Is it necessary to have A/C in ones vehicle in CO Springs? (Denver: living in, best)

[SheridanL]

I would say ....Get it!! It's just like any State that has a Summer of some sort.....no different! IMHO!
Of course, I am always hot, even in the sun drenched days of Winter. I often say I could totally live with my son in Antarctica but, thats just me!!
If you can afford it,.....DO IT!! If not.......wait to see what you can tolerate! Me,......no way,...I need heat and air...period!!

[Colorado Ready]

Well, I also will be getting another used vehicle when I get out there, something thats a real gas saver like a Honda Civic,ect. My old Toyota 4x4 truck that I recently bought has a modified engine with many performance parts, even though its still a 4 cyl. it only gets around 16 mpg , and I'm not getting rid of it because I just got it, whatever economical vehicle I get ....I'll make sure it has A/C in it. I just didn't want to have to buy another vehicle right when I got there, I've got to spend my time finding a place to live as soon as I get there, but I am more of a mountain type person, I think I might try for Woodland Park, the colder the better, but no doubt I'll be working in CO Springs most likely.

[Katarina Witt]

If you will be driving much during the day, yes. If you are just going to/from work, it's somewhat optional. I was a visiting nurse in the Denver area and would have been very uncomfortable w/o A/C, and not just June - August. Sept and even Oct can be hot months, at least some of the time.

[tfox]

It's certainly a nice to have, but one can do without -- I have done so for many years in my second older vehicle. What I usually do in summertime is to crack all four windows all the time (I'm not worried about that car being stolen and I've never had any problems.) That helps the heat escape while the car is sitting in a sun. If possible, I like to park the car under a tree -- I'm the person who has the car parked at the far corner of the parking lot just to be under a tree.

Summer in Colorado (on the front range) is really short anyway, and COS is milder than Denver. We usually only have about 3 weeks of ridiculously hot temps where you're going to be swearing at yourself for not having A/C. At the second week of August, the heat of summer is mostly past and the weather settles into what I think is the nicest time of year on the front range: late summer / early fall. September is gorgeous.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by tfox

It's certainly a nice to have, but one can do without -- I have done so for many years in my second older vehicle. What I usually do in summertime is to crack all four windows all the time (I'm not worried about that car being stolen and I've never had any problems.) That helps the heat escape while the car is sitting in a sun. If possible, I like to park the car under a tree -- I'm the person who has the car parked at the far corner of the parking lot just to be under a tree. . . .

We've A/C in both vehicles, but we still employ some of the usual tricks to make ourselves more comfortable:
- We also lower the windows a half-inch when parked so the wind can move the heat out. If it's cloudy or threatening rain, we don't.
- We put the reflectorized sun shade in the front window when we park in the sun, this makes a huge difference.
- Put a while towel over the seat and/or steering wheel, else you get a "hot seat" in more ways than one....
- I look for shade when parking.
- I even look for parking spots relative to my position with the sun, so that it doesn't hit my seat, dashboard or steering wheel.

IMO, driving here can be done fine without A/C, however, if I drove around a lot, like a realtor with clients, I'd have it. If the OP has better uses for the $800, then my best suggestion is forego the A/C and spend on higher priorities.

s/Mike

[Josseppie]

I would say get A/C as well but I, also, get hot very easily, thus, I tend to use my A/C in my car 12 months of the year, as soon as the temperature is above 70. The only time I am comfortable with the windows down is when the temperatures are in the 50's and 60's and then when I am on the highway or driving at fast speeds the wind coming in the open window is annoying enough that I usually roll up my windows no matter what the temperature is and either have my heat on when its cold or the A/C on when its hot.

[Colorado Ready]

Being as I already get 16 mpg highway driving in my Toyota truck ( and the engine in it just got put into it in April, along with a brand new Carburetor,Distributor,Intake Manifold,Fuel Pump, Muffler, and a few more parts along with brand new tires, I'd rather scrap the idea of getting A/C in it. A/C would even drop the mpg I'm getting probably by 2 mpg, and that would put me around 14 mpg. I'm going to need another daily driver car/truck anyway that can get at least 23 mpg on the highway, because I'm most likely going to live outside of CO Springs closer to the mountains. My Toyota truck will just be a back up vehicle after I get another vehicle,I'll probably get another vehicle within 3 months of being out there. I was just curious as to whether a person could get by without it in their vehicle, I know I'll have it in my home, I work as a heating and air technician, but I just don't work on vehicle a/c systems,its a totally different ball game, mainly residential systems is what I'm familiar with.

[Maynerd]

I use the AC in my truck at most a couple days a year. As the other posters have mentioned, it gets very hot in the sun if you're parked outside in the summertime, but I find if you drive a block or two with the windows down, it cools off very quickly.

And, strongly agree on the value of one of those sunshades for a small fraction of what AC would cost.

[lalahartma]

No, you don't need a/c here, in car or house. I've done without in the car for 5 years, tho the current car does have it.

[PamelaOrr]

No way. I would NOT live without it in my car. My husband went without it for years and was miserable and would get sleepy on a twenty minute drive home just because of the dry heat in the car.