Is it really necessary to drive a new car "gently" for a while to break it in? Some things I've read mention 600 miles, I believe. Eeek! It would take me about (calculates) . . . 4 months of regular driving to reach this number.

What's the purpose of this, and what systems are the most critical to treat gently?

No, that went out with sword fightin' & knickers, except take it easy on the brakes for the first few miles.

Here's an article from Popular Mechanics which supports that view Bruce. It does say to change the oil after 20 miles, not to put protectants on new vinyl interiors, and to apply 3m Paint Protection Film to the front painted surfaces. Hmm

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...k-in-a-new-car

Well that's the kind of driving that I would put on the first 1K miles driven to your location.

orly? ;)

I'm on the side of the comments, I think this guy is full of shit. He talks about the difference between regular(mineral) oil, and synthetic oil, like they are whole different animals. They aren't, they are both made up of mostly the same additives, the prime difference, besides price, being if the engine overheats for some reason, the synthetic oil will still work and not char.

As far as the ad for 3-M Clear Bra, yes it will prevent some stone chips in the clear coat over the life of the car. But clear coat chips are easy to touch up, and the Clear Bra will be several hundred dollars to have one cut for your vehicle applied. Otherwise it will look like hell.

Stick to the manufacturer's recommendations... not the salesman, the manufacturer.

well, I mostly ignored the stuff about the oil, since I'm not going to put anything different in there. Change it, yeah.

My present car shows more wear on the sides than the front. If I get the Juke I might invest in a car cover, since I have no garage, and it has a lot of non-metallic trim, which seems to suffer in my climate.

Re: Mud guard/flaps and floor mats

since dealers often add these, are these desirable/necessary/worth the money?

In particular, I thought floor mats were suspect because they catch under the pedals and cause safety problems. Yes?

Personally, if they aren't included, I wouldn't buy them.

But I think it's BS that floor mats wouldn't be included. Do they also charge extra for the wiper blades?

Floor mats didn't come with my Insight. When I finally tried to buy the factory mats they were no longer available.

I'd get the floor mats. The aftermarket ones usually suck, are cheap and DON'T EVER really fit right.

The best thing to do with the floor mats is to hang them vertically in your garage - carpet side facing the wall, btw - and put them back in the day before you sell the car.

vat is dis "garage" you speak ov?

Your hall closet.

so noted.

and if I don't have a lot of snow, ice, and salt to deal with, are mud flaps desirable?