my point is simple, if it not safe, you will not see the car on
the road at all. as for run in or break in, i had mention above and
again here
i agree with you when you say that cars that aren't safe
wouldn't have been allowed on the roads in the first place.
however, the primary purpose of running in/breaking in your engine
is to help prolong your engine life and improve its fuel economy;
it is not an issue of safety.
as for your contention that cars are not kept for enough years to
warrant such caution, i would disagree. While an engine that has
not been properly broken in may not suffer catastrophic failure
within say, 5 years of its purchase, it will, in general, not run
as smoothly or as economically as an engine that has been properly
managed as per the manufacturer's recommendations.
also, run-in/break-in periods pertain to more than your vehicle's
engine. Other important components that need to be broken in are
your brakes, tires as well as your clutch. more often than not, the
optimum wear patterns need to be formed before these components can
operate properly. case in point, brake pads need to be bedded in
before they can provide you with optimum stopping power and tires
need to be seasoned before they provide optimum grip.
that is not to say that the car is not road-worthy before it has
been broken in, it is; but it certainly won't perform as advertised
by the manufacturer until broken in.
i am glad that till this day, you are none the worse for not having
run-in your vehicle, but my personal advice to the thread starter
is to err on the side of caution and run-in the vehicle.
