Hey guys,
I am looking to close on a used Spa Yellow S2K, 2001. I'm here in St Louis where they are still pretty darn rare. Anyways, I was at the dealership, and asked about a low milage S2K, and if it was "broken in" properly. The owner of the dealership, a rather nice, and seemingly honest guy ( for various reasons ) told me that the break in period for the S2K is nothing more than a myth. What are your thoughts on this? What happens if an S2k is run hard for a few days, with less than 3,000 miles on it? I would hate to get a car that will have problems. The car I am looking at was HIS personal cars, and he said he drove it easy for a while, and then, the last 2 weeks before he put it up for sale ( for a 2002 ) he drove it like he stole it. Should I look elsewhere? Or should I be ok.

 

I suggest you ask him for a good deal on an extended warranty (at his cost, for instance), and buy the car if you think it's otherwise a good deal.

As for the break-in period, I took it seriously because I didn't want to risk spoiling a new engine. I have no idea how important it is; I'm just not willing to ignore specific instructions from the carmaker.

On the other hand, I first redlined the engine when it had 600.1 miles on it. At 19,000 miles I have no problems whatsoever. Also, the relatively few serious engine problems that have been reported here don't seem to have been caused by ignoring break-in. Most seem to have come from either manufacturing defects (e.g., #4 cylinder scoring), poor maintenance (e.g. spark plug blowouts), or missed shifts.