build times? do new cars take up to 6 months to order from japan?

ltlurker

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honda fit
heard that it new cx-9s takes about 5 months to get from japan. is that true? are there any pitdalls if the dealer needs to find the car within local area?
 
It usually takes about 3 months if you order one direct. They are shipped by boat then when come on land, transported by train or truck.

The only downside if your dealer trades with another dealer is they may need to drive it from the other dealer, meaning you might have some mileage when picking it up.
If you ask the dealer to transport it by truck from another dealer then its not a problem
 
what's considered good low mileage if I take what's local? 100 miles? 1k miles? 50 miles? are there rules on how many miles are car should be under to be considered "new"? I just don't want a test car that everyone has been gunning off the lot for the past month
 
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I took delivery of my two recent Mazdas (i2016 MX-5 Miata and 2016 CX-9) the day they rolled off the transport truck.
Each had 4 miles on the odometer; though Mazda DOES take random new cars for a longer quality control test drives.
Those cars can have nearly 50 miles on the clock.

I live in an area with four local Mazda dealers; the most northern and most southern around 75 miles from one another.
If I were to have a car transferred, that distance could be added to what's already on the odometer.

If I was having a car transferred, I'd request the odometer reading before it leaves the sending dealer's lot; perhaps even with a picture to confirm the mileage.
I wouldn't want a car that has more than 100 miles on the odometer when I closed the deal.

That said, I DID purchase a car in 2010 that had 450 miles on the odometer because it was used by a dealer executive.
A substantial discount sweetened the deal enough to sway my decision.

As to what's considered new?
In my state, any car is considered "new" until it's registered to a buyer.
 
We just took delivery of a 2016 CX-9 and a 2016 6. The 9 had 16 miles on it (most from our test drive) and the 6 had 349 miles on it. It was produced in January and had come from another Mazda dealer about 200 miles away a couple of months ago. The miles don't bother me at all, it's hard to damage a car in 349 miles. And I really like the color!
 
i know it prob means little but I've got a little bit of "virgin complex" when it comes to cars. in addition, most cars < 2k miles tells you to baby it. that's hardly how i ever test drive... if ever.
 
i know it prob means little but I've got a little bit of "virgin complex" when it comes to cars. in addition, most cars < 2k miles tells you to baby it. that's hardly how i ever test drive... if ever.

Wow have never heard 2,000 miles before. (boom02)

On the current Mazda vehicles in north America, they recommend a 600 mile break in period: No racing, no hard braking or long braking down hills and no constant RPMS.
 
We just took delivery of a 2016 CX-9 and a 2016 6. The 9 had 16 miles on it (most from our test drive) and the 6 had 349 miles on it. It was produced in January and had come from another Mazda dealer about 200 miles away a couple of months ago. The miles don't bother me at all, it's hard to damage a car in 349 miles. And I really like the color!

A family member purchased a Mitsubishi ASX with 300 miles and she get a nice 2000 USD extra discount.
 
Wow have never heard 2,000 miles before. (boom02)
On the current Mazda vehicles in north America, they recommend a 600 mile break in period: No racing, no hard braking or long braking down hills and no constant RPMS.
That's why I want a new car with as less miles on it as possible! Think about it, who'll do the test drive with "no racing, no hard braking or long braking down hills and no constant RPMs" on a brand new car which is supposed to be in initial 600-mile break-in period? Even the dealer trade which may have hundreds of miles on the highway and most likely a constant 70 mph highway speed - not good for break-in period either!
 
Local dealers have a crew of retired guys working part time for minimum wage transferring cars. They aren't hot rodders. In any case, there is no place for them to run the car as hard as the young fellows working as longshoremen in the Japanese ports loading the cars on to the PCC (pure car carrier) ships. The drivers I've seen in the port of Yokohama drive like they're practicing for Formula 1.

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With today's engineering and manufacturing processes, there really is no real 'break-in' period. The manufacturer has already run your engine hard at full-throttle on a dyno before it was even installed in your car.

Plus, ever seen an $8 an hour kid prep a car after it comes off the lot? Trust me, I'm not worried about a few hundred miles.
 
With today's engineering and manufacturing processes, there really is no real 'break-in' period. The manufacturer has already run your engine hard at full-throttle on a dyno before it was even installed in your car.
Plus, ever seen an $8 an hour kid prep a car after it comes off the lot? Trust me, I'm not worried about a few hundred miles.
『The manufacturer has already run your engine hard at full-throttle on a dyno before it was even installed in your car』
Sorry, this statement is simply not true!

And every car I've seen always specifies a break-in period. The car manufactures definitely know something you don't know.
 
『The manufacturer has already run your engine hard at full-throttle on a dyno before it was even installed in your car』
Sorry, this statement is simply not true!

And every car I've seen always specifies a break-in period. The car manufactures definitely know something you don't know.

What's your source? Do you believe that Mazda builds an engine and then blindly installs it in a new car with no testing? Do you or family work in engineering for a car company?
 
What's your source? Do you believe that Mazda builds an engine and then blindly installs it in a new car with no testing? Do you or family work in engineering for a car company?
You haven't explained why car manufactures, including Mazda, specify a break-in period, and Honda even uses break-in oil and you don't change it until the normal oil change schedule.

To answer your question, I worked at car company before and have seen many car assembly lines at several car companies. Depending on manufactures, only a few engines being pulled and tested on the dyno machine. And I have a couple of friends still work for Ford in Detroit.
 
The reason is liability, in my opinion of course. If anything is going to catastrophically break on a new car, its most likely going to be within the first thousand miles.

I have family that work for all 3 of the 'American' manufacturers and I personally worked in new car sales for 14 years. I can tell you all about some current 200,000+ mile Hondas that, when new and sitting on the lot for sale, were cold started in winter and immediately put into drive and accelerator floored to get through a snow bank the plows left behind during a snow storm. I've seen new cars driven hundreds of miles from other dealers that have had no engine issues whatsoever. So no, personally I'm not worried about buying a new car with a few hundred miles on it already, these things are quite durable!
 
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