Essential In Vehicle Toolkit?

[Northern_Mike]

Summer - ligthweight waterproofs (those that roll up really small), latex gloves, credit card, mobile phone. Hi-Vis vests. Car's own jack, cheapy extendable wheel-wrench

Winter - Warms coats, hats, gloves, socks, latex gloves, snow shovel, credit card, mobile phone, Hi vis vests. Car's own jack, cheapy extendable wheel-wrench.

The end.

[Northern_Mike]

Sorry but all but "Gibbo2286" are completely mad.

I'm with you there!

I carried a toolbox around for years, and every breakdown I had wasn't fixable with what I had in it. So I don't carry one any more. Haven't for years. Never needed it. Likely never will.

[Northern_Mike]

You've all forgotten the most important thing - a pair of overalls.

Going somewhere in a suit or other good clothes ? You really don't want to be lying on the ground in the rain or mud under the car in good clothes... even to change a flat tyre! Just getting the spare wheel out of the wheel carrier on the side of the road on a dark rainy night without ruining your clothes can be a mission on a Xantia with a rusty underbelly, let alone attempting to repair an LHM leak etc...

I echo most of the above comments, especially - head mounted LED torch, rags, mirror on a stick, telescopic magnet on a stick, Spare LHM/coolant/engine oil, a couple of blocks of wood to chock the wheels, and a small tool set including sockets, spanner, pliers etc.

I also tend to carry around my trolley jack, ramps and axle stands, but that's mainly because I have nowhere else to store them!

I shall answer these points in my own inimitable manner.

1. I won't be lying under the car in the rain. It'll be on the back of a truck if it's that bad. My Spare wheel is in a bag, I have a stainless, well greased hanger hook which you can get at it without emptying the boot.

2. Fluids? Why? If the car has lost enough coolant/oil/LHM/Brake fluid all of a sudden to need a roadside top up, it's going to leak it straight out again, surely? I would have never attempted to repair all but the simplest leak-off pipe leak on any of my Xantias by the roadside. I'd probably have just got it recovered home anyway.

3. Where do you put everything else you might want to carry?!

4. Overalls? Most I've managed in the last 10 years at the roadside is a dirty knee.

[qprdude]

Must admit, I carry a pair of overalls but they're not for car repair duties. I'm usually asked to do some sort of job when visiting the kids, or doing any safety and injury prevention consultancy work.
I have a warranty, and anything other than topping up water or oil is likely to cause problems if a claim should ensue.
Basically, my car is looked after at home, prior to any long journeys, so anything that goes wrong is more likely to be outwith my skills to repair, and I dont see the point in carrying a bootfull of gear "Just in case". My journeys away from home usually cover 1000mls + so useless extra weight costs fuel.
I used to carry tools when I worked full time because I needed them for work as well but slowly reduced the amount by discarding the box and using a "wrap around" for a few drivers, a shifter, a few combi spanners and the like. Now the boot is mostly empty apart from a torch and the usual spare and safety stuff I always carry water for windscreen top-ups as well, but the heavy stuff stays in the garage.
Do some of you guys seriously carry trolley jacks and full toolkits in the boot all the time?