[geckofrey]

One of my favorite things of the Euro cars is the global windows (being able to hold the unlock button and have the windows roll down). I really wish they had this on the US.

Also, I get my car this week, and I understand that everyone has their own way of "breaking in" their foci, and yes I have read the other websites about it etc., but is it honestly okay if I just drive the car like I normally would?

I feel like everyone is saying I need to do certain things in the first 20 miles, IMHO, I don't know if I have the space or roads (living in NOVA=Northern Virginia outside DC) to do that... But after reading everything people have said about proper "break in" of the car I feel like i NEED to it a certain way... PLEASE HELP! [pray]

 

[justy]

Also, I get my car this week, and I understand that everyone has their own way of "breaking in" their foci, and yes I have read the other websites about it etc., but is it honestly okay if I just drive the car like I normally would?

I feel like everyone is saying I need to do certain things in the first 20 miles, IMHO, I don't know if I have the space or roads (living in NOVA=Northern Virginia outside DC) to do that... But after reading everything people have said about proper "break in" of the car I feel like i NEED to it a certain way... PLEASE HELP! [pray]

I also want to know about this...I think the break-in thing may be a myth otherwise the cars on the lots that get test drove would be screwed up kinda?

 

[MGbox]

20miles is so low.
every car has at least 4m just from driving it off the assembly line.

then factor in whatever other delivery miles, fuel ups, test drives, etc. i bet very few people get in with less than 20miles.

 

[elwood125]

For what its worth, my 01 zx3 I took my first test drive with 4.6 miles and 227,995.4 miles later it did ok...

So I think its more worth watching and just not doing something stupid in the first 1k miles tbh

 

[herbz]

For break in definetely drive it like you would normally drive it, with two rules.

-Dont red line
-Vary speeds if possible. Dont plan a 500 mile road trip the first week you have the car.

 

[benkap]

What kind of roads are you looking for?

 

[scottjl]

20miles is so low.
every car has at least 4m just from driving it off the assembly line.

Completely untrue. The past 3 cars I've ordered all came with less than a mile on them.

To the OP. If you've read the various opinions out there and recognize that some have conflicting information how do you think anyone here is going to be able to give you the "right" answer?

Take everyone with a grain of salt and break in the vehicle however you feel like. If there are major problems do it differently next time. [wrenchin]

 

[geckofrey]

Completely untrue. The past 3 cars I've ordered all came with less than a mile on them.

To the OP. If you've read the various opinions out there and recognize that some have conflicting information how do you think anyone here is going to be able to give you the "right" answer?

Take everyone with a grain of salt and break in the vehicle however you feel like. If there are major problems do it differently next time. [wrenchin]

I wasn't exactly looking for a "right" answer. Some people are just firm believers that it NEEDS to be broken in a certain way. Just trying to figure out if their are simple rules that can be followed to make my car not break right away haha. I definitely do take it all with a grain of salt and I will do it different next time if I screw it up this time. Just my first new car that I have bought, and my first ford. []

What kind of roads are you looking for?

I was thinking about taking it on some country roads to give it a full range of different terrains (hills and flat), accelerating, etc.

 

[benkap]

I was thinking about taking it on some country roads to give it a full range of different terrains (hills and flat), accelerating, etc.

Clifton is great for that.

If you're up to a little drive, head down 29 south to 28, take 28 south down past Nokesville and check out Elk Run, and all of the little side roads off of it.

 

[LostContrails]

Too me it would make sense that you drive it like you normally would. Wouldn't that break in the car just the way YOU personally like it? If not, you would get used to how the new car operates and you'll be the one breaking into the car. Either way I say your best driving it how you normally do.

 

[benkap]

Too me it would make sense that you drive it like you normally would. Wouldn't that break in the car just the way YOU personally like it? If not, you would get used to how the new car operates and you'll be the one breaking into the car. Either way I say your best driving it how you normally do.

If you like to drive by racing from light to light and running it out to the limit, I don't hink you should break in your car that way. The idea is to take it easy on the car until the ring seat properly and things begin to wear, so that things don't warp or break before it is ready to be driven hard.

 

[completely_focused]

Before you decide to do your break-in by driving it normally read this: Proper Breakin
Then, if you still feel like driving it normally go right ahead and do it.

After reading this myself I'm going to use S mode to break-in my focus.

 

[nateyo]

The titaniums have the global window thing if I remember correctly.

And yea Clifton roads are good, popes head off 7100 is a fun road to drive around on. Don't redline, but definitely do a lot of hard acceleration and engine breaking as that article says.

 

[geckofrey]

The titaniums have the global window thing if I remember correctly.

And yea Clifton roads are good, popes head off 7100 is a fun road to drive around on. Don't redline, but definitely do a lot of hard acceleration and engine breaking as that article says.

Yeah I am thinking the plan is to head to clifton after I get the car push it a little in sport mode doing the hard acceleration and deceleration w/o hitting the redline. Then just drive around normally.

Now lets hope I don't mess this up.... haha

 

[voip-ninja]

Just drive it like you would normally taking care not to red line it.

Break in is really a thing of the past. The cars are typically engineered now to actually assist with the break in. The car knows how many miles are on the clock and usually things like the transmission shift points, etc, will change as you put miles on the car.


The other thing people still do that they don't need to do, is changing the oil out the 1st time "prematurely" because of a belief that factory oil is special and will somehow mess the engine up if they don't change it right away.

Pure bologna! The engineers who design these engines and every step of the manufacturing process are not idiots.

 

[benkap]

Pure bologna! The engineers who design these engines and every step of the manufacturing process are not idiots.

I don't know, have you ever tried to change a water pump on the Zetec? Some of these things are not as planned out as they should be.

 

[wag4513]

Years ago chevy came out with a new car, when it came time for tune ups, much more common then, they discovered you had to pull the engine to change the spark plugs. No access. They of course did a work around and cut out part of the wheel wells to give access to the spark plugs, you just had to pull the wheels off to change the spark plugs.

Often cars are designed for ease of assembly, not maintenance.

 

[completely_focused]

Years ago chevy came out with a new car, when it came time for tune ups, much more common then, they discovered you had to pull the engine to change the spark plugs. No access. They of course did a work around and cut out part of the wheel wells to give access to the spark plugs, you just had to pull the wheels off to change the spark plugs.

Often cars are designed for ease of assembly, not maintenance.

Nothing wrong with that as long as it never breaks down.[wrenchin]

 

[MGbox]

Completely untrue. The past 3 cars I've ordered all came with less than a mile on them.

Were all 3 of them 2012 Foci? Sorry I should have specificed when I said every car I meant every 2012 Focus.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263494

Nobody has gotten one with 1 mile on it.

 

[Demthios]

Sadly not even the titanium models have the global window controls really wished they did.