Hi I'm new to the forum and a newb in every sense of the word. I just picked up my new prius on Friday and I think I may've jumped the gun and added 500 miles on it already. This is my first new car and I failed to realize there was a break in period. I went through the quick guide and made it about 1/5 through the owner's manual. It's only now (out of excitement of my new car) that I'm reading the forums (very informative by the way) and finding out that I was suppossed to "take it easy" for the first 600 miles. On this roadtrip, being thrilled with my new vehicle and loving the cup holders (none of my prior vehicles had them) I drove a bit aggressive......:redface: I may've hit 77 or 78 at some point.... What sort of repurcussions can I expect? I know, I know I should be flogged, and I feel horrible.... I made a real egregious error. How do I rectify? Many Thanks! Christian
Oh, you're hooped now. The car's ruined. Don't you know you should always read the whole manual before even sitting in the car? Just kidding. You probably didn't hurt it. But you should walk to work the rest of your life anyway. We'll all be better off.
The "break-in period" argument is never ending. Many people say there is no need for a break-in period and others swear there is. I know from a performance standpoint break-ins don't appear to matter. Some of the fastest stock vehicles I've seen were broke in by leaving tire marks out of the dealership parking lot. From a fuel efficiency standpoint I cannot say if a break-in period makes much of a difference or not. I tend to honor the break in period as much as possible but I rarely go more than a couple hundred miles before I just have to floor it to see what it can do. In otherwords, I wouldn't sweat it much man. No use crying over spilled milk huh?
I think they suggest that you vary your speed and not to use Cruise Control during the first few hundred miles. :smash: But Hay, Relax It's a Toyota!! :car: And Welcome To PC!
Welcome! F8L is right - the controversy continues, and as far as I can tell it makes no difference in modern engines which are so much better built, to better tolerances than, say, 30 years ago (I should know, I've had about 61 cars, most of them new). I drive "normally" in most cars from new. I might not pick street races with Mustangs for a thousand miles, but I don't baby them and I've never seen any oil use or other issues. You should be fine (but finish reading the manual - there's good info in there!).
Hi Cristian, Some points to keep in mind; It's a Toyota (can you think of a higher quality item), cutting edge at that 70-75 mph is likely not a 'load' on today's cars You have a solid warranty and can choose to extend it significantly if you like (great deal here on PC). Your new Prius will not let you down, go ahead and enjoy.:welcome:
75 mph isn't any big deal-probably takes maybe 30 hp to do that-just 30% of max ICE power. Don't worry about it.Modern motors don't really require much of a break-in period. Of course, if you are REALLY REALLY CONCERNED I'll -out of the goodness of my heart-trade you my low mile,gently broken in 2006 Prius with just 31,000 carefully broken in miles!! Ha, ha-guess not, huh? Charlie
Should be ok. It's not a hard and fast rule but a recommendation. The engine *may* run rougher a little earlier in its life but in all honestly, by that time, you probably wouldn't care or even notice.
Honestly, I've resisted the urge for full pedal acceleration (for more than a second or two), but I've got 8 miles to go before 600 and you bet I'll try it after that. I've yet to let the engine up past ~4000 RPM though. I picked up the car with 8 miles on the ODO. I can't say how it was driven during that time. There's debates both ways, but if the choices I make now help the car later on in life, so be it. I've been nice to the past two Prius as well.
My guess is you did no harm. Remember that the engine speed is almost completely decoupled from road speed, due to the peculiar drive train (unlike anything on the road before the Prius). For the same reason, the engine never really works too hard. I'd always recommend following the owner's manual. But just going fast on the freeway probably did no harm. Flooring it repeatedly uphill from a stop probably wouldn't be great. But Toyota builds cars solidly. And modern engines do not need to seat themselves the way older cars did. So enjoy your car and don't worry. (But walking to work is always better for the environment. )
What daniel wrote. Seriously, sit down and read through the frickin' manual. It's no Pulitzer contender but it contains lots of stuff you need to know.
Again the opinions about break in periods are all over the place but the issue itself is not raw speed but how much effort you make the engine make. If you slowly or even normally brought it to 78 that would not be a big deal. If you floored it thats a different story, the RPM's and engine load would be much higher.
It's unfortunate that your salesperson didn't at least explain the break-in period. I have asked numerous people their opinion on the break-in period and have gotten all types of answers... The most important thing is not smashing the pedal to the floor especially for extended periods of time. I have always gone up to 65+ mph when breaking in my new vehicles, but have resisted the flooring of the gas pedal You also want to take it easy on the brakes for the first 200 miles. Please read your owners manual and play with your features in the garage so that you can take full advantages of all that your new car has to offer you.
I would go get an oil change. I may be waxing old school, but I alway take a new car in for its first oil change at 1,000 miles or so. Any loose stuff, metal particles, sealant splashover, etc., should have washed down into the oil pan by then and I like to get that stuff out of there right away. After that, you can proceed to have the oil changed every 3,000-5,000 miles.
FYI. This is a public forum and if you post something that could come back and bite your nice person regarding a possible warranty issue, well... guess what? You did no harm, the car is bulletproof. I had a 2007 awaiting my black./grey 2010
Is that something that the dealer would go for? I ended up purchasing the extended warranty as well as the maintenance package. I really didn't want to take the chances of sending "mah brand new beybeh" to some folks who either wouldn't do the work, do the work and then steal the airbags, or do the work improperly (too much oil is what I've been hearing). I remember hearing my little sister complain that the dealership sent her a reminder to get an oil change on her Nissan Versa and when she got to the dealership to get the work done, they told her she was at 3k and didn't hit the 5k mark....I feel I may get the same shaft or even more so if I try to come in with only 1k. Yargh...
"I may've hit 77 or 78 at some point" I routinely drive at 80 to 85mph. As for break in, it is not how hard you push the engine, it is that you should vary your speeds during the first few hundred miles so that the pistons get well seated in the cylinders.
