Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Car Care and Repair Illustrated

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

 

 

The photo illustrations in the book help show people what a particular part looks like, even though it is in black and white. The highlight in orange of a particular part described can help point out a part of the car, in order to easily identify from its surround parts of a car. The book gives some website to find information whether it would be about car buying to other automotive consumer information. The book, however does not go too much into detail of each parts of the car. This maybe good for someone who know very little about cars. The book looks easier to read and understand and should not be too overwhelmed by the information given in the book. However, if a reader wants more details and are less worried about photos, then Auto Repair for Dummies would be a better choice.

The only fault I can find with this book is the misleading title. I thought I had purchased "The IDIOT'S COMPLETE Guide to Car Care and Repair" and in fact had purchased " The COMPLETE IDIOT'S Guide to Car Care and Repair". This is a book for someone who has never changed his/her own tire, never looked under the car or in the hood, and couldn't tell the difference between the radiator reservoir and the window-washer reservoir. I needed a book that would guide me to do repairs with confidence, this book really just skims the subject and is not a very good step-by-step manual for anyone other than a professional mechanic, who wouldn't need it to start with. I do not recommend this book for a person who is interested in getting dirty, and gave it 1 star as 0 wasn't available. To sum it up, for an at-home do-it-yourself-mechanic who needs to start somewhere, this is not the one and for those, this book is more a "bandaid" when a "tourniquet" is needed.

There is less information in this book than is in my owner's manual. A quick look is quite misleading as there are lots of pictures of detail. However, there is no text or instruction to go with it. For example, there is a nice detailed picture of a drum break assembly, but the text that goes with it says "Drum brakes are replaced in a similar way. Only the parts are diffent [from a disc break]".

The first 130+ pages cover what is in the owner's manual, but in less detail, and the rest mentions other repairs and directs the reader to the shop manual.

Don't bother. Read the owner's manual if you want to do routine stuff (oil change, windshield wipers, etc), there is much more information there. If you want to do more, get a shop manual such as Chiltons to Haynes (I've found that the actual shop manual from the manufacturer assumes ownership of specific tools designed for that car).

For those who are not naturally Mechanically Inclined , this book is Very useful.

I bought the digital version for kindle through amazon. The diagrams are almost absolutly undecipherable. It was a really bad scan I guess. Also the book repeatitly refers to a car care card that you are supposed to fill out and refer too. Does not appear to have even been scanned in the digital version.
It would be nice for amazon to whispernet associated PDF forms for books that have inserts.
I give this book a 2 because it really does have some well written care care info. I wish I could give it a higher review, but books of a technical nature really do need to have clear diagrams to be complete.

Some good pointers in the book, but not as well organized as it might be.

Dan Ramsey's CAR CARE AND REPAIR ILLUSTRATED (0028644328, $18.95) is for any newcomer to car repair and care - the perfect gift for the teen: it provides easy checks to maintain performance, step-by-step instructions for common auto repairs, advice on preventative maintenance and more. An excellent general-interest guide.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Excellent book for someone like me who is mechanically challeneged.
Highly recommended!