Parking the car in sun

Hi,

My office does not have covered car park. People park on asphalted roads within the campus. Hence I have to park in the sun for 9 hrs a day, 5 days a week.

Is it harmful to the car/tyres. Will using a car cover help.

Also, are there any other issues in this.

P.S - I am in Chennai where it is extremely hot most of the days.

Venkat

Venkat,

 I'll suggest you to locate a shady place, even if it requires walking for few minutes to your office.

Why not discuss this issue personally or thru email, with your colleguess who are using car. A joint appeal to your company may solve this problem.  Before the discussion, find out whether space for covered car parking is available inside your office compound. 

Prolonged exposure to Sunlught would fade the colour.  Faster if it is Red colour.  Covering the car under sunlight on a regular basis would age/discolour the Plastics/Rubber components inside your car due to very high build-up of heat.

Selva Kumar

Not only damage to the paint but prolonged exposures can damage the interior trim and even lenses.

As Selva has advised, bring the problem to the notice of those concerned and buy a car cover in the meantime and windshield reflector. 

Any damage to the tyres because of contact with hot asphalted road ?

Eventhough tyres could withstand heat from ashphalt top, prolonged exposure to sunrays would result in faster aging and development of hairline cracks on the walls of the tyres.

What if one doesnt find any shade to park in or all the shades have already been taken up....what should one do, if one has to park the car in the sun? Feels like a car lost in the sahara desert !!

Yash

The least one can do in this situation is to do as Binoy had posted - cover the car, use windshiled reflectors when you cant cover. 

Tyres will withstand the hot road surface-no problems at all.

About the absence of shade-not much can be done about the same. In the Middle East the most popular car color is White and the same is not without logic.

Test by Indian publications have shown a difference of 6 degree Celsius between white and darker colored cars. 

I have seen some vehicles put a coir mat on top of the vehicle and pour water on to it. This way one can keep the top cooler. This might require some fastening of the coir mat to the roof; however it will affect the looks of the car.

Another options is to leave the car windows (all of them) rolled down about an inch while park under Sun. It does not stop the heating, but is a lot better than when you open the door to sit in a completely rolled up car.

Front & Rear Sun shades are helpful.