Cross-state break in

[xyzzy]

I bought my 4Runner with 10 miles on it 950 miles from where I live, drove it through town, got gas, a few other short stops, then I hit the highway, then the Interstate. Cruise control was set to 55, 65, and 75 (even up to 85) until I got home 14+ hours after I drove straight home from the dealership. The uphills and downhills had the RPMs changing as I drove home.

Once the odometer hit 2400 miles, my MPGs have started rising, going from 16.8 (when I got home from the dealer) to 17.9 now at 3000 miles. I expect that the MPGs will continue increasing since the real time MPG readout display usually is over 20 MPG with my driving style.

I thought about worrying about this break-in process, but never did; and you probably shouldn't either.

 

[ElectroBoy]

Just drive it like you normally would. If it's a long interstate drive, take an exit every hour or so. It's going to be fine no matter what you do short of drag-racing it repeatedly for the first few hundred miles.

Exactly. Just drive it. You’ll be getting off the interstate anyway at least every couple of hours for a bathroom break, gas, food, sight-seeing. When you do, drive around at in-town speed for a while. Stop and go. Easy acceleration. You’ll be fine.
If you can drive back roads at slower, more variable speeds, try that.

 

[arcotx]

Same. Bought with 1 mile on the ODO and did about 100miles of city driving then took it into the mountains for about 40 miles, then took a 809 mile trip home trying not to make it sweat. I followed the manual as best I could although I really wish it’s more explicit like “don’t use cruise control, extended periods mean x minutes or hours” but they didn’t. I’ve seen a dealer blog say keep it under 4k rpm and 621 miles xyz which is seemingly just made up

 

[Cajunchuck]

Mine had 4 miles on the odometer on the test drive. Bought it and promptly drove it home 990 miles away. Did it in one shot too. Most of it was interstate but I did try my best to vary my speed. So far no problems. Did an oil change when I got home and am planning to follow the "every 5K" plan.