5 Ways to Protect Your Car Interior From the Sun

Minimize damage, wear, and fading with these simple tips.

Brennan Sullivan | 

May 22, 2025 | 3 min read

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Protect Upholstery From the Sun

Just like the mechanical components of your car, the materials inside the cabin can require preventative maintenance. Whatever covers your seats, for example, whether it's cloth, leather or synthetic, can be damaged by the sun. Similarly, the dashboard and other surfaces can suffer from UV exposure.

A simple fix can be to treat the surfaces with a specially formulated spray or wax intended to help reduce the effect of UV rays. Many car-care brands have their own products engineered for this purpose — often they're described as "protectants."

Get a Full Car Cover for Outdoor Storage

Purchasing a fitted car cover offers several advantages, especially if your car will be parked for long periods of time outdoors. Covers are available for everything from sleek Chevrolet Corvette sports cars to popular SUVs like the Toyota Highlander. Car covers can help prevent or reduce wear from sunlight, snow, rain, hail, debris, dust, and more.

Use Seat Covers, Windshield Shades, or Window Tint

Another good practice is to block the UV rays outright. While something as simple as a towel can do the trick, it may be more effective to use seat, steering wheel, and dashboard covers, which are designed to be easy to fit and durable — they're also replaceable if needed. A metal-lined sunscreen or sunshade can also deflect much of the sun's rays away from the cabin, helping to protect the surfaces and keep your interior cooler on warm days.

Another practical solution is to invest in window tinting — it reduces the intensity and heat of light streaming into the vehicle. The laws on window-tint opacity vary state by state, however, so be sure to research the policies of your local government before having window tint applied.

Let Air Circulate

Direct UV rays aren't the only way the sun can damage your vehicle. Hot air can dry out plastic and leather, causing cracks in the material. Something as simple as slightly opening your car windows to allow fresh air to pass through the cabin will help moderate the inside temperature.

Park in the Shade When Possible

The easiest way to minimize sun exposure is to take care when choosing a place to park. Something that guarantees full coverage like a parking garage is ideal, but even a spot in the shade of a tree will block harmful rays and bring down the internal temperature of your cabin.

Brennan Sullivan

A lifelong car enthusiast, Brennan has turned his passion into a career, covering automotive stories in print for the Avants Magazine and online for Capital One's Auto Navigator. When not writing, he's often behind the wheel (or more likely, under the hood) of his 1962 Sunbeam Alpine and planning car events for his local community.