I have a 1999Toyato Camery. I follow the cars pamplet regarding what needs to be done at different milage points. At no where in this booklet does it mention “tuneup” A local Mobil station says I need a tuneup. Since I have followed everything Toyota has told me to do, do I really need a tuneup or are they just trying to make some money off a woman who has no idea regarding a car?
If the Check Engine light isn’t on, then there’s no problem with the secondary ignition components. So none of these components should require replacement at this time. However, what you should have them do is remove the sparkplugs and put some anti-sieze compound on the threads and reinstall them. This will ensure that in the future if the engine does require a tuneup, the sparkplugs can be removed easily.
Tester
Congratulations! You are doing the right thing following the maintenance schedule. If more people did that we’d all be better off.
“Tuneup” is an outdated word, and no longer applies to modern cars. The car’s computer “tunes” the engine as you drive. All you have to do is follow the maintenance schedule, as you have been doing.
The local Mobil station is trying to make a boat payment.
Toyota just does not call it a tuneup anymore, because the traditional tuneup every year required a lot of things to be done. Cars go a long time and distance between “tuneups” these days. Agree with poster #1 that you should pull plugs, examine them, apply anti-seize compound and reinstall them if they are OK. On a modern car, generally speaking, if it starts easily, is good on gas, has enough power and does not run rough, things are OK. What has not changed is the need to replace filters and change the oil. Your Mobil man should explain exactly what he means by a tuneup and why, as you show him the Toyota manual. I also own a Toyota, and the manual has all the care information you need. Stick to it!
The Toyota Camry , like all modern cars, comes with a detailed Maintenance Schedule–as you apparently are aware. As long as you are following the procedures listed in that booklet, you are already doing whatever that Mobil mechanic wants to talk you into doing.
Since his suggestions are not necessary, I would question either his expertise or his honesty–possibly both.
I agree with “Since his suggestions are not necessary, I would question either his expertise or his honesty–possibly both” he does have a boat payment to make.
Actually since we have no idea what the guy at the Mobil station means when he says “tune-up” or how much it will cost, it is difficult to say if it is a good or bad idea.
In general if you are following the instructions in the owner’s manual you are doing it right.
First I would like to say that I have a lot of respect for the previous posters and have no reason to doubt them. It is my honest opinion that removing the spark plugs, checking the condition, checking the gap, applying anti-sieze and reinstalling them is not the way to go. Your car is now 8 years old and even at 12,000 miles per year would have 96,000 miles on it. If the plugs have not been changed they need to be. There is no difference in the labor costs to remove inspect and reinstall then changing them out. The additional expense would be the cost of the plugs. If your Toyota is a V-6 you are looking at 6 plugs @ $5.00 each for an additional $30.00. I say if they haven’t been changed get them replaced.
~Michael
I tend to agree. The metal rings loosely fitted around the base of the plugs are actually compression gaskets designed to be used once only. Once compressed, they lose their ability to be recompressed to a new surface without greater torque, which is always a bad idea.
Also, some plugs do not recommend the use of antiseize. New plugs are cheap. It just ain’t worth trying to use the old ones IMHO.
That makes no sense to say your car needs a tune up when all of the maintenance is up to date. I may be wrong but I thought that’s what a tune up was, regular maintenance. As in changing the spark plugs: that gets done according to your maintenance shedule. It should all be right there in your manual. If they mean tune up as in adjusting your rotor cap and fuel mixture and such, tuning, that shouldn’t have to be done on newer cars that have computer systems.