We are looking at buying a new midsize SUV in the near future and really like the look of black as the exterior color on a lot of our choices.....just makes the whole car look more sophisticated.

That said, I have never owned a black vehicle in TX but have heard it said they are pretty bad when it gets to our 100 degree summers. Is this true or is it really not that big of a deal?

Uhm...hot?

sorry, meant temperature-wise upon entry. aka when the car has been sitting in a parking lot in the blazing sun for a few hours, is it really true that a vehicle with black exterior takes much longer to cool off inside than say, a white vehicle?

My parents always had boring white vehicles because my mom "claimed" that dark exterior colors like black make the car like a freakin' oven inside on hot days.

[This message has been edited by FDXAg (edited 3/28/2010 10:34a).]

Come to the Dark Side, Luke . . .

My experience (Non technical) in San Antonio is that lighter colored vehicles (white or silver) reflect the sunlight better than darker vehicles so heat retention is less. Also, lighter interiors tend to be cooler than darker interiors (Similar comparison can be made for lighter roofing vs darker roofing). That being said, I have a silver car with black leather interior but with heavy window tint that has UV control and reflective qualities and it still gets HOT. In hot climates keep your windows cracked about an inch or so.

[This message has been edited by SA-AG72 (edited 3/28/2010 10:49a).]

I've had a black car. Yeah it sucks, but in brand new vehicles I've found the AC gets cold fast enough for it to not be the biggest problem. I did have a tan cloth interior though. Biggest annoyance was having to keep a pair of socks in the car to put on my hands cause the steering wheel would get so damn hot, but that happens in a lot of cars I think.

Overall, I think the way it looks outweighs the heat aspect. Although if its available I might look at a charcoal gray vehicle, but I also really like charcoal gray.

I got black leather interior (dark blue exterior) on my last car and it was my first leather interior car.

At first we didn't have it tinted. that lasted about a week before it was too damn hot to deal with any more. I don't think a black exterior is much hotter than a dark blue or dark green, the interior to me is what makes the difference.

Get it tinted, crack a window, and you'll be fine.

Yeah, I really think it has a lot to do with the color of the interior instead...black leather/vinyl is going to soak up waaay more heat...not matter what the exterior color is.

Window tint, cracked window/sunroof and a windshield reflector thingie will really help...

Yeah almost forgot about the front windshield shade. HUGE difference than without.

My first car was black, very hot in the summers, especially if you aren't keeping it in a garage. My mom's lexus on the other hand has air conditioned seats which helps a ton in the summer.

I have a red 4 door pickup and if I forget to put up the sun-shade, the pocket thermometer I use to check the AC temp will register 150+ sometimes. I routinely see 120.

The interior color makes more of a difference. I probably won't own anything leather in tx for this reason. Sunshade and tint will help tremendously though.

I have a black car with dark gray leather. Its friggning hot during the summer and the leather is cold during the winter. Tint will definitely help, but it will still be super hot. Always crack your windows when you know it isn't going to rain. As far as the sophisticated look of black, you can honestly expect the car to look clean about 5% of the time at the most, the rest of the time it will look dirty. If you wash your car, there is a 90% chance it will rain the next day, no matter what the forecast says.

Limo tint

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Its friggning hot during the summer and the leather is cold during the winter.

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Yes. I have a black car with black leather. The past two summers have been pure hell. However, I'm going to be thankful for the black leather come wintertime in Iowa. The seat warmers help, too. Even in Texas.

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As far as the sophisticated look of black, you can honestly expect the car to look clean about 5% of the time at the most, the rest of the time it will look dirty.

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Even though the car will appear dirty 95% of the time, the time the car is clean will make up for it - black looks simply wonderful when clean and after a good wax. If anything, it'll encourage you to keep your car clean.

This is my second black car. My first one had white leather which made the summers a little better. However, the black on black has been almost unbearable.

like what most people said, if its an SUV, get some vent shades for the windows and leave them down about an inch, get the darkest legal tint you can, and put a sun visor in the windshield when you are at work or whenever. also, when you first get in, have the windows down and the AC on for a few minutes and the stale hot air will leave the cab faster. i have owned four black trucks in texas and with just alittle effort they arent bad at all.

Pretty freakin hot. Luckily the interior leather isn't black.

And yes, by the time I'm done drying it after a wash it is dirty again. It's the most amazing color when clean, but ugly as hell when dirty. Not worth the time required to keep it looking nice, IMHO. I will get a different color next time.

in high school/college I owned a black-on-black Z-28, cloth interior but the seats had a little vinyl on the edges of the seat and headrest. talk about OOOUUUCCHHH!!!!
There were two summers where my AC wasn't working well in Houston... not a comfortable ride.

Yes the biggest thing is the interior color, but I do think black exterior does make it worse. Next time you are in a parking lot mid-day in July of August, go put your hand on a white car and count how long you can keep it there; then go do the same thing with a black car.

No matter how hot it is, it's a hell of a lot better than having that stupid black on tan look that some people get.

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get some vent shades for the windows

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+1

Got them for my Pilot and leave my windows cracked about an inch during the summer.

Dark interior/exterior = 150F inside in late July in the sun. It doesn't take that long to drop it down to confortable with a good AC. You can, however, probably cook an egg on the hood.

http://www.tom-morrow-land.com/tests/cartemp/index.htm

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Executive Summary:

For those who just want to know the results of the test, I'll tell you. The glass temperature (which I assume to be a proxy for interior temperature) varied only 5 to 6 degrees between the black and white cars on average. So I conclude that the interior temperature only varied somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 to 6 degrees. The paint temperature, however, varied by about 55 degrees, which is ten times as much. So it is indeed true that black paint is much hotter than white paint, but the interior of the black car isn't that much warmer than the white car.

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If you want, I can try to determine the numbers for heating in the summer.

It isn't so much a function of the air temperature, it is more of radiant heat from the sun (which is a function of absorption of the light and the temperature of the light to the 4th power). And also the absorption of the surface (black absorbs more than white).

~egon

It's Texas in the summertime, everything will be hot as caca.

My car is black on black leather, but it is pretty heavily tinted, so it isn't that bad. Everything is going to get hot in Texas and I don't wear shorts enough for the leather on skin to be an issue.

Having a remote that can roll down the windows as I walk up is a godsend. Letting out that first blast of hot air and giving it 15-20 seconds to cool off before I get in helps alot I think. Hopefully my next car will have air conditioned seats...

I have a black interior but it isn't leather so the actual surface isn't bad during the summer. But the rest of the car will be very hot but just driving about 10 seconds with all windows open cools everything down just fine.

But my manual stick is black leather with the top being metal.. and yeah I can literally get 1st degree burns if I take too long to shift. But just makes driving much more exciting!!!

Maybe if you weren't granny shiftin'... not double clutchin' like you should, you wouldn't burn your hand...

I had my SHO tinted with Ceramic tint all the way around (even the windshield).

Ceramic costs more but rejects heat much better than other films, and the Foil windshield thingy helps a lot too.

Tint (limo on back) and a sunshield on the front window help IMMENSELY. I have black ext on black leather.