Just picked up my crossfire 2 nights ago. Is there a certain break-in period for the car? If so, what precautions should I take?

I'm planning on going on a 400 mile round trip this weekend. I've heard some people say that new cars aren't supposed to be driven at a constant speed for an extended period of time and whatnot. Is this true, and what else should I know about breaking it in?

How long before the first oil change? I've heard some people say to change the oil after the first 500 miles to get any metal debris out of there. Is this necessary?

 

Heb80.... The fact that the car comes with Synthetic oil tells me one thing.... The engine is already broken in. If you build a new engine you have to break it in with patrolium oil. It will never break-in with Synthetic oil. Synthetic oil reduces friction too much to allow for proper break-in.

As for changing the filter in 500 miles???? IMO the filter is there to catch contaminants. I don't see any reason to replace the filter @ 500 miles. Especially sine the engine is already broken in.

Good ol' #2896 is going in for her first oil change in about an hour. I'm also having them adjust the hatch to get rid of the rattle and put the glovebox lock back together.

 

I agree with WMichaels and I am a big believer in frequent oil changes. Because of the synthetic oil I waited until 3500 miles for 1st oil change. I always change the filter when the oil gets changed. I had it changed again at 8000 miles when I had my 1st Crossfire service and will probably get an oil change before the next service at 15,000 which means I will be changing oil roughly every 3500 - 4000 miles

 

Just got my first oil change and got the rear hatch rattle fixed. As well as getting the window switches fixed so "up" is "up" and "down" is "down". They told me that if I didn't have the service plan the oil and filter would have been $ 130.00.

While the car was in the shop I had a Sebring Convertable to drive. Not too bad.

When I got back to the dealer the Service manager and the Crossfire tech walked out to the car with me and they described everything that was done to the car.

The thing that impressed me most was that when I pulled into the service area for my 8:00 appointment. The Crossfire Tech. was waiting at the service desk to take the car back. We talked about the car he listened to my concerns. Very professional.............. This isn't the treatment I ever got with my 5* dealer when I had a Cirrus.... :lol:

Hall Chrysler in Virginia Beach has AWESOME service (a 5 * for sure)!!!

Oh.... Did I say I think my dealer is pretty good.... :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Glad to hear a "great" dealer review. Sounds like you got the red carpet treatment. We all should be that lucky. Md crab cakes and good dealer service... it doesn't get much better!!! :wink: :wink: :wink:

When they fixed your power window buttons, did they also reveres the icon on the switch so up is up? I fixed the switches myself and had to carefully remove the icon and replace it after the switch position was reveresed. To this day my dealer says that is the way it is supposed to be and wouldn't touch mine... yeah right. (At least they swapped out my transmission without ever dublicating the problem).

BTW: Are you and your bride going to drive out and take part in the"Left Coast" get together and drive up US 1 from LA to San Fran??? :P :P :P

 

Man.... I sure wish I could come out there. It would be a home coming for me, since I was born and raised in L.A. But I don't think it will be do-able.

The buttons are perfect. Just as they were before. The tech told me that it was a piece of cake to fix. He said the biggest pain in the butt was draining the oil. This was the first one to come in for an oil change. When he met me in the morning we talked about the oil change and the amount of oil it took. He said " It takes 6.5 gt.s" I told him that from what I was hearing here that it took 8.5, or so.... When I picked it up he said it did take 8.5.... Is this forum awesome, or what??? :P

 

On the window up/down issue, what did the dealer do to "correct" the issue? Did they literally just turn the switch upside down?

 

From what I understand he pulled the switch and was able to remove the rocker and turn it around then reinstall the switch 180* from what it was and the rocker is in the right direction. He said it was very simple to do.

 

Take a look at my pictures and the short how to instructions. One of the other guys took it one stept ferther and gently lifted of the icon cover and turned it around so the up is at the top.

 

Switch being "backwards"...

Welcome to German thinking...