Parking in the Sun

[legend_of_lazz]

Hey guys. Just wondering how many of you if any park in the sun on a daily basis. My car sits in the sun in Townsville (hot) all day every day. Just wondering whether anyone has any experience with paint damage and internals damage due to sun and heat. Work charges $120/month for in building parking. Do you think it's worth it? What do you think?

Thanks for any advice.

[Foss]

Your employer charges you to park your car in the building in which you are doing work for them?! Thats a bit rough!

I leave my ZR in the sun all day when I'm at work (not like I have a choice, short of leaving my car in my garage and paying $120 for a cab to work and back), and I haven't had any worries as yet. Granted, this is only North West Tasmania, but the car still gets hot as hell inside.

My old car basically lived out in the elements (no garage/carport at home, parked on street at work), and in over the 3 and a half years I had it the metallic silver paint had dulled a bit, and the black fabric of the upholstery had faded from a nice dark black to a dark grey-ish sort of black (if that makes sense).

Tinting your windows and whacking a sunshade in the windscreen goes a long way to preserving your interior. Might also help to leave your windows down a crack to let the outside air flow in. Short of parking in the shade, theres nothing much you can do at the time to save your paint from a bit of sun fade. Apart from that, its all just down to a bit of TLC. You know, regular wax and polish, maybe an upholstry and a dash 'sunscreen' kinda protectant.

[lateralus]

sun wont damage the paint if you reguarly polish and wax it

interior fabric fades with excessive light, so as paradigm mentioned using a sunshade on the front windscreen is always good

interior surfaces only crack with excessive heat and no TLC. reguarly cleaning and conditioning the surfaces with a good product is going to keep the surfaces moist and oiled, and will prevent cracking

personally, i'd be more concerned about leather wrap steering wheels than the paint.

[legend_of_lazz]

Thanks for your help guys. I'm not too worried about the heat. I just don't want paint damage. Every second car in Townsville has marks where the paint has changed colour very noticeably. Yeah, work charging is a bit odd, but they don't own the building, just rent a few floors. Too bad. The company itself is a bit like that. I'll give you a hint: it's one of Australia's most largest and most hated companies, and it's a monopoly even though it's now a private company. Anyone care to take a guess? Awesome to work for but they are pretty tough at times. Can't complain at all.

[DJKOR]

... it's one of Australia's most largest and most hated companies.

Bit of a statement there cause I've worked for GE Money and they are pretty hated.

But yeah, just taking good care of your paintwork will help prevent it from wearing faster than it should. I've parked mine daily in the SE Queensland sun for a year and the paintwork is still nice and healthy. For 6 months before that it liven in Cairns and I'm pretty sure it would have been parked outside in the sun at the Airport.

[ToyotaNuts]

it's one of Australia's most largest and most hated companies, and it's a monopoly even though it's now a private company. Anyone care to take a guess? Awesome to work for but they are pretty tough at times. Can't complain at all.

Telstra seems to fit in nicely with your description there mate . There's a tiny tiny chance of Sol Trujillo trolling this forum from the US, outrage at your statement and calling you backward after pocketing $20 Mil payout.

[legend_of_lazz]

Haha nice guess. I'd say he has better things to do than trolling the Toyota boards. Spending a stupid amount of money sounds pretty good. Never had anything to do with GE Daryl, only heard of them once or twice. But thanks for the advice guys. You're a great help.

[Wulfkind]

I leave my car in the sun... I took it for a drive last week and the darned rear view mirror fell off the windshield!

Only cost $25 to get it reattached, so I wasn't that concerned.

[gwest]

There are now several Australian makers of custom car sunshades that cater for Toyotas - try searching for covercraft or westsunshades on the internet

[METAL13]

You can find sunshades (widescreen ones) from super cheap auto lol there cheap but do the job. Replace when it needs it :)

My car sits in the weather all day every day in Western Australia, We have some really bad heat over here but again regular cleaning, Polishing/waxing and alll round maintenance will prevent damage to anything ! (if your like me i got to worry about washing the car away :P)

[Buff Hamster]

Wow talk about thread revival. I park outside most of the time as well but i know when it's hotter i wax my car more often to protect the paint.

[DJKOR]

Wow talk about thread revival. I park outside most of the time as well but i know when it's hotter i wax my car more often to protect the paint.

Thread revival alright. And with a purpose too it would seem. I'll be keeping an eye out.

[Gonaget]

I would invest in seat covers, it is amazing how well these protect the upholstery, also window socks for all windows,

--don't forget to take the socks off the 2 front windows b4 driving off---even if you have tint it will still be a great help--and also a screen for the front window.

As suggested b4 also keep the car washed and well polished

[Silver-Aurion]

Wow talk about thread revival. I park outside most of the time as well but i know when it's hotter i wax my car more often to protect the paint.

Thread revival alright. And with a purpose too it would seem. I'll be keeping an eye out.

That's just nasty. Why would you do that with your company. Looks very cheap, desperate and unprofessional.

[TRD468]

paint is like your skin, you leave it in the sun and it fries. I try not to leave my aurion out in the sun for too long, and to protect its paint and keep it shinny i polish it every 3 weeks with meguiars products. And a clay bar once a month. If you dont maintain your paint work its going to fade and look like sh#t.