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AutoZone Offers 4 Tips to Protect Your Car From the Summer Heat

25 July 2000

AutoZone Offers 4 Tips to Protect Your Car From the Summer Heat

    MEMPHIS, Tenn. - This summer's scorching heat can do serious damage to 
vehicles on America's roads, parking lots and driveways.  When the temperature 
outside hits 95 degrees, the temperature inside a parked car can reach 140 
degrees while the temperature on the surface of dashboards and steering wheels 
can climb to 180 degrees.

    "It's about more than just comfort," says Lesley Hartney, vice president
of communications and training at AutoZone.  "Extreme heat can cause expensive
damage to your vehicle unless steps are taken to prevent it."

    With that in mind, AutoZone offers these 4 simple steps to prevent damage
from summer heat.

    1. Use a sunshade.  Even a simple cardboard sunshade for your windshield
       can lower the temperature inside your car by nearly 50 degrees, and
       studies show that half of all cars on the road have sun damage that
       could have been prevented by one.  A sun-damaged dash can impact your
       vehicle's resale value by as much as $2,000, while most sunshades cost
       less than $5.
    2. Apply dashboard protectant.  A spray-on solution can prevent the
       cracking, fading and warping of your dash.  In fact, many contain
       chemicals that block the sun's harmful UV rays just like sunscreen
       lotion does for your skin.  You can also protect your interior from the
       heat by simply spreading a light-colored towel over the dashboard and
       steering wheel.
    3. Protect your paint with washing and waxing.  In the extreme heat,
       drivers try to park in the shade of a tree.  Unfortunately, tree sap
       and bird droppings can seriously damage automotive paint.  So keep it
       clean.  It's important to wash the vehicle while the exterior is cool
       and out of direct sunlight and not to use dish washing liquids because
       they contain grease removing chemicals that will strip the wax from
       your car's finish.  Applying a fresh coat of wax after washing will
       protect the paint not only from the sun's rays, but also from what
       rains down from trees.
    4. Replace your windshield wipers.  Extreme heat dries out and cracks
       rubber components on your vehicle, and few parts suffer more than
       windshield wipers.

    About AutoZone

    AutoZone sells auto and light truck parts, chemicals and accessories
through 2,854 AutoZone stores in 41 states in the U.S. plus the District of
Columbia and 13 AutoZone stores in Mexico.  AutoZone also sells heavy-duty
truck parts through 48 TruckPro stores in 14 states, and automotive diagnostic
and repair software through ALLDATA and diagnostic and repair information
through alldatadiy.com .