Do white cars stay cooler than darker cars?

[Anonymous]

Just wondering if there is any advantage. Never owned a white car before...comparing to some dark blues and other dark colors.

[Anonymous]

Grew up in the desert and yes light cars stay cooler than dark but what's more important is the color of the upholstery. A white car with black interior is going to be hotter than a black car with light tan/grey interior.

[Anonymous]

Short answer is yes. I have a vintage white car with no heat/AC and its cool to the touch on a 90 degree day in the sun. Doesn't change the fact that its still hot as hell when driving at times.

[Anonymous]

DC area resident, owned white car, black car, silver car. The black car was horrible in each and every possible way. You can test for yourself, on a hot sunny day walk in the parking lot of a dealership where car have equal exposure to the sun sitting for days so all things are equal aside from color, touch or best buy cheap remote reading thermometer on Amazon and point to the car and measure the temperature of each color. You will quickly see how much hotter the black cars are. Also if you would open and check the interior temperature it is also hotter. You can probably do the same with your bear hand just touching the car and you would feel the difference.

The worse was black, while white was the best, silver was surprisingly not much less hot then white although you can think it is reflective so it should be way less hot then white.

Comes to color maintenance, silver beats everything eslse. You don't need to touch this car like ever and it never looks dirty, not in million years. The white surprisingly keeps much cleaner then black, would NEVER guess it. But black is horrible, all the road dust is almost white so you don't see it on the white car, but on the black one you see it immediately so as soon as you leave the car wash and drive a mile and stop and check the car, you already have dust on it, the spring time with all the pollen will turn your black car green in no time.

When comes o any other color you can easily line them up yourself, the darker the color the closer to black the worse heating and cleaning problems, the lighter the easier.

In the hottest summer the black car is a nightmare to cool, your AC has to work overtime. What also helps is light interior as black absorbs the heat and it is trapped inside - greenhouse effect.

I love blue cars and red cars but you will never make me buy one. Not after owning black car. I love my car pristine and clean so taking to the carwash regularly keep it nice and clean. Adding a poly shine finish make it look brand new like it was waxed but so much better. If I had a dark car again I would need to go to a car wash once a week. That is a lot of carwashing. I am comfy doing it once a month and as needed if there is any sudden accumulation due to weather or pollen.

[Anonymous]

Definite difference but also interior color. We special ordered our car just to get it with a light colored interior. Then we also use a custom-fit sunshade for the front windshield. All that makes a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

No difference 3 seasons.
BEST EVER - silver. Most reflective color, coolest car ever. Also no need to car wash like ever. No difference. Always looks clean.

[Anonymous]

Silver. Totally.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It’s called solar reflectance. You can look up SRI values by color. White roofs are preferable in warmer climates because they reflect the light instead of absorbing it. Same for cars, but you may also want to add low e film to the windows to reduce solar heat gain through glass.

[Anonymous]

I only park in covered garages