Tips to protect your car from heat when it's parked at the airport for a long time
If you’re going away for a long time, no doubt you will have booked car parking in the airport you’ve left from. However, if you’re leaving your car there for more than a couple of weeks, you’re going to need to put in some protective measures. Leaving your car out in the sun for weeks is not good for it. But, there are a variety of things you can do to protect your car from heat when parked in the open for an extended period of time.
Prep your tyres
Before leaving your car for an extended period of time in an airport parking, such as those found at La Palma or Lanzarote airports, you should check the tyre pressure. For each 10-degree increase, the pressure of the tyre can increase by 1 or 2 PSI. This can cause the tyres to be overpressurised, which increases the chances of them bursting. As such, you should reduce the pressure of your tyres slightly to avoid this. The only thing you need to remember is topping them up before you drive home. Don’t reduce the pressure too much as good pressure will also prevent flat spots forming in the tyres from sitting stationary for so long.
Keep your car clean
Make sure your car is clean and that any food is removed before you leave the car alone in the heat. This is extra important if the weather gets hot as this can cause any leftover food and drink to go bad very quickly. You don’t want to come home to a car smelling of rotten food.
Find some shade
If you think it’s going to be hot try to park your car in the shade. However, some parking areas are completely open. So, if you’re going away for an extended time in the summer, you should consider paying for covered parking. This has numerous benefits when it comes to protecting your car from the heat.
For instance, tyres can degrade faster when they’re in the sun. This can mean you lose pressure in the tyres which can lead to problems down the line. Not only that, but you may find that you have to replace the tyres on your car more often which can be expensive.
Depending on where you park your car long-term, if your car is not in the shade or under a roof, you could also use a car cover. You can cover the whole car with the cover so that all parts of your car are protected from the elements, not just the sun and heat.
Alternative shade options
While this won’t keep the temperature of your car down, a windshield sun shade is another way of protecting your car. The foil-like effect is reflective which means that you can reflect the sun somewhat and keep your car cooler. Some options have better heat absorption too, which means they reduce the entrance of ultraviolet rays as well.
In addition to this, you could also get some of your windows tinted. This is an effective way of keeping your car cool, but not necessarily worth doing just for a long-term parking stint. The better the tint, the more rays are prevented from entering the car. However, this can only be done on the side windows, not the windscreen.
Finally, you can also cover the interior of your car. You can cover up leather or darker seats to prevent them from heating up so much in the sun. This doesn’t have to be an expensive option, you can simply use a light-coloured blanket to cover the interior.
Open the windows a crack
Another way you can keep your car cool in the hot weather, you can open the windows a crack. This can keep your car cool by releasing the build-up of heat, so that airflow is improved throughout the car. Of course, this isn’t going to do much in the way of cooling your car, so it might not be worth it as cracked open windows can increase the chance of theft. If you do park your car with the windows opened slightly, make sure you choose a reputable airport parking space. You can choose one of the car parks with security cameras for additional peace of mind.
