Drive a almost new car, have it serviced leaving enough time for serviced induced concerns to develope and be addressed. Do not start a trip on a car fresh out of service car no matter who did it IMHO And do your part as the driver while on the trip check the tires,pull the oil stick, do a light check,verify the spare and jack are serviceable pay attention.This advice applies to rental cars also I have rented cars with flat spares. Our local paper ran a story about a guy who rented a car with expired registration,he had to fight with the rental company to get the ticket paid.