Running in...please pass.

[wassap]

wasn't talking bout fuel dood, I mean the inflated prices franchises charge in UK for new cars,

generating wealth for company and economy has to be the funniest reason yet for kidding yourself driving like a loon is acceptable, just say what you are "turbo nutter b'stard"

and yes I would like to own an ST but I drive 60 miles a day to work so not the most economical way to commute for me

I still dont get how having a company car drives up the cost of a car on a forecourt, quite frankly sir you are talking out of your behind.

By the way, i did a 80 mile a day commute in my mondeo ST24........

And i do generate wealth, so i see no problem in having a few luxuries in life (if a ford can ever be regarded as a luxury) and your second comment is also correct

 

[Briton]

No, but I wouldn't expect to be able to void the warranty because the customer didn't follow some advice buried somewhere in a 200-page manual.

You're making the assumption that "taking it easy" to start with is common sense and something everyone would know. This couldn't be further from the truth.

Couldn't be further from the truth? I think that's rubbish TBO...I think the vast majority of people would consider that 'taking it easy' with a new motor is common sense and frankly I don't believe those who say they'd 'rag the nuts of it'.

As this thread and others have demonstrated, even amongst some enthusiasts there is an attitude that such measures are no longer required with modern vehicles (not debating whether this is the case or not mind), and amongst the motoring public as a whole I'd imagine this attitude is just as prevalent, if not more so.
In the absence of any guidelines to the contrary therefore, such customers will drive the car as they please. If they are subsequently told by the dealer that their warranty is void because they didn't read the aforementioned warning buried in the manual then I think they'd have a very strong case in court.

Again I think you're wrong. If that were the case then there would never be any 'small print' problems. I suspect the vast majority of people, making what is probably the second biggest investment they'll ever make, will be careful and do their research as to what good practice is. Wouldn't you?

Consigning important warnings about non-obvious things to the "small print" is not an acceptable practice, nor is "should have read the manual mate" an acceptable defence on the part of the vendor.

I think you'll find it is acceptable legally but would agree it's not acceptable practice and no decent vendor would do that. That would be stupid and to their disadvantage. BTW...you say non-obvious but I would say nearly everybody on the planet would consider taking out any brand new machine and 'ragging the nuts off it' as an obviously stupid thing to do.

 

[Vertigo]

Again I think you're wrong. If that were the case then there would never be any 'small print' problems. I suspect the vast majority of people, making what is probably the second biggest investment they'll ever make, will be careful and do their research as to what good practice is.

What are you basing this on? You only have to look at how many in here (a forum populated largely by enthusiasts) have said they would (or indeed have already) drive(n) the car hard from the outset. This could be because they don't believe gentle treatment is required, believe "hard" treatment is more beneficial or indeed just don't care. If a forum of those who know about cars will do this why wouldn't the attitude be just as prevalent amongst those who aren't as knowledgable? As I said, there seems to be a lot of people under the opinion that "running in" is an antiquated requirement that no longer applies to modern cars.

Wouldn't you?

I did some research before getting my latest car and in the end decided to follow different advice to that provided in the manual, which did involve some bursts of hard acceleration and high revs, albeit with a fully warmed through engine.

If, at some later date, they try to void the warranty and cite my behaviour during the "running in" period, I will claim ignorance and that I was never made aware of any such requirements. If they try to say this was common sense then I'll just reply that I didn't think modern cars required running in and that if it was this critical they should have mentioned it to me when I took delivery of the car. Just as you can sign a contract and a court can subsequently determine that certain terms and clauses in said contract are legally "unfair" and thus not enforceable, a similar thing would apply in this scenario.

Should such a case end up in a court of law, I'd bet serious amounts of money that the verdict would be in my favour.

 

[merlin]

ECU reset = your friend.

 

[merlin]

frankly I don't believe those who say they'd 'rag the nuts of it'.

Just in case that was aimed at me - the last Impreza I had I took out one night with about 180 miles on the clock and pasted it for a good two or three hours.

And a member of this forum was sat in my passenger seat as witness.

 

[Briton]

Just in case that was aimed at me - the last Impreza I had I took out one night with about 180 miles on the clock and pasted it for a good two or three hours.

And a member of this forum was sat in my passenger seat as witness.

Fair enough. Was there any manufacturers advice regarding this?

 

[Stephen B]

I still dont get how having a company car drives up the cost of a car on a forecourt, quite frankly sir you are talking out of your behind.

By the way, i did a 80 mile a day commute in my mondeo ST24........

And i do generate wealth, so i see no problem in having a few luxuries in life (if a ford can ever be regarded as a luxury) and your second comment is also correct

well it has been stated argued and agreed numerous times in the motoring press that because companies tend to set a limit as to the amount of cash they are prepared to allocate for a company car and all they are interested in is residuals at the end of the contract, the franchises set their prices accordingly

or are you trying to say that the only reason you can buy the same car cheaper in europe is because of taxes ?

Britain is the biggest player in europe when it comes to company car schemes, and the single most obvious reason why we pay more for cars in UK.

