Scion xa 160k, preventative maintenance?

Not really sure what to tell my girlfriend. She's got a scion xa 2004 with 160k on the clock. She seems to be worried about it because its needed spark plugs and now it's been cursed as unreliable. What preventative maintenance should I even do? At this point the suspension prob shot, but I'm sort of like drive it until something breaks sorta guy. Is that stupid? Most importantly how do you explain to a beautiful stubborn woman that fixing stuff as it goes in an old car is infinitely cheaper than a new car and more payments..

Side tangent - I see this a lot. Car needs minor work then deemed falling apart and don't trust.

I can tell you that the kind of people that take cars to 300k+ typically aren't the "wait until it breaks" type

Toyotas like that will run forever, even if they burn a little oil while doing it. Just keep it tuned up with regular oil changes. Probably overdue for a fuel filter and oxygen sensors. As far as daily driving, the suspension is either bad or it isn't (rattling ball joints, dead shocks, etc). I believe that's a timing chain engine so as long as it hasn't suffered from a neglectful oil change schedule it should be fine there. Maybe an auto transmission fluid change if it hasn't been done in the last 60k?

The problem is that most people ignore the service life of components and wait until this stuff starts breaking, usually taking other parts with it (old bad spark plugs put more stress on coils, long OCIs form sludge which lowers oil pressure, clogged fuel filters make the pump work harder, etc) and then start perceiving a vehicle as "unreliable" when in reality a crappy service history is just catching up with the owner. It's a lot cheaper to do maintenance before components start failing, just ask anyone who's ever caught up deferred maintenance on an old European car...

Trans fluid (be it auto or manual), flush the brake and clutch fluid, radiator drain and fill. As mentioned O2 sensors wouldn't hurt, they read lean over time and the engine starts running rich of ideal (lowered gas mileage).

Easy way to convince her its better to keep her old car instead of buying new is just a little math. Just add up the monthly payments, down payments, higher insurance to just a few dollars in preventative and deferred maintenance. Like everyone else says, people who run things until they break dont have cars last long. Toss some new shocks in to keep the bushings from taking too much stress cause bad shocks along with the other tuneup stuff mentioned and she will be happy with it riding and driving like a new car again.

Another coolant drain and fill, same with trans fluid, oil of course, plugs and drive. I'd check the valve cover gasket for leaks when doing plugs and concern brake fluid dependent upon pedal feel.

They do call for a valve adjustment every 60k, I think. Has that been done?

Just go back through the maintenance schedule and do what hasnt been done.

Those things are pretty easy on maintenance, so It shouldnt be anything crazy.

First off, get new OE grade struts and shocks immediately. The bushings in the rear trailing arms of those cars wear out, and new OEM rubber bushings will improve it a great deal. In order to explain stuff to her, here's the easiest and simplest way of looking at it. All the parts, fluids, and services added up will cost less than $1500, and will make the car last another three years. The payments on a new Mitsubishi Mirage ES CVT for the next three years, on 84 month financing and with $0 down total up $7125.12. That's $5625.12 in savings, part of which could be put towards, say, an exotic Caribbean vacation at an expensive resort. I think I know what she'd rather take.

I suspect that what was meant by 'run it until it breaks' is run it until it actually has strong symptoms. I do that all the time and with a lot of components there's no real downside. The one thing i feel pretty strongly about is not letting the cooling passages of your engine accumulate rust/buildup/junk just because it DOES make it harder to put back to right. Or letting anything run OUT of fluid. Most other stuff can go pretty far past the first symptom without making the repair any harder.

My '06 Scion xB had 178k miles when I sold it, most of them mine. In all that time the only thing it needed besides the normal fluids, battery replacement and plugs was a water pump, and even that gave me plenty of warning squeals that got progressively louder over a couple days.

You have much more to go before "it breaks" I would think.

haha ,going through the recommended maintenance, I see why so many people drive these things. Super basic.. compared to my Volvo c30.

G_Body_Man wrote: First off, get new OE grade struts and shocks immediately. The bushings in the rear trailing arms of those cars wear out, and new OEM rubber bushings will improve it a great deal.

Would rear trailing arm bushings give the rear tires back/forward play. I'm a new mechanic, just learning. But girlfriend was saying the back of the car feels funny and clunks. I checked the rear shocks and they are dry and not leaking but probably worn at 160k. Whats most concerning is when i grab the tires (sitting on pavment) I can push them forward and pull them back a good 1/4 inch.

In reply to Coldsnap:

By "forward/back," do you mean in/out of the wheelwell or do you mean towards the front/rear of the car? Looking at a picture of xA rear suspension, I can't imagine anything other than the rear axle carrier bushings would cause front/rear movement. Those are the only two bushings on the entire assembly. If it's in/out movement the hub/bearing assembly is probably shot.

in/out of wheel well is what the movement is. bearing makes sense for a 160k car.

it's like 108* and I'm refreshing the rear end of my volvo 240... excited to add this to the list haha. ugh.