There are good reasons for breaking in a vehicle. The process allows various car parts such as the engine, transmissions and drive axles to wear into each other and for engine bearings and cylinders to wear out evenly. The piston rings also need to settle or fully seat.

Because everything is new – the engine, the transmission, the brakes, they have to be gently eased into their work. Only when the gears start interacting can they find their “groove” – in other words, work themselves in. Not following the proper break-in procedures could result in premature failure of the engine or other parts.

Modern engines usually break in at around 1,000km. The first oil change has to be done fairly soon after this, as fine particles and rough edges from manufacturing will wear off and end up in the oil.

Breaking in a new vehicle is neither tedious nor time-consuming. Start off by treating the engine very gently. Stick to light-to-medium throttle acceleration and keep the odometer reading in the bottom half of the rpm range. As a general rule, it shouldn’t exceed 3,000 to 3,500rpm.

Don’t keep to a single continuous speed or gear too. Driving in too high a gear at low speeds makes the engine work harder. It’s better to run the engine a little faster with less throttle than too low an rpm with more throttle.

New engines shouldn’t idle for long periods of time. Oil pressure is lower when the engine is idle. Parts that depend on splash lubrication may not receive enough oil.

Full-throttle operation and putting heavy loads on the drivetrain should be avoided. Both actions place extra force on all moving parts in the drivetrain. New machine parts may look smooth on the surface, but under magnification, there are actually many rough spots or “hills and valleys”.

Lubricating oil forms a thin film that separates moving parts so that they don’t come into direct contact. If there is not enough lubrication or a heavy load is placed on the parts, the hills or high spots may push through the oil film and touch the other parts, causing them to wear out. The break in process allows the hills on the parts to wear down under a light load so that they don’t damage other parts.