Keeping Your Vehicle Cool This August

While we are fortunate to live in a place where the summer temperature rarely gets unbearable, on a late August afternoon, our vehicles can get roasting hot. After only one hour in the sun, the average auto interior is 43 degrees hotter than the outside temperature. Youch!

Your car’s color contributes to the interior temperature. The darker colors absorb more heat while a white or silver vehicle can be about 10 degrees cooler. If your married to your sleek darker colors, consider a solar reflective paint that will help keep things cooler by up to 6 degrees. Okay, so you're saying that those choices are too late for THIS August, and you want to know what you can do right now! Some of these are obvious, so bear with:

1. Park under a tree or in a garage. (Any shade helps!)

2. Purchase a solar-powered fan (although reviews seem to be split).

3. Basic car shades can reduce the interior temp by 15 degrees and the dashboard temp by 40 degrees! The foil, reflective shades can work even better because they actually reflect the sun’s rays.

4. Put up a dashboard cover.

5. Throw a hand towel over your steering wheel.

6. Throw a blanket over your seat to not only keep the seat cooler, but that will also allow you to buckle your seatbelt without burning your hand.

Cracking a window doesn’t seem to do much good because it’s not enough to keep the air moving. Be grateful we don’t live in an area where the temperatures climb well into the 100s! Remember to leave your pets at home when you go to the grocery store or are running other errands since the interior temps climb so high so fast. The team at Pro Am Collision & Mechanical hope you and your entire family stay cool this summer and stay safe! You can find us at 5285 Plainfield Avenue NE, Grand Rapids. For best service, schedule an appointment online.