Like a lot of other parts of the United States, California has been hit by extreme temperatures. Where I live, the highs last week were consistently around 105 degrees. This has made our 2006 Mazda Miata's black interior quite toasty when it's been sitting outside in the sun. Two observations about the car in the heat: 1) the Miata's air conditioning system is adequate for blowing cold air, but only just; 2) I've noticed occasional fogging of the radio head unit's display...
The fogging only happens if the car has been sitting outside for a few hours and baking in the heat. The fogging doesn't completely obscure the display, but it is annoying. Letting the car cool off (overnight, for instance) seems to allow the display to revert to normal. Whether this fogged display is due to condensation or just a chemical change in the plastic, I'm not really sure.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor, Edmunds.com 5,780 miles
thepope says:
03:57 PM, 07/26/06
Mmmm- I don't think its a chemical change in the plastic. I'm not a plastics expert but I'm a mechanical engineer so I do have more than a passing familiarity. Sunlight can fog up clear plastic through UV but that is not a reversible process. My guess would have to be condensation.
actualsize says:
10:04 AM, 08/14/06
I don't think so, your holiness:
I too have seen (or NOT seen) the radio display of our MX-5 in this condition, and it has an frosted-glass appearance any time direct sun hits it. At night or in the morning, times when it is not subject to direct sunlight and is in fact backlit, it looks fine. It doesn't seem to me to be a warm/cool phenomenon. This BSME votes for permanent UV damage.
sixwheeler says:
09:24 AM, 05/31/09
LCD displays tend to do that with elevated temperatures. Try it with a Casio. Put it in the glove compartment for a couple of hours in the heat and then take it out. The display will be all blacked out. Get it out and let it cool off for a few minutes, and it'll get back to normal.