Hopefully your job isn't in retail

apologies OP, for going off topic but if you accuse someone of talking out there ass be prepared for a response

 

[wassap]

well it has been stated argued and agreed numerous times in the motoring press that because companies tend to set a limit as to the amount of cash they are prepared to allocate for a company car and all they are interested in is residuals at the end of the contract, the franchises set their prices accordingly

or are you trying to say that the only reason you can buy the same car cheaper in europe is because of taxes ?

Britain is the biggest player in europe when it comes to company car schemes, and the single most obvious reason why we pay more for cars in UK.

Hopefully your job isn't in retail

apologies OP, for going off topic but if you accuse someone of talking out there ass be prepared for a response

My company paid 17.9k for my car, which 3k more than what people who work for ford (and their families) pay for the same car.So wheres the outrage there?

Cars can be had at the same price as the mainland from brokers anyway.

 

[merlin]

Fair enough. Was there any manufacturers advice regarding this?

Yes, the manufacturers advice was don't go over 4,000rpm or labour the engine whilst using the running in oil, which I completely disregarded with all four Subaru Impreza's.

 

[Briton]

Yes, the manufacturers advice was don't go over 4,000rpm or labour the engine whilst using the running in oil, which I completely disregarded with all four Subaru Impreza's.

So why do you disregard this advice?

 

[merlin]

So why do you disregard this advice?

Two reasons.

Firstly - I didn't care, as they were all company cars.

Secondly - I couldn't wait till 1,000 miles had passed before being able to boot them and enjoy them (especially the two turbo'd ones).

 

[Briton]

Two reasons.

Firstly - I didn't care, as they were all company cars.

Secondly - I couldn't wait till 1,000 miles had passed before being able to boot them and enjoy them (especially the two turbo'd ones).

Can I ask, is this company yours?

 

[merlin]

Can I ask, is this company yours?

Yes you can ask, no it isn't.

 

[Briton]

Yes you can ask, no it isn't.

Right so you are not the customer. I do not find it hard to believe that you would be happy to 'rag the nuts off' someone else's property.

 

[merlin]

Right so you are not the customer. I do not find it hard to believe that you would be happy to 'rag the nuts off' someone else's property.

Right o.

The point here is not what I did to those poor helpless defenceless cars, it's actually that three of them I see regularly around the town and they're all still going nicely.

One of them is owned by an employee of the Subaru dealer hence I know the mileage is around 150k because I'm in the dealers every 3 months or so as they are clients of mine. The other two are still serviced there and I always ask jokingly whether any of my old cars have blown up yet.

That's the point - of 4 I had and thrashed from new I know that three have not suffered any problems at all, the other one is out of town.

 

[Briton]

Right o.

The point here is not what I did to those poor helpless defenceless cars, it's actually that three of them I see regularly around the town and they're all still going nicely.

One of them is owned by an employee of the Subaru dealer hence I know the mileage is around 150k because I'm in the dealers every 3 months or so as they are clients of mine. The other two are still serviced there and I always ask jokingly whether any of my old cars have blown up yet.

That's the point - of 4 I had and thrashed from new I know that three have not suffered any problems at all, the other one is out of town.

So you would 'rag the nuts off it' and ignore the advice of the manufacturer if you bought one with your own hard earned?

 

[merlin]

So you would 'rag the nuts off it' and ignore the advice of the manufacturer if you bought one with your own hard earned?

Damn right I would, and have. I bought a Honda Integra with 11,500 km's on the clock and ragged that right from the word go. I'd have done it from 1 mile on the clock if it hadn't have been in Japan for 11,500km.

There's a lot of people on Honda forums who firmly believe ragging Honda's from new helps to reduce oil consumption.

 

[Briton]

Damn right I would, and have. I bought a Honda Integra with 11,500 km's on the clock and ragged that right from the word go. I'd have done it from 1 mile on the clock if it hadn't have been in Japan for 11,500km.

There's a lot of people on Honda forums who firmly believe ragging Honda's from new helps to reduce oil consumption.

So why do you think the manufacturers make these recommendations?

 

[Stephen B]

Seeing as this particular debate is going nowhere between you two ^^^

Can you quantify "rag the nuts off" ?

Are you suggesting from cold you wheelspin it from your driveway and every consequent roundabout and junction to your destination, ignoring speed limits and the likes ?

Or merely enjoy the full acceleration range of the engine when the opportunity presents itself on your journey [this I would find unlikely and severely limited as the performance of a Subaru will surpass practically all speed limits pretty rapidly]

admission of the former is obviously going to upset most of the members reading this thread apart from yourself and all the other pseudo anarchists [boy racers] in here , but I'm beginning to think we need to establish exactly what you mean rather than extrapalating our own worst fears when you use such a term.

I am partial to the odd "nailing" of the throttle myself and incur the ususal shaking of heads from the blue rinse brigade, and to be honest my choice of car these days is more fuel consumption orientated than engine power. However I have never "ragged" any vehicle for more than brief period and generally only in an attempt to feel the characteristics of the vehicle in question. I resist the urge to abuse company vehicles and bosses vehicles as I simply wouldn't want someone to do it to mine if the circumstances were reversed.

 

[Simon]

So why do you think the manufacturers make these recommendations?

General public don't even know a car needs warming up though. Once an engine is up to temp some normal driving will be fine. Normal depends on the driver of course but ragging a new engine is not too much of a problem.

I would take it easy on the brakes and clutch though