When I changed the CDs in my 03 Neon after playing them for a while they were definitaly Warmer then everything else, but after five+ years I never had any issues. I would not worry about it

 

The CD is being shot by a frickin' laser.

 

my old mkv gti would seriously almost melt my cd's! I took it to the dealer.. they told me it was normal... But that was when I was living in Florida, so im guessing from sitting in the sun aswell....

 

If you have your heater on that will make the cd's warmer, especially if you have it set to the upper vent mode.

 

Mine get hot too, but been using it for over a year now and no CDs have been damaged. Of course if they are I'll burn new ones, lol. All of my factory CDs are put away, and I burn what I want from them. Heck, with the IPod plug in on the Jeep I have only used maybe 5-10 CDs in the last year too. They do come out hot when you use the heater, but no problems with them so far.

 

I've noticed the radio in my Dodge Ram runs very warm also even when not using the heater. I used to be concerned it would not last. However, since it is now 12 years old and has 200,000 miles on it and still works fine, I wouldn't worry.

 

Maybe it's a hot new group or something!

Ok... Ok... Ok... I know... stupid joke....

Seriously though, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I notice that in most equipment that run cd's or dvd's they get hot. Some more than others. I think that leaving the cd inside the head unit while parked in the sun would do more damage than by playing it.

 

The problem appears to be tied into using the heater/defrost position with the heater on. I played the CD with the heater off and it was just warm, not hot like before.

 

I agree, the defroster makes them hotter than normal. But I haven't noticed any issues or problems from that, so I quit worrying about it.

 

Defrost is the prime culprit but so are the dash lights. With the dash lights on a long time, touch your hand near a lighted on the dash console. You will find it quite warm. Add defrost, lotsa heat from lights and virtually no ventilation from the CD unit (no dust allowed), you can expect a good amount of heat.

 

the dash lights are the culprit for this. run an experiment and turn off all of the dashlights or turn them down to the lowest setting. then see if the CD gets hot

the laser reading the pits and lands is not strong enough to produce noticeable heat