"high mileage" maintenance/ road trip

Whats up Folks?

I have a nice long family road trip coming up this summer and it sparked some thought into truck maintenance.
The current debate is whether to take the wifes VW GTI or my 05 capped taco.
The taco has 178K on her and im not worried about reliability. The space would ultimately be helpful but the MPG not so much. The Gt is way more nimble, comfortable, better MPG but lacks all of the space for a week long vacation.

Are there any tiny maintenance things aside from the normal stuff or upgrades i should consider for peace of mind at this age, etc. She is kind of doggish and i don't want to work her too hard on the highway. The drive is 12 hours each way to the OBX then obvious driving around town as needed.

Lifted 2.5", 17"s on wild peaks, avg 14-16 mpg if i were to guess semi accurately.

 

What are you doing on said vacation? Do you need all the space of the truck bed for things you are bringing? GTI kinda sounds like a fun little car to take on a road trip and probably gets great gas mileage.

If you need to take your truck... oil change if you need it before the end of the trip, grease the driveshaft, air the tires correctly, alignment (maybe) if you haven't had one in a long while, probably just check the cabin and engine air filters to make sure they aren't all gross looking. 180k i don't think is some major mileage milestone as far as maintenance goes so you should be fine with just getting the truck running in tip top shape.

 

The deciding factor will be if I bring my bodyboards, the kiddos surf board, and my golf clubs really. Id hate to not have them if there happens to be decent surf or if golf could be in play on some overcast days. But those decisions will be made down the road.

 

I would take the GTI, besides gas mileage, you mentioned “comfortable”.....#1 for wife.

If you decide to take the truck, I would focus on Anything that has to do with Drive ability.....(anything that can get you stuck)
So rotate balance tires......definitely look at your spare (might have to count on it)......fluids....oil change........battery...(not older than 4 years).....and, I would change spark plugs.....inexpensive, makes it run better...

 

I'd take whatever makes the wife happier. Working on and owning these Tacomas is a vacation for guys like us in itself. But the wife has earned her time in the sun and likely doesn't have a vehicle to take her mind off things on weekends. She should be the focus of such trips. Ask her, "Honey which vehicle do you prefer to take. Which one will add more enjoyability to the trip?" If she has a preference go with it. If she doesn't then take the dang truck.

 

My 07 has been on 3 road trips to the Rockies from GA, approximately 5000 miles round trip. Twice to CO, once to the Grand Canyon, up into Utah and back through CO. The last one was in 2016 and I had 170,000 miles on it when I left. I had a U-Joint go bad and lost a day at a Toyota Dealership in AZ. But other than that no issues. I did take it to my local mechanic before leaving and had him go over it. We decided it was time for a new serpentine belt, plugs, and new fluid in the transfer case and diff's before leaving. But that was stuff that was due anyway.

I guess comfort is relative. At the time the Tacoma was the best riding vehicle and the one with the fewest miles in the driveway. We were fine with the ride and I averaged 20 mpg for each trip. Shortly after that last trip the Tacoma was demoted as the daily driver and I bought an F150 crew cab. Needed something bigger at that point in my life. The Ford has been on 3 similar road trips averaging 18-19 mpg. The Tacoma is still driven a lot, but normally shorter trips. But even today with 213,000 miles I'd drive it on a 12 hour trip without any 2nd thoughts.

 

Golf clubs... say no more. Those take priority.

 

From what you are saying. Take the Taco.

 

Toyota Everyday.

 

whichever one you take bring along a tire repair kit. there's no preventative for a random nail or screw in the road. found out the hard way in the Rockies on a Sunday at 6 in the morning with no stores or repair shops open. i have one at all times now. i just helped out a buddy at work last Friday who came limping in to the parking lot with a slow leak from a nail he'd just gone over on the way in to work.

 

If you take the Tacoma or the VW, make sure you check the air in the spare tire (I'm surprised how many people forget that).
Also take either a set of jumper cables or one of those small Lithium jump packs. https://no.co/

 

I vote Taco!

Have you considered that you might want to drive out onto the beach? There are plenty of areas to do that on the OBX depending on what area you go to. If you are up on the northern end I suggest going up to Corolla. Might me nice to take the surf boards out there, drove around a bit (there are some trails), look for the wild horses that live there, fishing etc.

As far as maintenance goes.... I second what gkomo said.

Oh... if you’re not experienced driving on sand just do a bit of research.

 

This is what’s great about our trucks and Toyota’s in general. My wife used to have a 2004 Sequoia. Once when it had 206,000 she wanted to take it on a 1200 mile trip. Didn’t hesitate to trust it to make it there and back.

 

GTI is the only true VW imo.

Extra space for all the stuff you’ll buy and bring is a plus, so I vote for Taco.

 

Honestly I would take the GTI, assuming you can safely mount the surfboard. I know the bodyboards will fit in there somewhere and I also know you can rent golf clubs at most public courses.
Other comments on pre-trip items are good stuff.

 

What's the issue with comfort? Get some front seat jackers and it actually makes the seats fine for long drives. Have you calculated what the extra cost of fuel amounts to? I bet it's not as high as you're expecting for the extra space you get.

 

One thing you might consider is which one you want to add the mileage to. If you don't really plan to re-sell the GTI or the truck at any point where mileage would be a factor then it doesn't matter but if you've got plans to sell or trade one at some point you might want to keep the mileage at a minimum on that vehicle and use the other for long trips.

Other than that, I'd say take the GTI. On a trip of any significance the trip is part of the vacation. If it's more comfortable for the fam and more fun for the drivers then that's a pretty big selling point for the GTI. Slap some of the more important stuff on a roof rack and live without the rest, or rent it when you get there. At the end of the day for me though it's about comfort and the journey rather than MPG. The memories of a great vacation will linger long after the cost of gas is forgotten.

As far as maintenance, what others have said. You might clean the throttle body and MAF (you could pick up some MPG's that way). Change the air filter while you're in there. I usually do any MPG maintenance before a long trip if I haven't done it in a while.

Consider carrying spare fuses, a fire extinguisher, and flares or reflectors. They are important enough to be mandated in every large commercial vehicle on the road, which generally indicates they are a good idea to have on hand!

 

AAA ? or double check towing coverage of your ins. Policy

 

Also. Often I elect to rent a car for long trips... but currently there is a rental car shortage and that might not be a viable solution

 

Definitely take the Taco! (Assuming 4x4) Driving onto the beach beats the hell out of lugging around all your coolers, chairs, boards, etc..

Being able to drive on the beach is my favorite thing about the OBX!!! I think it’s like a $50 or so permit for a week if I remember correctly.

Edit : Also, mileage wouldn’t concern me at all as long as you haven’t had any issues in the past. I just do general maintenance and inspection before leaving. This will be the first year we don’t take my truck on vacation (usually 8+ hour drive one way). I’m about to roll over 240k & I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it to CA from NC if I had to.