Lude Generation

Hi all,
Because of the local council's wisdom, a number of prime parking spots outside my office have been designated for Disabled drivers which has created a problem for me. (I have no problem with disabled drivers getting designated bays, by the way.)
My problem is that my car is now in the fierce sun for up to eight hours a day, (average air temperature 31 to 35 degrees), where as before, my car fell into the shade of my building at around three o'clock, now, it's in the sun all day long.
As you can imagine, the bodywork gets a severe roasting.
Now what's happening is that when I leave, at around seven-ish, the sun is on the wane but the latent heat has created a problem. When I switch the air-con on, it just blows hot air. It's absolutely awful. Not only is the car still hot, but add to that a hairdryer on full blast blowing into the cabin as well.
I've tried switching it on and off on the drive home, switching to Auto but nothing works. The light is on, I can feel the air-con is on but it just blows hot bloody air. It's a miserable drive home I can tell you.
It's interesting that when I get home, obviously the sun's going down so it's a bit cooler. If I leave the car for an hour or so and then start it up again, the air-con will blow cold air.
So it's obviously summat to do with Blue Beauty being baked at Gas Mark 10 all day.
My questions are these:
1: Is the sun baking down on it creating a problem under the bonnet with the air-con?
2: I know you guys (other than perhaps @Greg-SiR) don't really face this heat problem daily but do you think I have a fault somewhere?
3: Will a car cover help?
4: Is there a fix that'll overcome this sauna effect?
Any help/thoughts would be most welcome. Regards, Sweaty Si.

move to Scotland and you wont have this problem

Come back to blighty, fecking cold here!!

I feel you Simon,both my Preludes are A/c less at present,it makes for one sweaty trip to and from and i work in a kitchen too so most of my day in work is in 35ish too,filth!

My cars get the full sun on a normal day here yes and it's the same as your temp across the islands at this time of year but i find regular washing and a good carnauba wax helps protect them good enough from Uv's,even the carbon fiber hood has faired well with just this.

I did upgrade silvers shift knob to an Aluminium one the other week and my hand nearly melted after i went to shift it on first drive

Just using a windscreen reflective shield now it helps me from doing any harm to myself.
Those seats of yours must get hot too..

Bring the car for an inspection Simon,most places will not charge for diagnosis,i'm trying to get mine to one at the moment.

I wouldn't have a clue tbh

Hullo Si - When was the last time the air con was gassed?

are these guys just winding us brits up with there its so hot here , spare a thought for us i have to de-ice my car in the mornings let alone the other morning i couldnt get in cause the locks where frozen surely thats a bigger problem

Car cover could help to reduce the heat a little bit (depending on the cover of course) and Aircon should blow cold at the start, so there probably is some sort of leak or no gas at all.
As for paint and finish - extensive heat from sun is OK, the UV is the one that ruins things. You should wax your car more often during summer season to preserve the bodywork

Cover's can be a pain if you're using every day, but they will certainly help reduce the UV exposure.

How long's your drive home? It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to get the aircon nice and cold. As others have suggested: get the aircon checked.

Actually, I should have mentioned that my drive home is 10 to 20 minutes max, depending on the traffic. Advice noted, chaps. I'll let my air-con guy have a look on Monday. I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks as ever, and enjoy the brass monkey temperatures back in Blighty.

simonc wrote: and enjoy the brass monkey temperatures back in Blighty.

What, like that white stuff I can see floating down past my window?