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

~ (Author) "The first and most important step in keeping your car on the road is knowing how it works..." (more)
Key Phrases: auto parts clerk, drum brake system, most modern cars, Car Lingo, Technician's Tip, All Models (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Alpha (December 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028644328
• ISBN-13: 978-0028644325
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #263,535 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for someone new to working with cars, September 9, 2003

By	Danny Wang (Rock Hill, SC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Are you certain you are a complete idiot ?, May 22, 2006

By	woof "thinkitsfunny?" (USA) - See all my reviews

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Without value, April 24, 2006

By	Thomas J. Green "Computer Doctor" (Rural NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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).