I think it is fairly commonly accepted that courtessy cars, dealer demos, hire cars, lease cars, press fleet cars - all never get run in. But these are always sold on long before any potential probs can arise.
Specifically regarding dealer demos - I would suggest that the general advice would be to avoid where possible. However, there are some dealers who do actually run in their demos correctly - though this is usually their higher performance 'halo' cars, such as the GTI, R32, RS4, R8. But I doubt that any 1 litre 3 cylinder VW Fox gets properly run it! So the best, and most 'common sense' advice would be simply to get to know the dealer - and get them to drive the car with you in it - and see how they treat it. OK, this isn't going to give an 'absolute' answer, but at least you can get some kind of idea of weather they are 'mechanically concientious' or not.
TT what would you say is the best way to run in a new GTI?
Well the most obvious, and most fundamental answer is to fully comply with what it says in the owners manual. So on the day you go and pick up your brand new car, you will naturally feel like a dog with two dicks, and just wanna get out and drive it ASAP - my really, really important advice would be to read the manual before you even fire up the engine. No matter how desparate you are to drive it, even if you just read the relevent one or two specific pages on running it in will be a great help. If the stealer gets a little pushy for you to move off the fourcourt (if they have a high turnover of new car collections, such as on 1st September), then just drive off the fourcourt, and park up somewhere round the corner and have a read.
There are greater, more in-depth ways of running in, and there are also some vitally important 'do nots'. Search the Mk5 section where I posted some really detailed stuff.
But a couple of really important points - the first seems to be always overlooked, and the second is specific to 'auto' gearboxes. So firstly - ALWAYS make sure the ENGINE has reached its normal operating temperature. That means both the coolant AND the oil. On the Golf, the coolant is easy, because you have a coolant temperature guage (when some cars now seem to not have one at all!
), but the oil is more difficult, because there is no guage or warning light for oil temps. On VW cars with 2zone climatronic, there is a method of accessing the 'hidden menus' - but most peeps (even me! :embarassed:) forget how to access it. So . . . . a good 'rule of thumb' is that engine oil always takes longer than the coolant to reach normal operating temperature (due to its molecular construction, density, and also fundamental engine designs). So, from experience (and depending on outside ambient temps), the oil will take between 2 and 5 minutes longer than the coolant to reach operating temps.
Secondly, DSG and 'flappy paddles'. Whilst you may be severly tempted to use manual mode or the paddles - the DSG, just like all modern electronically controlled auto gearboxes, will optimise the shift points to achive the most rapid engine warm up procedure. So just leave the stick in D mode until it gets warm.
I come from a motorbike background and was advised by my supplying dealer that if I ran it in 'enthusiastically' that it would end up a bit quicker.
Ahhhhhhh . . . motorbikes, running in, and maximum power! Yes, I am well aware of that certain Yank site which tells peeps to thrash the bollox of them straight out of the box!
But will he pay the bill for when you engine needs a rebuild, or when it fails any emissions tests?
Yes, sure, I fully accept that by giving it the beans from the off, you
will enable the engine to deliver slightly more power much earlier in the engines 'life' - but by doing so - you will
seriously reduce the engines life too. And even then, by caning it from the off, the power gains are increadibly limited. For example, on a litre bike engine, such as a Fireblade or Gixxer, you will probably get an extra 1 or 2 bhp over what you would have from running it in by the book. And on say the GTI engine, you might get an extra 3 or 4 ponies. So is it really worth it?
Just ask yourself how many sportsbikes you know which have done anywhere near a 100k miles or more, without needing anything more than the usual routing maintenance items (such as camchains & tensioners, and tappet shims)! If you can find me a Fireblade or Gixxer which was caned from the off, and has more than 80k miles on the clock, I'll buy you a slab of beer!
And actually, those 'extra' horses which were gained during the very early life by caning it can still be gained when running an engine by the book - but it will just take a little longer. Just like I mentioned in the oil thread, where it can take anywhere between about 8k to 14k to get the oil consumption to stabilise, it is also around these figures when engines are well and truely run in, and will therefore be making maximum power. And it is also this reason why I personally don't agree with remapping an engine when it is relatively new.
Finally, don't forget, motorcycle dealers are only interested in selling bikes, and selling bits and workshop time to fit them. And bikers are a fikkle community - they generally don't have the same levels of 'brand loyalty' as say dub owners or indeed car owners as a whole. And how often is 'long term reliability' considered when a biker purchases a brand new bike.
I know this is a much flogged to death subject but i'm interested in what is considered the 'correct way'.
The 'correct way' is to never disregard what it says in the owners manual.
HTH
