Don't do that, there's not much to "tune up" on these cars. One day my dad stole my car (I'm not much older than you, lol) and took it to a pretty good import shop for a "tune up". They were actually really nice, because they opened the hood, saw stuff they didn't recognize, and decided against messing with stuff. It would ultimately be a waste of time and money.

It's really easy to replace the coils, all you have to remove is the airbox (with the filter in it) and they're easily accessible. Don't be lazy.

Out of curiosity, where are you located?

 

I saw the video, I feel like i'd forget what's what lol, I suppose if I took it a step at a time it'd be okay, but honestly like I said i'm not car savvy at all as far as knowing what goes on under the hood. When we got the car (before we got the car) I looked into the must knows and figured I'd eventually learn everything else. I may take on this project. Also, Tampa Bay Fl area.

 

These are what i'm being told to replace right? The blue things. If so, wouldn't I need to take off the front left tire to be able to put them on?

 

Lots of rotary shops around your area take it there NOT some tire shop. If your not that good with cars take lots of pics as you work so you have a reference latter when putting it back together. 70% of cost on this car is labor if you can learn how to do things for your self you'll have more $$$ for other things.

Edit

It's not the blue thing that's the plug wire but rather what it's connected to right there. You only need to take the tire off to change the plugs. Take the intake piping off and air box it will open a lot of room.

 

I just put Intermotor coils on mine this morning , Cleaned TB , new plugs and Plugs , Parts cost 205 .00 at a local part store ..
Big difference in power and how easy she starts !
Buy yourself some tools ! Learn ... It took me 3 hours total , lot of piddling around , drinking coffee , got garage warmed up .. smile ...
Tip set your lap top by the car . Or Tablet .. I did that when I took the temperature control out and fiixed it !Step by step .... sure beats 300 for a new one ...

 

So you won't forget what went where, here is a picture posted by RIWWP some time ago. Print it out in color and set it on the driver's seat while you work as a reference in case you have a brain-fart as you work.

Then, have a look at this link as I uploaded several manuals that you can use in futire service efforts (you will need Adobe Reader to use them)

http://jmp.sh/wmBjaSc

 

I did that and have that on my work bench . The NGK wires are color coded , helps get them in the right place .
I have to double check myself as I have BRAIN Farts often !
Buy yourself some tools and learn !!!!

 

Awesome this will definitely be a project for me. My dad is completely against me getting new coils on the basis: If something breaks you fix it, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I'm not sure he understands or maybe I'm even misunderstanding but, if the coils are bad that can cause permanent engine damage over time, correct? As in, it would be too late for the engine when the coils went out? If I would buy the parts and install myself i'd really need my dad to be with me so for now that option is out. I'd love to be able to tinker on my car but like I've said before my parents are old timers and my dad is sort of finicky over some of this stuff. Thanks again for all the help guys, I'll eventually come back to this as a reference.

 

Often the first apparent symptom of coil failure is engine failure. Ask you dad to read this thread, this is NOT one of those things that you wait to break before you fix it, you need to be proactive.

 

Cat failure would show up first. They're $1700 new and are required to pass emissions in most places.

Since the coils are probably your MPG problem entirely, new ones would pay for themselves within 5 fill-ups or so.

 

CAT failure will only show after you have started damiging your engine full coil failure will only show after damiging the CAT. if coils are showing signes of starting to fail and notheing is done things will happen that cost much more vastly more than changing the coils.

Edit
OEM coils can fail right out of the box or last up to 30k miles. It's a crap shoot with the coils on this car. The only know coils not to typically have this problem is BHR they have a 1% or less failur rate and can be sold latter if you choose to part out the car.

 

Sorry I've been inactive in this thread, i'll be sure to get my father to read through this with me. He takes what the guy at Maztech said about the coils as 110% solid proof the coils are fine, but since having changed the tires my mpg has gone up a bit, and i'm still driving it like I stole it. I find it hard to keep it below 5000 rpms.

 

^That's a good thing! Welcome to the club, you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders.

 

Good to have you, and hopefully you can get new coils! If you need an excuse to go above 5k, just say that it's more thermally efficient the higher you go.

Since the issue is pretty much narrowed down to the coils, there will be a very noticeable difference in power and acceleration.