What are your breakdown patterns ands how do you go about defending / being prepared? I bet you have a lot of useful advice.

Not the GP, but I can answer. My current vehicle is 35 years old. Prior to that, I had a '00 Jeep Wrangler for 15 years. Before that was a selection of older vehicles: an '88 Toyota pickup (that I dearly miss...), a '97 Ford Ranger, a '99 Dodge Dakota, and a '98 Honda Accord.

I keep a small toolbox in my vehicle. It's mostly inexpensive hand tools, but I include a Milwaukee M18 Fuel impact and a set of sockets for it - super handy for changing tires.

In my 25 years of driving, I've broken down probably a dozen times total. Of those, only twice have I required a tow - and one of those was in my wife's Kia Sorento, which we bought new.

Easily 90% of the usage of the tools I carry ends up being on other people's vehicles. I can swap a wheel on the side of the road in <10m with a bottle jack and a battery-powered impact, with no real manual labor involved.

Other breakdowns I've had in the past were things like the serpentine belt breaking or a coolant hose coming loose. Those are five minute fixes if you have access to a parts store. When the belt snapped on my Jeep in the middle of the night on a trip a few years ago, I used an pair of my wife's leggings that she had packed to get us home. I just tied them by hand, bypassed all the non-essential stuff on the motor, and drove the ~50 miles back home to deal with it the next day.

He’d answer but he’s busy driving