Tools: Garage Kit and Travel Kit

For the road kit, a few things I'd consider must-haves:

1. Pair of wheel chocks (for use when raising the car with scissor jack, place on the tire diagonally opposite)
2. Small square of 3/4" thick wood: plywood, pine, or what have you (place under the scissor jack when using on gravel or soft earth)
3. Wire, string and electrical tape (for emergency repair of torn bumpers, dragging underpanels and similar)

 

10, 12 and 14 mm sizes would be the most likely used. I would include a 3/8" ratchet wrench with the appropriate sockets and extensions, as well as open/box wrenches. You also need a 10 mm hex key socket to turn the transaxle fill/drain plugs.

 

Engine oil drain bolt is 14 mm.

For emergency use, an adjustable wrench is good, though might be hard to fit in certain scenarios. I keep an old beater in the car, literally found it lying on a road, lol.

 

I used to carry a tool box full of tools on long trips. Now I don't carry any tools because it is very unlikely anything will break; and, if something does break simple tools probably won't fix it. However, I do carry a pair of coveralls and two pair of nitrile gloves in case of a flat tire, and a quart of engine oil. For anything else I carry a smart phone, credit cards and a few hundred dollars in cash.

As far as the home garage, there is no such thing as too many tools.

Edit: I also have a folding, reflective safety triangle in both cars that you set up behind the car when stranded or changing a tire on the side of the road.

 

Since my 2004 is approaching 200K miles, I am somewhat concerned about a traction battery failure. Should a failure occur, a workaround (for a limited period of time) is to disconnect the 12V battery to temporarily clear the DTC. So I carry a 3/8" ratchet wrench and sockets so that I can easily disconnect the negative cable where it bolts to the body, plus deal with other minor issues should they arise.

 

What Den said about gloves jogged my memory: changing a tire in sub-zero conditions triggered me to keep a pair of insulated work gloves in the car. In the (upper) glove box, lol.

Guess I'll open the flood gates. Some of these are decent gift ideas, for the car nut on your list:

We've got one of those combo flashlight, hazard flasher, seatbelt cutter and windshield breaking tools. Also a collapsible orange traffic cone, jump pack, first aid kit, blanket (doubles as hatch floor protector), plug repair kit, smart charger, tire pressure gauge, tread depth gauge, windshield scraper card,extra valve caps.

A decent bike tire pump is a good idea, if you're going on a road trip. It's a bit of a work out, but is capable of getting even a completely flat tire back to pressurized, without 12 volt draining issues. Or a battery operated one, but I've shied away from those so far. And if you've got a block heater: an extension cord.