[jb92563]

I'm in Socal and its been over 100F for weeks and the 3.2L never goes over 185F (needle straight up) even with full AC and idling in traffic.

Maybe like you suspect, if its going much past 190 then perhaps something is not being as efficient as it should be.

-Clogged radiator, sometimes plastic bags get sucked in.

-Sticking thermostat, time for a new one

-Water pump is failing. This is a known issue and an engine builder here says replace every 3 years to be safe. The plastic water pump impeller vanes have a habit of breaking as they get old and more brittle which then pumps less coolant and in the worst case scenario the broken pieces block coolant passages in the heads and could lead to overheating problems.

What model and year is yours?

Perhaps others with that MY could verify your reading as normal or not.