New Car - 'Run in' advice

[ParisYaris]

Hi folks, my delivery is now on the mainland and as it is my first ever new car, I want to ask about this 'Let it run in' that I have heard over the years. 

Can someone explain what I need to do when the car finally arrives, which I presume will be in about a week's time.

Thanks.

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

First thing to do when you have your new car delivered is to get yourself familiar with. Check owners manual if hard copy available if not do that online. Make sure you have read all the book information even though many of the things will be bored and well known. These cars doesn’t need any special care when first run except been more relaxed and not push it to the limit. Avoid hard acceleration and hard braking for the first 400-500 miles. Toyota also recommends to avoid constant high speeds motorway drives, like let say 3 hrs at 70mph. If you are planning a long trip immediately after you have received the car, take it easy and try to change your speeds from time to tim , you can do 55-65-70 every 20 min then repeat again, just keep driving at different speeds and after two hours take a brake for 30 min. 
Last but not least, check your tyre pressure on cold with good pressure gauge, cars usually been delivered with over inflated tyres by lathe margin. Check the exterior and interior for any damage or poor fixings, gaps, scratches, poor paint work etc. Check under bonnet all liquids, engine oil. That’s pretty much all. 
Other than that there is nothing to worry about. Enjoy your new car 👍

[Cyker]

TBH, assuming you drive like a normal person and not like, say, me, then just drive the car as you normally would - That's about all you need for the 'run-in' on modern cars!

Avoid harsh speed changes, but let the engine see a wide variety of revs (e.g. don't run it at 2000rpm all the time) and it'll be fine.

In fact just re-read TonyHSD's post and pretend I said all the same things

[Derek.w]

No need to run in these days but dont stick to just one speed or max rpm limit just change it but within the speed limit of the road you are using.

[RobertR]

All the information about "run in" are in the owner manual. But mainly, don't drive hard, relax driving for about the first 1000km. You will not break the car when you overtake someone or hit the brakes really hard when some emergency situation occurs, but in general, drive normally, as a human being, not an animal.

TonyHSD, about that, don't run it at the same speed for a long period of time, you are right, sort of, because this is not such a true on CVT cars, because they change the rpm of the engine frequently(power demand, hybrid etc), on another hand if you own manual transmission or even automatic, then yes, it's not recommended pushing new engine on the same rpm for a long time.

[ParisYaris]

Thanks everyone for the input.  I have finally got my Yaris after 8 months wait.  Not done any motorway miles yet.  However, so far so good with  the 'Run in'.  To be honest I think I am far too careful with the Yaris that I am not driving it like I normally do.  Even gone so far as to give it a daily vacuum.  Trying to keep that new car feel!!

There are some niggles but I think its more of a personal preference.  I will hightlight these on the Yaris section.

 

[Cyker]

I think that's perfectly normal behaviour! I was also very careful with mine and pampering to it in my first year of ownership.

Now I've had it for a while, it's back to being a workhorse and now it looks as bad as all the other cars I've owned! (If there is still any supagard left on the car I'll be very impressed!  )

 

[Amanda76]

Just been reading a digital handbook as got my Yaris Cross last week, and just happened to spot this:

To extend the life of the vehicle, observing the following precautions is recommended:
●For the first 300 km (186 miles): Avoid sudden stops.
●For the first 800 km (500 miles): Do not tow a trailer.
●For the first 1000 km (621 miles): • Do not drive at extremely high speeds.
• Avoid sudden acceleration.
• Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods.

[WALLOP]

Just to add that with any new engine there will be tiny amounts of metallic particles generated as the engine beds in which will increase wear of the engine components. If you intend keeping this car for a long time then it is well worth doing an oil and filter change at 1500 miles to ensure that there are no abrasive fragments left in the oil (if you do this yourself ensure that you use the correct Toyota branded oil and filter). The extra wear that not doing this will cause will only probably show up after in excess of 100,000 miles so i wouldn't bother if you are going to hand it back after 3 yrs.  I left my oil change to 1500 miles rather than the more standard  1000 miles due to the fact that the hybrid engine is only running 2/3 of the time or less if your driving mainly in urban environments.

[Cyker]

The CarCareNut guy on youtube recommends that too, although I must admit I didn't bother with mine... 

It isn't something Toyota stipulate so hopefully doesn't matter too much...

I'm pretty sure I'd break the car some other way before it became a problem anyway  

[Jimota]

As a young man (long time ago) I once d owned a Vauxhall Nova.  When purchased new, it required an oil change within the first 500 miles.

[RobertR]

Yes, it's good to do that but the engine contains a filter and magnet to collect claps. Don't think this is the main reason why engines fail. Most of the failures on the old vehicles are accessories around the engines, not the engine self, like the water pump, belt, 12 Battery, parts made of plastic or rubber, EGR etc. Hardly any wear on the engine. Only in cases when the human factor came in and the owner is ignorant and doesn't do basic maintenance or drives the car incorrectly (hard acceleration with cool engine...). It's no rare thing when owners don't do an oil change for 60k.

[TonyHSD]

Absolutely not necessarily to change oil at first 1000 miles or so. , also not necessarily to change oil at 5000 miles, simply stick with Toyota 10000 miles or 12 months recommended intervals. Important here is to do that service within the interval, could be slightly earlier but best to avoid later changes. As mentioned above, some car owners neglected their cars as they use them not in accordance with the manufacturer intended purpose ( hard acceleration when cold, hard braking, late service etc) and then these cars can suffer premature failure. Also using incorrect parts and lubricants can also lead to premature wearing of parts and higher oil consumption. And remember after some miles and years every engine will start consuming some oil, metal parts wear out with the mileage and this is unavoidable. 
 

“- To extend the life of the vehicle, observing the following precautions is recommended:
●For the first 300 km (186 miles): Avoid sudden stops.
●For the first 800 km (500 miles): Do not tow a trailer.
●For the first 1000 km (621 miles): • Do not drive at extremely high speeds.
• Avoid sudden acceleration.
• Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods. “

We’ll been always driven like that now over 230k trouble free miles 👌

 

[Mojo1010]

I'm getting the new MK4 some time next year, just going to follow the yearly service interval. No need to change oil at 1k miles, trust Toyota. 

[Cyker]

Hmm, I did some of the things on that list...

[Catlover]

I think engineering machines are better than say 40-50-60 years ago, and lubricants will be better too. So I agree with what most on here are saying ie no need to run so carefully as years ago and no need to change oils at short times as suggested by some. Times have changed.                  
Just drive steadily but progressive. Brisk acceleration will be fine, but no harsh stuff yet. Taking your speed up to 70 (where permitted) will be fine, but if safe come back down to 60/50 and back up again. All that will help the engine to bed in. Just make sure oils and filters are changed in accord with manufacturers recommendations. Enjoy.

[Jimota]

As they say, everything in moderation.