Bought a vt ss 195i on sunday, gotta go up to tweed heads to pick it up next weekend. the bloke who i bought it from has had it for 5 months and hasn't had it serviced in that time, and i have to drive it 1400km. it's already done 220 thousand, but it is what im after and im not going to have it forever so im not really fussed about k's on it. it'll be a weekend when i pick it up and im on a ridiculously tight budget, so taking it for a full service is pretty much out of the picture. what do you reckon i should do to it before i drive it home? i can afford to change oil, coolant, gearbox oil and brake pads, all depending on condition..any suggestions would be appreciated

Do the oil, top up the coolant, if its not miss firing I would leave the plugs and leads alone until you get home ,220k is low for a VT , check the tyre pressure and just take spare coolant just in case , don`t give it a hard time on the way back even if you desire too! lol

Yep, 220k is just run in for a 5L. DO the oil and filter in the Supercheap Auto carpark. Check the trans fluid and coolant but I wouldn't bother draining anything if they look ok. Unless the brake pads are on metal I wouldn't bother doing anything with them either. You won't use up too much of the pads with 1400km of freeway driving. Wait till you get home and can get it in your own garage before trying to do any major stuff.

I would go with air filter, check the oil and its condition (black and sludgy vs. golden, gritty vs. slippery) on the dipstick. If it is sludgy and gritty, change it with a NON-detergent oil (you run the risk of cleaning out too much of the crud and having it block oil passages or pump intakes - been there - blown that engine up).

Check that the brake fluid / power steering / gearbox are all topped up.

Oil filter if you are doing the oil.

Pressures and tread on all 5 tyres.

Take along a couple of bulbs, couple of bottles of water, small can of petrol and a tow-rope. The last in case you need to tow anyone, and to convince the car that you are serious about getting home. ;) (Can of petrol in case fuel gauge not the sharpest - even 10 litres should be enough for 100km or so - should be petrol station in that range).

So, the big question - did you make it OK?

I did similar road trip about six months ago, Perth to Adelaide in a HK 186S - if I'd have been smart I'd have taken bets before I left on my car making it without breaking down - out of all my mates I think there were 2 who didn't laugh out loud when I told them what I was going to do. Would have made a mint. Pretty much followed all the advice already given (even bought a tow rope) but also took extra hoses, plugs, leads and probably more oil, water and spare petrol than I needed. While I went through a fair bit of oil it never missed a beat the whole way, even go as far as to say it felt like it was running better when I arrived than when I left. Not bad going for a car I've done very little to in 18yrs except enjoy driving, change the fluids and hoses regularly and odds and ends that broke along the way!