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Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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Speaker 1: Lauren Vogel bomb here. If you want to sound knowledgeable.

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Speaker 1: The next time your car needs work, don't tell your

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Speaker 1: mechanic that your car needs a tune up. That's because

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Speaker 1: the term tune ups specifically refers to maintenance that modern

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Speaker 1: cars generally don't require anymore. Traditional tuneups on older cars

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Speaker 1: can help keep them in good shape and enable maximum

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Speaker 1: gas mileage. Getting your car tuned up means having necessary

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Speaker 1: adjustments of certain engine components. At the same time, regular

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Speaker 1: parts that were out over time, like spark plugs and condensers,

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Speaker 1: are replaced, but the engines in many newer model cars

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Speaker 1: don't even use those components any longer, and today's engine

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Speaker 1: parts are designed to last much longer than those in

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Speaker 1: years past. So what you might think is a tune

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Speaker 1: up on a new car probably isn't, and that's because

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Speaker 1: your car is much more advanced. Consumerist says the cut

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Speaker 1: off year for whether or not your car will need

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Speaker 1: a traditional tuneup, though there may be a little wiggle

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Speaker 1: room on either side of that depending on other factors.

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Speaker 1: In general, though, if your car was built in the

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Speaker 1: last twenty years, you should use the preferred phrasing routine

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Speaker 1: maintenance or scheduled maintenance rather than tune up. You should

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Speaker 1: opt to have routine maintenance completed about every thirty thousand

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Speaker 1: miles or is recommended by your car's owners manual. So

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Speaker 1: let's break down the difference in those terms. Tune ups

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Speaker 1: actually involved tuning or physically checking and manipulating engine parts

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Speaker 1: that regulate engine timing, idle, and other functions for optimal performance.

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Speaker 1: A tune up requires a certain level of mechanical skill

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Speaker 1: and an understanding of how an engine works. A traditional

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Speaker 1: tune up would involve cleaning or replacing the carburetor, which

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Speaker 1: is now obsolete thanks to electronic fuel injection, uh the

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Speaker 1: cap rotor and spark plug wires, which have all been

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Speaker 1: replaced with ignition coil packs, the fuel filter which is

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Speaker 1: obsolute thanks to returnless fuel systems, and the timing belt

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Speaker 1: which has been replaced with the more durable timing chain,

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Speaker 1: and also inspecting and adjusting the engine timing and idle,

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Speaker 1: both of which are now controlled electronically. Modern cars don't

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Speaker 1: need most of this manual labor. Instead, they require routine

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Speaker 1: maintenance that generally consists of replacing fluids and simple parts,

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Speaker 1: changing the engine, oil transmission, fluid break fluid and power

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Speaker 1: steering fluid, replacing the cool engine cabin air filter, and

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Speaker 1: inspecting and possibly replacing various belts and hoses. Note that

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Speaker 1: the newest cars on the market or certain types of

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Speaker 1: cars like electric cars, may have eliminated some of these parts,

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Speaker 1: especially certain belts and hoses. Consumer Reports cautions that getting

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Speaker 1: a tune up is a common upsell by mechanics or charge.

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Speaker 1: One might even tack onto your bill indiscriminately to make

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Speaker 1: you pay more than necessary. In other words, if your

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Speaker 1: mechanic or shops as your car needs a tune up,

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Speaker 1: be wary, especially if it's a late model car. That said,

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Speaker 1: some trustworthy mechanics or shops may still use that term.

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Speaker 1: Amount of habit. Pricing for routine maintenance does vary based

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Speaker 1: on several things. Those factors include everything from where you

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Speaker 1: live and the type of car some cars might use

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Speaker 1: more expensive parts, to whether you're visiting a dealership, a

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Speaker 1: chain or an independent shop. The recommended maintenance schedule for

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Speaker 1: late model cars takes a lot of the guests work

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Speaker 1: out of the equation. If you follow the schedule for

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Speaker 1: your car, you should be in the clear, though there

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Speaker 1: are always factors that can make a fluid go gunky

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Speaker 1: or a part where out earlier than expected. Maintain your

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Speaker 1: car according to the schedule laid out in your owner's

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Speaker 1: manual and deal with problems as they arise. Just don't

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Speaker 1: ask for a tune up unless the term genuinely applies.

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Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Schre's three Wit and produced

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Speaker 1: by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart

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Speaker 1: Radio's How Stuff Works. For more on this and lots

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Speaker 1: of other in tune topics, visit our home planet, how

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Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com, and for more podcasts for my

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.