Some of the decision depends on where you live (snow, sleet, rain) and how much dirt you expect to bring into the car. Vinyl cleans quicker, but carpet can blend in better. I'm one to talk. I simply took the ones I bought in 1990 for my old car. They're dark blue carpet (with vinyl in the middle of the driver's mat) which works well with the Seaside Pearl. I paid about $30 at Costco.
Living in the snowy northeast the Canon rubber mats form Weathertech are the only way to go. They can hold about two quarts of liquid.
I'll second that, but they also hold rock and dirt which you drag in with your shoes. Cleaning the vehicle with the Weathertech matts is a cinch. You just pull out the mats in a maner which allows them to hold all the dirt and dust and shake out. Vacuum where needed and replace. It was the best aftermarket money I have ever spent.
I was thinking of getting those Weather Tech mats...we have so much salt, dirt and water, so I just got the vinyl all weather mats from Pep Boys, claim to hold one quart...actually, I had an old one that I put on top of the other, and under all this the mats that came with the car.
That's what I do, except I take the front originals out of the car and store 'em. If I'm having a special passenger in front, I put that one back in temporarily.
Have to use all weather mats. I live in a semi rural area where they spread a grit, salt, sand mixture on the roads in the winter makes a brownish gritty paste at times... No cleaning would help a carpet with this stuff.
I still don't fully understand why some people have VYNIL mats on top of carpet mats. In other words, double floor mats that never get swapped out.
I don't know why I do that. Just the idea of getting the "factory" mats dirty...I end up scrubbing them every summer to clean the exposed edges...
