Standard intro - I have a 2005 xB with ~29,500 miles on it. I love it. It's the best car I've ever owned, a perfect city and beach car etc. You know the rest of the story.

I intend to keep it at least for five more years so maintenance matters. I no longer want to use the dealer (separate post) and have reviewed the Scion 30k tuneup recommendations but I am not sure. What should I have done now? I searched and couldn't find a defensible opinion or answer.

Second note. Only Florida drivers would get this. I have to take the car to NY in February for personal and business reasons. I have driven in cold before but never my own car. I have new all season tires (I bought them from Costco) but is there something else I should do to get the car ready? Any advice would be appreciated.

Kevin

 

florida people would have no idea how to answer your winterization question... you should be asking that to people in new york

 

Tune-up is easy, and for 30k miles most of what the dealer does is inspection. Nothing is unique to winterization with the exception of the windo washer fluid. If you have the stuff with the bug dissolver in it, run your washer until the tank is empty, then refill it with the winter mix that has a lower freeze point. here in MD I had problems where the summer stuff would freeze in the line under the hood and not work until the engine warmed up and melted it. Also, if you have nice rims, put the stock wheels back on. Salt sucks, but worse is the packed, frozen snow bumps on the curp that can scratch your wheels.

For the 30k, the only manditory is changing the oil and filter. Inspect your coolant, transmission, power steering and brake fluid and top off if necessary. if the transmission fluid smells burnt, it will need to be drained and refilled as well. Pull and inspect your spark plugs, make sure there isn't buildup and the electrodes aren't worn away, and also check the spark gap. I honestly don't bother and just throw in new NGK V-Power plugs every 30k, at $2 a piece it's worth it.

Check your accessory drive belt (both A/C and power steering) to make sure they're tight and not varnished or worn. The timing chain is inside the engine and won't be wearing out anytime soon. Also inspect your CV boot (on the drive axle, on the wheel side, as well as the one on the transmission side, each side). If the boot is torn, it's easier to replace the axle, aftermarket it's around $80, I haven't found a split boot available for it yet. Check all your lights (headlight, brake, turn) and your headlight alignment. Adjust / replace if necessary.

Look at the front and rear brakes, front are easy to inspect, rear you will need to pull the drum cover to see them. if the pad is worn or rotor warped, replace as necessary. Only other item to look at are the suspension bushings, they are on each side by the wheel, where a big steel bar behind the transmission bends down and bolts to the lower wheel swing arm. if torn, possibly replace, though this will mainly just make the ride handling harder and not affect much else.

That's pretty much it.

 

JDM Imperial - you're right. I guess I was just embarrassed about the not knowing thing. But I will post over there.

vettereddie - thanks. that's a good checklist and I will operate from it.

 

Forgot to mention, we're coil on plug design for the spark plugs, so there's no wires that need replacing like on older cars with a distributer or centralized coil pack. Hopefully your rear brakes are still good, mine need replacing and I'm seriously considering taking it to a shop, doing the tension springs without the Toyota special tools is a pain in the rear.