One of my kids will be taking our 2005 Prius across the county and back this summer to work a summer job. I would like advice on must do and less priority maintenance to consider in order to prep the car for the trip. We got the car with 120k miles from my a family member who had all dealer maintenance done. Since then I have done normal maintenance with changing oil regularly with synthetic, new brakes and tires, and have replaced the aux coolant pump for the transformer when it failed. It might be a good time to do the spark plugs. I also plan to install a cat theft guard. SM-G960U ?
plugs not needed until 240k. change the tranny fluid, and other fluids on the menu. check the 12v health, tires. maybe water pump and belt?
2005, 17 year old car. Ambitious for a cross country trip. On top of what Bisco mentioned, I would change the coolant and make sure there are no leaks. Then I would want to make sure the HV battery is in good working order. I would maybe bring an extra quart of oil, just in case the car needs to be topped off.
In re:Oil, make sure they check it periodically during trip especially the first thousand miles. Definitely get serpentine belt changed if over 50k since last change If plugs were not changed at 120k as some people opt out then change them and while they’re doing then check PCV valve for oil. Maybe just change it then as the part is cheap. Get the new MillerCat ‘complete’ shield that is an incredible design. I just installed one on my 2007. Thwarts hopefully the latest trick the thieves have with the old designs.
