If you live in a place with a hot climate, should you go for a black car?

Growing up, I lived in a county that was so hot; every day was a potential heatstroke day. At some point in my life, I developed an irrational fear of black cars. Why you may ask? A lady in my neighborhood owned a black sedan. One day she left her here year old son asleep in the car, in the sun for a couple of hours. The baby died from too much heat and the sight of the little body being taken out of the black car, and the wailing mother stayed with me for a long time.

I love black cars. I love black cars so much; I have never owned any other color of a car since I was twenty. I am forty-eight now. I have also lived in places with extreme weather conditions. Some places cold, others extremely hot, but I kept my black cars. That, however, is just me and my preferences.

I wasn’t quite the brightest button in class, but among the few things I grasped, black is more absorbent of heat than any other color. Naturally, a car with a black exterior will absorb more heat than a white car. It doesn’t mean, however, that you should not buy a black car if you live in a hot area. All you will need to do is learn how to manage your black vehicle so that it does not get ridiculously hot.

Get a cool interior.

If you are a fanatical and obsessive lover of black, you tend to get a bit carried away and splash it around. Like the fully creepy gothic person you are. So if you are tempted to have a black interior for your car, hold yourself back a little bit. The exterior f the car must be taken care of to keep your car looking good but the interior must be taken care of, for the sake of your health and comfort.

If you live in a hot climate zone, and you get a black car, that is perfectly acceptable. But if you get a black car with a black interior in an extremely hot zone. Then there could be a significant problem. White is perfect for a car’s interior. Do not be afraid to play around with other cooler and lighter colors for your car interior, pink, beige, gray and silver. Besides reflecting the sun rays, they are also attractive and complementary to the black exterior.

Instead of leather or vinyl, use “cooler” upholstery that will not have your skin sizzling the moment you sit on it. One summer, one of my clients while on holiday at a beach town, got into a car with leather seats that had been in the sun too long, in her bikini. The burns on her behind were not pretty to look at and neither was she very amused with her lack of foresight. If you still want to show off with the leather, cover up your seats with a fleece blanket. Do this every time your car is parked in direct sunlight. This way the seats remain cool.

Do not park your car in direct sunlight.

It may not be essential to tell you this because it is rather obvious. However, it may not be evident to all. Just like yourself, your car does not appreciate sitting under the scorching sun for hours on end and its displeasure will show in its body soon after. Not just the body, but also in its car tires and the battery. Heat causes the rubber to dry up faster and causes them to deflate faster. The water in the battery also dries up faster under higher temperatures. Ensure you check your temperature gauge regularly to arrest situations before they escalate.

My wife drives a white car, my daughter a silver-colored one and yours truly, a black one. We decided to do the heat and color car hand test. We left the cars out in the sun for a couple for hours, placed our hands on the bodies and for sure, I couldn’t leave mine on the car as long as they could theirs. The interior was also slightly hotter than the other two. However, that did nothing to change my mind about getting a different color car.

Sometimes, you do not have a choice in your parking spaces, but when you do, choose a sheltered area. Either park under natural shade, a shed, a basement or your indoor garage.

Autotrader experimented with black and white cars, left in the sun for a couple of hours. The black vehicle heated up by 17 degrees more than the white car. So yes, you will be roasting a lot more in your black car, in direct sun.

Air-Conditioning.

Of all the crazy things you are going to do, is having an air-con system that does not work in your black car. Scratch that, in any hot climate area, whatever color your car is, air conditioning that works is simply a necessity. Otherwise, you will be on prime time news burnt to a red crisp by the sun. Remember the baby from my home town? You cannot let that happen to you.

You have to treat your car just like you do the space that you live in. It doesn’t matter how much or how little time you spend inside it. That time that you spend in it, must be spent in comfort. You must also strive to enhance the life span of your car. Besides the air conditioning, you will need to ensure proper ventilation in your car. Leaving windows open, slightly lowered or alternatively having a vent cracked in the car will not quite help with keeping the temperatures lower, contrary to popular belief, but will provide great circulation of air in the car.

To conserve and save your car battery, get a solar-powered fan and keep it running when the car is not in motion. It will ensure the interior remains cool.

Tint your windows

Tinted windows are so cool to be in. once, I had this dark car that had such darkly tinted windows. It looked like something the devil himself would drive. One time, I arrived for a client’s meeting way too early and I was waiting in a parking lot inside my car. This weird guy showed up looking around my car, I suspect he was a car thief. He cupped his hands around his eyes and looked right through my tinted window, met my calmly relaxed face looking up at him and I never saw someone so scared or run that fast. Anyway, my point is? Besides being good to hide behind, tinting does help with overheated interiors.

Tinting your car windows will considerably reduce the heating up of your car interior. How much heat your window tint can reflect will be determined by the shade, quality, and color too. Consult with your car maintenance expert on advice on the best premium tint to keep your car interior cooler. It is not advisable to tint the windscreen with the regular tint shade so it will be wiser to get a windscreen shield for extreme weather. Alternatively, get a solar window film for it, which filters the sun rays as they come through.

Cover up your car interiors, including the dashboard, steering wheel and even the seats with a light color fabric (Preferably white), especially when you have to park under direct sunshine for extended periods.

Do black cars have higher fuel consumption in hot climates?

I once sat a table with a bunch of car dealers who got into a crazy heated debate on whether fuel consumption of cars in hot climates is higher, and more so for black cars. There was no proper conclusion to this debate at that particular sitting. The argument here is that more fuel is consumed in running the aircon and the fan to keep the car temperatures down.

The truth is there is no difference in fuel consumption based on car color and area climate. This will be determined by car models and engine sizes. So even if you live in the hot Nevada desert, get yourself that black baby with one less worry.

Cars have to be driven, in all kinds of weather and across regions with extreme conditions. I would not be on the frontline in advising car owners to base their decisions to buy cars on how high temperatures are in their area. Emphasis should be placed more on taking better care of your car in the given weather conditions.

So, to my fellow lovers of black cars, we need not adjust our luxurious tastes because of the hot climate. Get yourself that black beast that you have been saving up for and move to Georgia if you want to. No place is too hot for your car. Follow the guidelines on managing heat on your car and life will be great. Nothing will stop the spread of love for the black car, least of all, the hot weather.