I have an 09 with the stone gray interior. Not sure where the gray comes in since most is tan. Anyway I'm pretty discouraged with the center arm rest which is tan and apparently my black Columbia jacket has stained it so in one section it's now black. Funny but never had this problem on other cars with the jacket.

Anyway I tried a vinyl cleaner, 303 protectant cleaner, magic eraser and even went as far as lighter fluid which works great. Nothing has moved the stain.

Before I replace this section I thought I would try here to see if there are any suggestions.

When I call my Ford dealer I'm told they see a lot of stains in the lighter colors and that they stain easy. Per Ford though this is normal wear and tear. Guess Built Ford Tough doesn't count for interior staining.

 

The vinyl coated leather is porous and accepts stains easily. It's another Ford cost cutting idea. There should be a stronger clear top coating on the leather, but there is not. Another idea is to respray the leather with a leather dye. Colorbond makes an exact match. Check them out.

 

It may not be a stain... I am starting to get this too and i don't wear a black jacket... let alone I rarely wear a black sweater when driving, but the ledge on the door has a spot where my elbow rests that is turning black aswell. There was another post either here or at fordf150.net about a guy that wore through the finish on his centre console... guys are saying all the panels are made black and then sprayed the finished color and what's happening is the colour is actually wearing off. VERY pathetic if that's the case... I hope it's not but for what it's worth I also haven't been able to "clean" it off either.

 

You would think that if they are going to build the panels in black plastic to begin with, then why not offer in the black and change color in the plastic for other interiors. I bet it would cheaper then paint and would get better owner feedback. Chris

PS: I just checked a spot on my armrest that had already been gouged and there is no black under my "stone grey" color. it's the same color. So I think it's something other than the armrest causing the color change.

 

I just brought it up as it's something i read, but never found out for myself (something I normally do) Hopefully ford didn't go that cheap and it is just a stain from clothing worn while driving.

 

I can confirm that the steering wheel on my 08 Expy has black underneath the color coating. I too thought, wow, whats this black specks showing up? Sure enough, it's small spots of the color worn off. Not good.