Car Protection in AZ

[NewlyCarCrazy]

I will be moving to Prescott AZ in the fall to attend Embry Riddle Aeronautical University . Arizona seems so far to be a car nut's nightmare: full (and I mean FULL) sun and frost at night (all in a period of 12 hours . Somehow I have conned my parents into buying me a new car (most likely a Civic), but I fear that the extreme weather would destroy the interior especially. I would keep up the NXT and vinyl protectants, but is that enough? I am fearful to buy a car cover because of the dust that collects instantly on cars. Do you have any suggestions?



Note: the car would not be garaged

[Hot Spot]

Hi Newly Crazed,
Prescott is the best. I wish I could live there for a while. Your are right on with in intense climates out here in Arizona. I'm not sure if you could make it or not but I invite you to attend our Meguiar's Arizona Detailing Clinic on december 11th in Gilbert. You will learn a great deal about caring for you car and we will have many helpful tips about protection for you car in our dramatic climates. Let us know if you can make it. Welcome to Arizona!

[Rick]

First off I would too encourage you to attend the clinic here in Arizona. Rick and Mike are great teachers, and in the last one car care in our climate was a discussed topic.

Now personal experience. Prescott is nowhere nearly as bad as Phoenix. In fact it's fairly mild, I think it's supposed to snow there in the next couple of days. The heat here tends to do a pretty good number on cars.

The best thing to do is to simply care for a vehicle often. For the paint you'll want to wax it about once a month at least, and use NXT as the more carnuba based waxes pretty much evaporate in couple of days at most in the extreme heat. Polymer waxes like NXT or #20 polymer sealant will hold up to the heat better.

For the interior use a conditioner like #40 for the dash and other surfaces. It will add some UV protection, but applying it often will help. Same with leather if you have it, apply leather conditoners to it often. Beyond that you can also get a reflective bubble cover to place in your windshield when the car is parked. Not only will this drop the interior temps ~40 degrees in the summer it will keep the sun's beating rays off of the dash when your not driving.

If you really want to go to the extreme you can also get a car cover.