My 2008 only has 40k on it and its my second/road trip car.

Are there any parts I should purchase to future proof the car? My car has such low miles it should take me years to even get to 100k.

Are there any parts you recommend buying now that might go out of production or become scarce or exepnsive in the future?

 

You’ll need a timing belt. They age with miles or years. Do you know if it was ever changed?

 

Previous owner changed it based off of age not miles.

 

There are already lots of parts that are getting scarce on this car. But by 2008, most of the car had been debugged pretty well.

One part that could fail in the future is the glove box door (see thread in this forum). Apparently they made it without enough UV protection, and the plastic eventualy melts into sticky goo. Problem is, so many people have already had this problem that you can't find the part even now. Best reco if yours is still good: Keep the surface covered with 303 Aerospace Protectant, and always keep the glove box door out of direct sunlight by any means necessary.

Another part that often fails is the vinyl upholstery of the two-part center console armrest. There's a guy on eBay from Brownsville, Texas who sells quality genuine-leather replacement upholstery at reasonable prices. If you disassemble the armrest off of the console (not a complicated job, takes just a couple screwdrivers and some care to keep straight which screws went where), you can even arrange to ship it to him and have him reupholster it on for you at a very reasonable extra charge. Ask me how I know. :.)

 

You should sell that car to me... not good for you to keep it long, worry about all future-proofing it, etc. ... all joking aside, if I had to pick 3 most important sets of parts:

1. Timing belt kit (including pulleys, spark plugs, etc. - 2 sets)
2. Suspension (shocks and struts and springs - only 1 set)
3. Engine mounts (all three OEM ones 1-set)

This is of course if you really want to preserve the car for so long... Chances are you will NOT use any of the obtained reserve parts, maybe a timing belt. I anticipate if there is any rust that may need TLC the most... but if not, huh - you gotta a gem that's for sure!