Deeosee with Part Two (Sorry to be so verbose)
The XC certainly isn't perfect and its too-steeply raked windshield with dashboard glare is a minor annoyance.
As for breaking in a car I'm from the "baby it" school and believe in breaking in the whole machine. So I:
1-Vary the rpm as often as possible for the first 500 miles and limit the rpm to under 4,000 Mostly because of the XC's "high" final drive its easy to stay between 1600 and 2400 on the tach.
2-Watch the heat. Don't let it overheat even a little. I even open the hood after I get home. This car really smells, and the dealer told me this is the rule for the first thousand or so miles. Temperature guage very steady however.
3-Break in everything: Try to avoid hard starts and stops, really bad roads and quick cornering. Let the tires, brakes, suspension and drive train break-in gradually. I even play the radio at moderate volume so the speaker cones can loosen a bit. Probably anal, but there's no downside and by 1,000 miles I'm driving normally.
3-Even though a lease I'll probably change the oil and filter at 1500 miles to get rid of any metal residue. Probably won't use synthetic in this car. I've concluded synthetic is worth it if you plan on kepping the car for more than 100,000 miles and/or winters in your area are very cold.
For those who think this a mite persnickity watch your gas mileage on a new car. It will improve probably five to ten per cent during the first 5,000 or so miles. The reason is the reduction of friction as the new parts wear in a bit.
Okay, a long message to be sure. I'll shut up for a time.
Best regards.