Customer Reviews

Automotive ASE Test Preparation Manuals, 3E A1: Engine Repair (ASE Test Prep: Engine Repair Test A1)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

DO NOT BE FOOLED AS I WAS! I ordered this study guide in preparation for the ASE tests that I was going to be taking this fall. This guide is very poorly put together and NOT EVEN PROOFREAD apparently...it's a complete joke! Let me give you a few examples of why this is a HUGE waste of your money.

First of all, as you may or may not already know the ASE test questions are copyrighted and therefore CANNOT be reproduced. This means that the "sample questions" in this guide are not ACTUAL ASE questions, but rather questions that the author of the book made up that are designed to be similar in style to the ones you would see on a real ASE exam. ALL study guides are this way, which is fine so long as the person making up the questions is somewhat competent...the person who wrote this book IS NOT COMPETENT. Many of the questions are quite misleading, and some of the answers are just plain wrong! EVEN according to the information that THEY THEMSELVES give in the study guide!

There are so many typo's and mistakes in this book I got the feeling I was reading a book report written by my 3rd grade sister.

Each sample question is SUPPOSEDLY linked (by way of a reference number with a corresponding section) back to the section that explains how to do the procedure from which the question was based. THERE WERE SEVERAL SAMPLE QUESTIONS THAT LINKED BACK TO A SECTION IN THE BOOK THAT DIDN'T EVEN EXIST!!!!! I mean, how frustrating is that!

And then there is this hoopla that they sell you on about having "explanations for each sample question telling why the correct answer is right as well as why the wrong answers are wrong." WHAT A QUACK! A typical example of one of the sample questions and their "detailed explanation" for it would go something like this:

Question:
Technician A says [blah, blah, blah]. Technician B says [yada yada yada]. Who is correct?

a. Technician A
b. Technician B
c. Both Technicians A and B are correct
d. Neither Technician A or B is correct

Explanation:
a. The correct answer is a. "technician A is correct"
b. Answer B is not correct: [restates what technician B said WORD FOR WORD here] is not correct. [WHAT THE CRAP KIND OF EXPLANATION IS THAT???????!!!!!!]
c. Answer C is not correct because technician B is incorrect.
d. Answer D is not correct because technician A is correct.

WOULD THIS NOT FRUSTRATE YOU TOO WITH YOUR TESTS FAST APPROACHING?

Anyway, the first ASE study guide that I bought was a MITCHELL1 series study guide....after becoming very frustrated at the quality of the study guide I decided to purchase a different brand, so I went with the DELMAR series study guide and MUCH TO MY DISMAY when it arrived I found that it was THE EXACT SAME BOOK as the MITCHELL1!!!! BUYERS BEWARE!!! Apparently DELMAR learning bought out MITCHELL, as well as CHILTON repair books companies and now has some sort of monopoly on the whole market. It's sickening really...not because of the monopoly so much, but because DELMAR puts out such horrible products.

Anyway, I just thought I would give you all the heads up so you do not make the same mistake I did....when I bought the book there were no reviews on it so after my experience I thought SOMEBODY needs to expose this JUNK for what it is. I would put the company out of business if I could. DO everyone a favor...spread the word around that DELMAR does NOT sell good products!

These are meant for review books. Not as automotive education on how to repair cars. If you are not a competant technician you won't understand these books. If you are somewhat competant you'll find these books as a great guide to pass ASE testing.

its a good book and is good for review or if you are taking the test for the first time.