Used car, new car break-in period.

[Voleak]

A young lady at work bought a used car this past week. It's a 2015 Toyota Yaris with 31,000 miles. This is her first time buying a car, and she said that she went into great detail with the sales person, about how excited she is to finally buy a car, and how proud her family is...

She said that the sales person told her to take it easy on the car for the first 1,000 miles, as the cars engine and brakes need to break-in properly, so that she can have a reliable car for many years to come. She said the sales person stressed that it's her new car and she must break it in properly.

Me and a couple of other co-workers said the sales man was talking bologna, and that the car already went through its break-in period with the original owner during the cars first 1,000 miles. We all got a good laugh out of this. But it's crazy what sales people will say to butter up a customer. LOL

 

[RooflessVW]

Salesperson is probably not a car guy and was just saying what he was taught to say - Toyota stores sell more new Toyotas than anything else.

 

[beanoil]

Laugh at the salesperson's schtick, but a little worried at how naive young ladies are about some things.

 

[SZR48207]

That's pretty tame advice from a dealership. She could have been told much worse.

 

[Zee09]

I had to break in my 730k mile used Fiat.
It must have been from the same dealership. Neat!

 

[i_hate_autofraud]

It's possible a dishonest dealer is trying to pass of a "creampuff" that's likely to break if driven normally
during the dealer's 30 day warranty!

 

[ls973800]

Perhaps the salesperson was telling her thinking it would help the car "learn" her driving habits? Some cars will adapt the transmission shifting and other perimeters to the way it is being driven, correct?

Not sure if the battery has to be disconnected to go into a "learning" curve or if it is done continuously.

 

[Zee09]

Originally Posted By: i_hate_autofraud

It's possible a dishonest dealer is trying to pass of a "creampuff" that's likely to break if driven normally
during the dealer's 30 day warranty!


Could be!!!!

 

[Kira]

Too bad we don't have a picture of the dealership.
We have some here which are incredibly shoddy looking.
Most of the personnel are straight from wanted posters.

 

[Trav]

The sad part is under certain circumstances the advice may be sound and valid. Take my MIL Toyota Corolla, it has 23K on it and truthfully unless by me has never seen more than 35 mph and mostly does get driven only on Sunday, its 13 yrs old and in mint condition.

Taking that engine out on the highway and giving it the beans could break the top rings. Getting that engine to the point it could handle full throttle runs will take some care.
True, it is much less likely to happen that it was years ago with today's oils and metallurgy but its not impossible if the bore has begun to develop a taper up top.

 

[93cruiser]

Originally Posted By: Trav
The sad part is under certain circumstances the advice may be sound and valid. Take my MIL Toyota Corolla, it has 23K on it and truthfully unless by me has never seen more than 35 mph and mostly does get driven only on Sunday, its 13 yrs old and in mint condition.

Taking that engine out on the highway and giving it the beans could break the top rings. Getting that engine to the point it could handle full throttle runs will take some care.
True, it is much less likely to happen that it was years ago with today's oils and metallurgy but its not impossible if the bore has begun to develop a taper up top.



I don't think anything would break. Warm up, drive, drive on highway, accelerate fast, doubt will break. Why would it?

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: 93cruiser
Originally Posted By: Trav
The sad part is under certain circumstances the advice may be sound and valid. Take my MIL Toyota Corolla, it has 23K on it and truthfully unless by me has never seen more than 35 mph and mostly does get driven only on Sunday, its 13 yrs old and in mint condition.

Taking that engine out on the highway and giving it the beans could break the top rings. Getting that engine to the point it could handle full throttle runs will take some care.
True, it is much less likely to happen that it was years ago with today's oils and metallurgy but its not impossible if the bore has begun to develop a taper up top.



I don't think anything would break. Warm up, drive, drive on highway, accelerate fast, doubt will break. Why would it?


Already explained above.

Car has developed a wear profile based on its established performance envelope. Push beyond that envelope, and you are sort-of in "new car" territory and may hit an unworn metal wear ridge.

Makes sense to me.

 

[raytseng]

sales person might have just gotten into the spiel because they are so used to giving it during new car delivery and doing the new car delivery checklist.

I think everyone is way overanalyzing the scenario. Its not black or white dishonest nor lazy from 1 mistake/misunderstanding. it's just human workers who've only acheived being a used car salesman in their life.

The only part that might ring true is if they did install new brake pads and tires as part of cpo she should
take it easy for a little bit, perhaps first 500miles is the number often given for new tires to wear through release oil, the little nubs, and the car alignment before you have full traction. Not the same reason but within the ballpark.

 

[WyrTwister]

Now that I am an old man , I see there is no point in " driving a car like you stole it " .

However , the car should already be broken in , by that point .

Insist on an oil / filter change before you take delivery . And a lube , if there are any places to grease . Check all the fluids , air pressure & condition of the tires . Brakes OK ?

Then just drive it and maintain the fluid levels .