What is a Car Tune Up?

The term “car tune up” is something that most of us are familiar with. It involves the maintenance needed to ensure the smooth running of a car. In the past, this meant a mechanic (or enthusiastic DIYer) getting close up and personal beneath the hood, tinkering with the engine to clean up, service, or replace a variety of engine components.

While this remains true for older, classic, and vintage vehicles, today’s computer-controlled engines require something a little different. This is generally referred to as a service or major service.

Read on to discover exactly what this involves.

Service or Tune Up? Does it really matter what we call it?

Terminology matters: what is a car tune up or service?
Finding a service provider or car tune up near me

Terminology matters: what is a car tune up or service?

While many of us use the terms, car tune up and service, interchangeably, they are actually two separate things. The differences can be summed up as follows:

A tune up: This encompasses manual tweaks to the components of an engine, such as those done to the carburetor, cleaning spark plugs, and cleaning cylinders. In modern cars, this is mostly not possible, as the onboard computer does them automatically when needed and the engine is running.
A service: Includes manual tasks, such as oil changes, filter changes, fuel induction service, and AC servicing, amongst other things, that are instructed from the onboard computer (engine management system).

This means that older cars without computer systems still benefit from the manual work mentioned above—in other words, they have tune ups in between more major service needs. However, newer vehicles undergo either a minor or major service.

While, in essence, it doesn’t really matter what term you use, you’ll find that most car technicians will refer to car maintenance as a minor or major service, rather than a tune up.

Finding a service provider or car tune up near me

Whatever you call car maintenance, it’s important that it’s carried out by a trusted source. Let’s not shy away from the fact that the industry is littered with stories of people being duped into paying for substandard work or even sacrificing their hard-earned dollars for work not carried out.

While this tends to be the exception, rather than the rule, there are still some careful steps you should take to ensure you choose a reliable car service provider.

Word of mouth is the ultimate recommendation: Such as those from trusted family, friends, and colleagues.
Seek out online reviews: While these can be (and are, in many cases) manipulated, a service with thousands of reviews is more likely to give a true indication of how good they are, rather than one with only a handful. Leave the overly great and really awful reviews aside and look at what the average score is. That way, you should be able to get a fairly accurate overview of how good the provider is.
Make contact: A phone call is good, but nothing beats a good old-fashioned face-to-face meeting. Doing this means you get a true feel for how you’ll be treated and see the engineers at work. Are you treated professionally or looked down upon? Do they offer a courtesy vehicle or a home pick up? Do they give you a fixed price for the service and promises to contact you should any extra work be necessary to tell you the costs and get your go ahead? How long will they need your vehicle for? If the garage isn’t forthcoming with all this information, then it’s probably time to look elsewhere.

Carrying out such due diligence means that you’ll be able to leave your vehicle and be happy that the work will be carried out to the expected standards.

Vintage Car Tune Up or Modern Service? Contact Autobahn of Boca Today

At Autobahn, we only employ vehicle technicians who’re marque-trained. That means that, whatever the age of your vehicle, you can rest assured that the work will only be carried out by an expert who’s familiar with the make and model.

This holds true for your vintage classics right through to the newest electric and hybrid marvels, such as those produced by BMW, Porsche, Audi, VW, and Mercedes.