One of my colleagues in the newsroom
recently got a new car, so she stopped by this Virtual Garage to ask some
real-life questions.
She was mainly concerned about how
to drive the car during its initial miles, having heard some “old husband’s
tales” of how to “break in” the engine properly.
My advice was (and is) to just drive
normally for the first thousand miles or so, but avoid any high-RPM use of the
engine... from rapid acceleration or constant speed greater than 65 or 70
miles per hour.
This question has some historical
context, because for many decades new cars came with very specific instructions
for breaking in the engine: owners were told how far to drive, and at what
speed, and then to park the car until the engine
cooled.
This was done to allow the piston
rings, cylinder walls, valves and valve seats to seal properly. NOT following
the break-in instructions “back in the day” could leave a new engine running
badly and consuming engine oil.
These days, with modern advances in
metallurgy and computer-aided engine design, new vehicle engines are pretty much
“good to go” right off the dealer’s lot.
A question about the new car’s
finish also came up: should she wax it right away? There is no other answer but
an enthusiastic “yes.”
A coat or two of good quality wax
(the cheap stuff is better than no wax) not only makes the new vehicle look
good, it protects the paint from tree sap, bird droppings, road tar and the salt
spray we will experience soon enough. Simply put, wax makes the bad stuff
easier to remove from the paint.
Wash the vehicle when it needs it,
and use CAR WASH SOAP if you do the job at home. This soap will help the wax on
the finish last as long as possible. Laundry detergent and dish soap are hard
on a wax job.
I am also a fan of seat covers for
new cars, unless the vehicle has leather seats. Covering fabric seats protects
them from all kinds of dirt, crumbs and spills. A clean interior will make the
car worth more when you eventually want to sell it or trade it in. Car seat
covers can be washed with the laundry as needed.
With winter on the way, it is also a
good idea to protect the new carpet of a new vehicle. I like to put paper
grocery bags or old towels UNDER the floor mats. When the bags or towels get
wet from melting slush, get them out right away... and replace them with clean,
dry material. This will help keep the carpet dry, which is almost as important
as keeping it clean.
