus the yellow wood. I wouldn't get it for my car but its a different look.

I love light colored wood ! :thumbup:

Aluminum is easy to scratch, period. It looks nice when it's new, but after it's been used a while, I suspect it'll look terrible.

true, I havent owned a aluminum interior car to see how its like after a while.

After owning an early LS400 with dark wood for almost 14 years, I went looking for a 2000 LS400 in 2003 thinking that dark wood was all that was available.

I looked at several "regular" 2000 LS400s with dark wood and then came across one of the Platinum series LS400s with light maple wood.

Personally I thought the light maple wood was stunning compared to the dark wood and it seemed to brighten up the enterior immensely -- one reason I bought the car on the spot. Some people think dark wood gives a car rich, traditional appearance but it just looks dreary to me. It is all just a personal preference. I like the trend to light wood trim.

You live in Sugarland??! I'd NEVER!! own a black-on-black car in the Houston area. Not only is it impossible to keep clean, but parking outside from March to October means you come back to an oven.
:(
I've become used to it.
Oh hey, the car's temp gauge says it's 140 degrees outside.. wait what!!@#@ :D

The Continental GT coupe and Aston Martin DB9 are the two of the nicest interiors available especially with the light wood

continental