Breaking in a new car

[shane_c]

I'll be picking up my Vibe on Feb 22. What is the proper way to break them in. No long trips? Keep the RPM under XXXX? Keep your speed under XXX km/h? Thanks for your help.

[Mavrik]

Well for my Vibe break in, for the first 1000km I tried to keep the revs under 3000RPM and I didn't travel faster then 110km on the highway. After that I just drove normally. Being as I got mine in the winter, I didn't driver very far which made that first 1000km drag on forever lol. I changed the oil at 2000km even though for us canadians, its 3 months or 5000km.

[joatmon]

You can download a PDF version of the owner's manual from one of the links in http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=1010For the 2006 Vibe ownerr's manual, it says:Quote, originally posted by "2006 Vibe OM page 2-14" »New Vehicle Break-InNotice: Your vehicle does not need an elaboratebreak-in. But it will perform better in the long run ifyou follow these guidelines:• Do not drive at any one constant speed, fast orslow, for the first 500 miles (805 km). Do notmake full-throttle starts. Avoid downshifting tobrake, or slow, the vehicle.• Avoid making hard stops for the first 200 miles(322 km) or so. During this time your new brakelinings are not yet broken in. Hard stops with newlinings can mean premature wear and earlierreplacement. Follow this breaking-in guidelineevery time you get new brake linings.• Do not tow a trailer during break-in. See Towing aTrailer on page 4-40 for the trailer towingcapabilities of your vehicle and moreinformation.Following break-in, engine speed and load can begradually increased.some people like to do the first oil change early.There is a "advice for new owners" thread at http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=5216 , but it's been idle for a while, so if you come up with any new advice for new owners, that'd be a good place to put it

[Cougar Vibe]

Generally, today's engines don't require a traditional break-in period due to modern machining and casting techniques, not to mention extremely fine parts tolerances. IMO, you should drive it as you normally would (varying RPM's and through a broad range of speeds), just don't drive it too much faster than 70mph for the first 500 miles or so. As for the first oil change, it's up to you. I changed mine out at 800 miles (to full synethic) just because I wanted to get under the car one warm weekend and see where everything was. However, the factory fill will be fine for 5k miles (Toyota uses bulk dino whereas Honda uses a special "high-moly" break-in oil). It's not like it's going to be loaded with metal shavings, processing solvents and casting sand.

[Mavrik]

here is why I suggest changing the oil early for the first one.First off its a new vehicle, the oil can get small filings of metal in it as the engine breaks in.Second who knows how old the oil in the car is. Just because the car is new, doesn't mean the oil is. That oil could have been sitting in that engine for a year if your buying say an 05 Vibe with the 06 Vibes arriving on the lot. Now is that year old oil something you want to drive on for the next 3 months? I don't.

[Cougar Vibe]

Doh, Mavrik makes a great point. Dealerships have a bad habit of starting cars and letting them idle for long periods of time...who knows how much fuel and condensation could be in your new car's oil pan. There, now we have a legitimate gripe for those who refuse to change their oil early.