dominator8

Just purchased a 2015 IS 350 and the dealership said for the first 1000 km to follow these guidelines to break-in the new car:

1) Don't accelerate too fast.
2) Don't go over 110 km/h.
3) Don't brake really hard.
4) Don't cruise at any speed for a long time (~10 mins).

It's actually in the car manual too but haven't seen anyone talk about it on this forum so just wondering if anyone else has been told this by their dealership?

Thanks in advance.

faisal11ir

That's exactly what they told me here and the car felt stable specially the fuel consumption at 8,000km.

drbazing

Pretty sure my car was abused from all 165 miles of test drives. Just my assumption, but I wouldn't worry about it.

moose66

It's been covered here in the past. It's just been a while:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...in-period.html

HammerDown

I cruised for the first 1000 miles not going over 3500 rpm and today after 3 months of ownership I put it in manual mode & selected the sport setting and took her up til the shift light came on. I love the way the intake sounds at that rpm. I quickly let off because I love my 31.5mpg lol

Fooz

My dealer told me that the engines are run in at the factory.

NVMarkus

iTrader: (2)

Ditto, my dealer said that the break in was completed at the Factory

moose66

True the factory may crank and run the engine at the plant. But to truly break it in? Doubt that happens. I don't have my manual in front of me, but isn't there info in there about a break in period?

So let's call it a two stage break in process. You have the factory start up and what the owner should probably do just to be safe for the first 1000 miles.

Randre19

I dont believe I followed that break-in period at all. I didn't go crazy with the car, but I definitely had moments of spirited driving before I reached a 1000 miles. Hell, my brothers drove my car harder than I did the first time they got the chance. These engines are amazing and durable. I would be surprised if a break-in period made a difference or not. Just my 2 cents

Spagolli94

There are many theories on proper break-in and it's hard to tell what to believe. I've heard the following:

•*Baby it
•*Drive it like you stole it
•*Drive it like you normally would

I've even heard that dealers want you to baby it for legal reasons. It's a new car and the driver needs time to get used to everything before the start exploring limits.

For me, I certainly don't baby it, but I don't get on it too hard yet either. So I guess I just drive it pretty much like a normally would. Perhaps I go a little light on the throttle and shift a bit earlier.

One common denominator seems to be avoid consistent speed for long periods of time. My car was driven from another dealer as it fell just short of being trucked in. Apparently, if it's over 100 miles or so, the dealer will put it on a truck, rather than send a driver. The drive did include a lot of highway miles, but it's a busy highway so I'm not too worried that the driver had it in cruise control the whole time.

For those who don't redline their engines (at all) during break in, have you considered what was done during test drives before you bought the car?

I don't think there's anyway to really know the best break-in technique without some sort of scientific study. It would be interesting to take 3 cars, baby one, go hard on another, and drive the last one relatively normal. Then track the cars over 100,000k miles, measuring reliability, power and economy at various intervals.

ISISGUY

I think everyone is going to have a different opinion on this based on personal experiences. I'm a firm believer that the car will adapt to your driving habits, within reason, and if you start out driving it spirited, as long as you don't abuse it, it'll be fine. My last car was an RSX Type S, redlined the second day of having it and never had any issues up until I sold it 120k miles later. With this one, I've definitely relaxed my driving habits, but I think it can handle more than what most of us would do with it, again, within reason.