Why does the legal only care about owners safety only for a break in period? Are there any examples of cases where there was an injury with a car early in ownership and the plaintiff's claim was "I didn't realize this sports car was dangerous?". I can share I am aware of no case law where that has taken place and if there were, the protection that the legal department would install wouldn't be through a veiled break-in process I can assure you. There would be stickers all over the car and manual advising DIRECTLY about it so as to be unequivocal and obvious. the break-in protocol is designed to protect the functionality of the engine. Follow it or don't.

 

I buy cars to drive and very rarely keep cars out of warranty. I take care of them and understand mechanical sympathy, warming fluids, etc. If my GTS blows because I rev it up occasionally prior to 1,000 miles or whatever Porsche may want to go back to the drawing board.

 

The Legal Department has probably more to do with that break-in procedure than the engineers.

 

The engineers would typically give the legal department a recommendation based on their testing, analysis, warranty data, and technical intuition. Then the legal department (and probably finance/warranty department) would ask about a worst case scenario and the engineers would start looking at worst case tolerance stacks, harsh climate conditions, borderline oil performance, neglectful driver behavior, increased factors of safety, etc. to crunch the numbers on a truly worst case and overly conservative recommendation. Then the lawyers would say, “danke schoen, we’ll use that one.”

Hell, there may even be some legacy model influence from the widowmaker days (930 Turbo).

 

Is Owners Manual written for the new car buyers and the legal team assumed that the buyers of new cars don't know how to operate 911, however, the drivers in the second-hand market are the experienced drivers? I don't think this argument would stand in court.

Also, I was under the impression that optional hi-vis jacket gives people immunity from getting injured. :-)

 

...so you can come back and buy another car later

 

Marketing too... brands like to brag about the percentage of their cars that are still on the road.

 

A used car could be sold by any number of people. That used car usually does not have new brakes or brand new slippery tires. Ultimately, no harm no foul on Porsche's behalf if you crack up a used car. New car? hmmmm, the manual did say not to go crazy sir...

 

I can see you have a very strong opinion on this topic.

A decent read:
https://yel.pca.org/porsche-engine-break-in/

 

China Flu. What an ***.

 

Over the past 35 years or so, I’ve always followed the OEM break-in recommendations. Even for non-OEM, when my engine builder gives me directions on break-in, I follow them as well.

During break-in, I don’t do highway driving. I vary engine load constantly. I make sure that the rings seat and the parts get familiar. I don’t treat RPM limits as a step function and I tend to make things a smooth transition. I also am very attentive to heat cycling — I warm the engine fully up and let it cool completely down. No short trips.

Once I am free and clear of the break-in, with the oil up to temp, I beat on my cars and motorcycles mercilessly. I drive them hard and use the tachometer like I paid for the whole thing. When I traded-in my 992C4S with more than 35k miles, one of folks at the dealer exclaimed “It sounds like a PEC car!”, which I took as a compliment of the vehicle being properly enjoyed. It was! And its new owner is enjoying it as well.

For me, 250 miles is a good Sunday afternoon of twisty backroad barnstorming. I recall my 992 break-in to have been just a couple of weeks and we had five cars at the time. When you actually drive your cars or motorcycles, break-in miles and a little discipline aren’t a big deal.

Will ignoring break-in result in instant and dramatic failure? Likely not. Can it result in the engine making a little less power than a properly broken in example? Certainly possible. Does it lead to a shorter engine life? Sadly, most 911s aren’t driven enough to ever find out.

 

Hey! This guy does his own research! And I’m sure that he has the engineering and science degrees and professional experience to back up what he’s posting!

 

Break-in might now be as divisive as PDK v. MT, and just slightly ahead of S v GTS

 

Mexican stand-off between Flippers vs Keepers :-)

 

Never understood the "legal" justification for a break in period - it makes no sense. Why would you think some printed instructions inside an owners manual that probably 75% of car buyers never read would somehow stop someone from driving dangerously or that somehow it would absolve Porsche of liability for that individual injuring themselves or someone else with the car? Weird argument.

The break in procedure is there from the guidance of the engineers that built the car. Nothing to do with legality. If you dont follow the break in procedure will your engine be worse off mechanically? Possibly. But Porsche believes it is best to follow it. Same as they recommend using the proper oil spec, premium fuel, etc. You can choose to follow Porsche's recommendations or not. Dont see why you wouldnt though considering they are the ones who built the car.