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Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works.

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Hey, brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. If

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you want to sound knowledgeable. The next time your

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car needs work, don't tell your

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mechanic that your car needs a tune up. That's

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because the term tune ups specifically refers

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to maintenance that modern cars generally don't

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require anymore. Traditional

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tuneups on older cars can help keep them

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in good shape and enable maximum gas mileage.

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Getting your car tuned up means having necessary

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adjustments of certain engine components.

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At the same time, regular parts that were

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out over time, like spark plugs and condensers,

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are replaced, but the

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engines in many newer model cars don't

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even use those components any longer, and

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today's engine parts are designed to last much

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longer than those in years past. So

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what you might think is a tune up on a new car

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probably isn't, and that's because your car

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is much more advanced. Consumerist

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says the cut off year for whether or not your car will

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need a traditional tuneup, though

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there may be a little wiggle room on either side of

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that depending on other factors. In

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general, though, if your car was built in the last

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twenty years, you should use the preferred phrasing

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routine maintenance or scheduled maintenance

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rather than tune up. You should opt

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to have routine maintenance completed about every thirty

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thousand miles or is recommended by your car's

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owners manual. So let's

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break down the difference in those terms. Tune

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ups actually involved tuning or physically

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checking and manipulating engine parts that regulate

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engine timing, idle, and other functions

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for optimal performance. A tune

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up requires a certain level of mechanical skill

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and an understanding of how an engine works. A

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traditional tune up would involve cleaning or replacing

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the carburetor, which is now obsolete thanks

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to electronic fuel injection, uh the cap

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rotor and spark plug wires, which have all been

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replaced with ignition coil packs, the fuel

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filter which is obsolute thanks to returnless

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fuel systems, and the timing belt which

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has been replaced with the more durable timing chain,

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and also inspecting and adjusting the engine timing

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and idle, both of which are now controlled electronically.

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Modern cars don't need most of this manual

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labor. Instead, they require routine

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maintenance that generally consists of replacing

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fluids and simple parts, changing the engine,

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oil transmission, fluid break fluid and power

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steering fluid, replacing the cool engine

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cabin air filter, and inspecting and possibly

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replacing various belts and hoses. Note

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that the newest cars on the market or certain types

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of cars like electric cars, may have eliminated

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some of these parts, especially certain belts and hoses.

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Consumer Reports cautions that getting a tune

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up is a common upsell by mechanics or

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charge. One might even tack onto your bill indiscriminately

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to make you pay more than necessary. In other

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words, if your mechanic or shops as your car

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needs a tune up, be wary, especially

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if it's a late model car. That said,

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some trustworthy mechanics or shops may still

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use that term. Amount of habit. Pricing

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for routine maintenance does vary based on several

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things. Those factors include everything

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from where you live and the type of car some

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cars might use more expensive parts, to whether

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you're visiting a dealership, a chain or an

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independent shop. The

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recommended maintenance schedule for late model cars

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takes a lot of the guests work out of the equation. If

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you follow the schedule for your car, you should be in

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the clear, though there are always factors

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that can make a fluid go gunky or a part where

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out earlier than expected. Maintain

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

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manual and deal with problems as they arise. Just

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don't ask for a tune up unless the term genuinely

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applies. Today's

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episode was written by Schre's three Wit and produced by

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Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production

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of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more

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on this and lots of other in tune topics,

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visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com,

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and for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit

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the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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wherever you listen to your favorite shows.