Calling help from Nevada and Arizona owners regarding extreme high temperature effects on paint

I’m in California but I need to widen my search to Nevada and Arizona to find a 2021 in army green color. I found one that I’m potentially interested in Las Vegas. Nevada and Arizona have really extreme high temperatures. I’m guessing there are inherent risks with regard to irreversible paint damage due to extreme sun damage. There is no way for me to know how the previous owner cared for it. Let’s say hypothetically in 3 years it’s been parked outside every day, is this enough time to have caused paint damage? Hoping Arizona and Nevada residents can speak to their experiences. Maybe I’m overthinking it. Thank you!

 

The sun kills the clear coat. If absolutely nothing was done for 3 years, then yes, there could be some damage. But after only 3 years a good paint correction followed by regular applications of a sealer/ceramic/wax will probably be fine. Your just going to have to inspect it and see how it is.

 

You're overthinking it. There are many members here who live in AZ and NV, and I have never seen a thread about paint failing.

Find a truck that meets your requirements, has been maintained well and do not worry. But you probably will anyway. Best of luck.

 

Yeah I think you’re overthinking it. My truck has sat outside in the dirty south (106ºF and sunny today by the way) ever since I got it, and it is fine. I even wash it once in a while.

I would be much more concerned with maintenance history and putting an external transmission cooler on ‘er. Good luck.

 

Music City is a part of the dirty south?

 

And this is why I have a dash mat since my truck lives outside and the wife does not always put the sun shade up

@dadtrucklife I'm in Texas but my truck lives outside, been that way since I bought it in 2018. It gets washed about once a year with some form of detail applied. I definitely want to be better about doing this more often but life keeps happening. But so far, I have no paint issues from the sun.

 

Yep. Always has been. You know music city is in Tennessee, right?



The usual definition is derived from the history of this part of the US, but these days it is often used to describe the relentless heat and humidity of the same geographical area.

 

Oh I know where music city is. I've just never heard TN being a part of the "dirty south". I've always heard it referred as part of the south and the areas of like LA, E TX, MS and AL being the "dirty south".

It's all subjective anyway.


EDIT: I'm mixing up Dirty with Deep. I retract my original comment about music city

 

Aha! That makes sense

 

This thread reminds me I need to get some UV tint. And maybe ceramic on the windshield

 

Not gonna lie, this whole time I thought you were in Detroit. That's what I grew up hearing was the music city for some reason

 

Motor city? lol

 

Close enough for me lol

 

FWIW...

My last 8 years have been living in places with consistently high UV indices. The last 3.5 years has been in SW Nevada. I'm closer to DVNP than I am to Las Vegas, just to give you an indication of where I am and the heat I deal with.

My vehicles (all Toyota) have never been garaged. I've never had paint or clearcoat issues on the following vehicles (length of ownership): 2012 4Runner (7 years), 2022 Tundra (2.5 years), and 2021 Tundra (6 months). I might wash them every couple of months, but never waxed any of them.

I've yet to run into any issues with paint or clearcoat. However, the UV loves to eat the Toyota headlights, in my experience. You'll first see the UV coating start to flake off and then it's only a matter of time before the first hint of yellow or lens fog starts. I went through 3 sets of headlights on my 4Runner. My headlights on my 2022 Tundra were starting to flake on the topside when I traded it in this last Feb. We'll see what the future holds for the 2021 I currently have.

If you want a gauge of how harsh of a life (in terms of UV exposure) that any vehicle has had...I'd recommend you look at the headlights first, assuming they are plastic. You'll see sun damage there before you see anything on the clearcoat or paint, in my experience.

On a side note: On the 4runner, if anyone cares, I tried the Weathertech UV headlight protection. It's tough to install, but it did seem to give some protection my 3rd set of headlights on that vehicle. I might apply it on my 2021 here soon.

 

Use the same sealant on the headlights and other plastics that you would (I know you said you don't, but to make the point) as you use on the paint. That will keep the headlights clear.