Bought a brand new car with 12 miles on the odometer. Do I have to drive differently or anything since the engine is new? I've heard something like that in the past but don't know how true it is. Thanks!

This post was edited by dark-soul on Sep 11 2016 09:49am

Yes. They have break in periods. after 500 you should be good

wat

i'mm almost positive the assembly plant does it, or that they just don't need to be broken in anymore. but engines aren't really my thing so I'm not too sure.

The initial run in is done at the assembly plant. All you need to do is change the oil early the first time. Varied RPM and load wouldn't be a bad idea either.

There are so many opinions on how to treat a brand new car and everyone will be right and wrong.

There's nothing "wrong" with following the small break-in period which is typically 1000 miles (usually less than 1 month of driving). These "rules" typically include my driving over 4000rpm and going easy on hard braking. Changing your oil sooner is also advised. Following these few things will cost you $30-70 and 1 month of slower, more conservative driving.....not that big of a deal.


If you want to take care of the paint, spend $800-1200 on a professional installation of a opti coat product or cQuartz (prices will easily vary).

This post was edited by stupidkid282 on Sep 11 2016 02:51pm

Easy break in is a myth. With the adaptive transmissions in cars these days you should get in and drive it like normal. High load actually helps seat the rings. Lugging the engine at low rpm is about the worst thing you could do. It's all semantics though since they run them on a dyno before delivery. It's already been flogged on.

It's not a myth and I'm not going to argue about it

I'm merely finding a middle ground where it's not even remotely a big deal to "follow" the break-in procedures that all car dealerships recommend.

High revving your engine is completely healthy for your
car, it's not completely necessary during your first month of driving.


Numerous sources will tell you car break-in periods aren't as relevant today as they were decades ago, but it's not a big deal to follow it.

If you haven't gotten the hint yet, I'm nearly agreeing with you.

I just don't think it's a big deal to spend much less than 1% of the car's life taking it easy. Not to mention it's the perfect time to understand how the car responds during easy driving before driving hard (depending on personal driving habits).

This post was edited by stupidkid282 on Sep 11 2016 03:29pm