Quote:
Originally Posted by amad1972
I live in Knoxville, TN and I'm picking it up in Virginia Beach. My wife and I are taking the greyhound bus over and driving it back. We have family in Williamsburg, so we'll make a good trip of it. It is the Passion coupe. It went for $18,501. Do you think I paid too much? I figure by the time I would have bought one at a dealer, paid their destination charges, and other rip off fees, I paid probably $1500 more for this one and I don't have to wait over a year for it. That's my rationale and I'm sticking to it...so what do you think?
By the way, what does the manual say about the break-in period? I will be driving it on the interstate back. Do I need to keep the speed low, and or vary the speed?
|
You bought it. It's really too late to decide if you paid too much, don'tcha think?
If you paid $50k for it, we'd probably think you were nuts and some of us might even say so... but 18k for a Passion is within normal demand pricing range. Don't stress over the money and MPGs and other numbers.. the car is much more than a bunch of numbers.
Break in period... 1,000 miles keep it gentle. Don't downshift or engine brake unless you just have to. If your trip home has a 6% down grade, just keep on the slower side of the speed limit. RPMs should be under 3,000-3,500 whenever possible. Punching it up to 4,500 once or twice won't kill it but don't race anyone off the line.
Optimal breakin... Vary your speed, and include some 30-minute stops along the way if you can to let things heat and cool. There's debate over using dino oil vs. stock synthetic, but that's like debating high-end audio equipment... if you have to ask... you probably fall into the '90% of average drivers' category. Plus, a car off ebay probably already has a few hundred miles on it.
Learn the car, from manual and driving it. Spend time learning its quirks and rest assured that after about 1500 miles the transmission gets a whole lot smoother, whether just by driver acclimation or normal wear. You'll get stared at, stopped and asked questions for months. That comes with the territory.
Before driving home, check the tire pressure and fluid levels... especially oil level and color. I haven't heard of fluid failures in a new smart, but you don't want to find any halfway home. Treat this as any purchase on ebay... don't get so excited that you forget to check on its condition.
"the car", "la voiture"
1 - Cabrio
Today
Linear Mode
