How important is running a car in

[Dave]

Basically cos my local dealer has a demo Cup coming back in after one of the saleman leaves his job there.

Reckons its done 5k but thats likely to be a very very hard driven 5k. I said this to the sales guy and he was like "your buying a cup its a sports car they are all gonna be hammered".

Personally Id rather buy from an enthusiast who waits for it to warm up and ran it in properly but finding another silver one will be hard.

What do ya all reckon?

 

[Chris1.4RT]

Think Id avoid that one personally.

 

[iPap]

Speak to Steve (I never run mine in)V6. He will say its fine but ask him how much time his Mk I V spent in the garage!

 

[Lee]

I would never buy an ex demo. Ive driven plenty of brand new demos and given them so much stick!!! Like a 200 mile on the clock Impreza P1!!

They dont get warmed up, they dont get run in. Id steer clear personally.

Thats my thoughts on it anyway. I hate the thought that some kids has driven my car off a trailer. It had 7 miles on it when I got it, I hope it was looked after for those 7.

You should always run a car in, its not just the engine that needs it.

 

[iPap]

I had a 150 mile MR2 when they were new out, I treated it so nicely, gave it back two days later with 800 miles on it, all above 5000 revs...

(you reminded me Lee!)

 

[Dave]

So a lifetime of care in ownership by me couldnt undo the first 5000 miles?

 

[Rich-D]

Id be very cautious about buying an ex-demo myself...

My mate is sales manager for our local Renault dealer and I know for a fact that all new cars they have are hammered from day one!

The first 172 they ever got (mk1) got mailto:r@ped">r@ped from day one, the original mk1 V6 they got was nailed from the start too, the mk2 172 actually did a trackday when it was only a couple of days old, and their Cup was doing AP-22 runs whilst still on trade plates, etc... so they can lead a very hard life!



Also, another mate of mine bought an ex-demo 306 GTi-6 with only 4k miles on. However the car was never right, always had problems, the head hasket went twice and finally at about 30k miles the engine let go!!!

 

[edde]

Its importnant to bed the car in but not keep it under so "x" revs for a certain lenght of time . There a website on the net which explains why u should give it some stick when its warm but I cannot remember it.

There no way a salesman will have treated it gentle is there it will have been redlined from cold all the time.

Id keep well away. Sure its a got a warenty but hammering a car like sales people do is probably meant the car has less power and more wear than other models which could mean you have to keep going back for warently work.

EDD

 

[Mike@Rentech]

Very in my opinion, think its a must, some people may say different.

 

[toonboy]

its so true, if i got given a cup to drive around in that was not mine and never going to be mine i would hammer it every day without a care in the world!

 

[BenR]

eh???

My car was the company demo car.....it spent its entire life being thrashed, mostly by me and the demos i gave. Warmups were erm......about 2 mins, and i didnt treat it nice really. Suffice to say it never got that cold in HK and ambient temps are about 30-37 deg.

Suffice to say, it was the only clio in HK NEVER to have a problem!!! whoo hoo!

And when i sold it, it got that conky noise hahahaha.

I have no problem thrashing my new motors within reason.

If its got oil pressure and about 40 deg oil temp im off!!!

 

[kartman]

If I bought a brand new car then yes I would run it in carefully but having said that I think its just luck if you get a bad un. For a start my cup was an ex demo with 5k on it. One year on its not had a problem, so there ya go! Just luck I think.

 

[RPM]

Mine is an ex demo car. Never had a mechanical prblem except "knocking under....". It now has 30k on the clock. I think redlining it 20 sec after start is BAD! but taking it to 5k after 2 mins is nowhere neat as bad to the engine(i would not do it)

 

[steveV6]

Quote: Originally posted by NickyB on 16 February 2004

Speak to Steve (I never run mine in)V6. He will say its fine but ask him how much time his Mk I V spent in the garage!

Just bad luck, surely

 

[ChavyBoy]

OK how long you gonna keep the car ? Just until the warranty runs out or for a few more years ?

If you have it until the warranty runs out thrash the knackers of it but make sure the oil has warmed up like Ben says If it goes bang it has a warranty for that.

If you wanna keep it for a while just make sure everything has time to bed in them thrash it.

These are hot hatches they where designed to be driven hard so go and do it !

People who dont run there engines in find that there engines are usually faster than a running in engine.

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by ChavyBoy on 17 February 2004


People who dont run there engines in find that there engines are usually faster than a running in engine.

Thats just an old wives tale...

 

[Daz]

When we had a new car, they said "650 miles".. it then was broke, clunky gearbox on about 700 etc.. "Oh, 2000 miles run in, then itll be ok".. it was still broke.

We then asked how important it was "oh, it was run in at the factory.. "

Oh.. hmm, so who do ya believe?

 

[Yugguy]

Im lucky, my Clio172 that Im buying has been and still is in the showroom itself, so altho it may have had people sitting in it twiddling the knobs it hasnt ever left the showroom - it will be going literally 1/2 mile to another workshop to have the cat 1 alarm fitted and then on the back of a trailer to me so there shouldnt be much chance for it to be abused.

I ALWAYS let a car warm up before driving hard, because apart from the damage you can do to your engine, I like my tyres and brakes to have warmed up before I give them stick.

I will be taking it easy for the first 600 miles like the manual says, but I will occasionally take it over 3k revs, when warm, cos I dont think its good to settle it in a rut.

Also, thrashing a car is not necessarily good driving!!!! keeping it on song, maintaining speed through the corners, progressive inputs, this is what you want.