Haynes to discontinue Owners' Workshop Manuals?

What a shame. Great books!

 

My guess is that they will have the entire inventory on-line and sell subscriptions or downloads. No reason to print books for the market they chase.

 

End of an era.

 

I would have thought that market is exactly one which would want printed books. If you're underneath an oily car trying to work out which pipe is which then a cheap book you don't mind getting dirty is exactly want you want.

 

I would tend to agree but I'm old school. If you go to any dealership....there are no books. Everything is on-line. Their argument it is a lot easier to update online than publish a new edition for distribution. Add to that most teenagers consume content on line......the printed technical book era is over. Just an example, I have a Service Manual of every car I own on my Ipad. Plus a number of LG HVAC system manuals that I use every few months or so.

What I liked about Haynes is that they took a car apart and put it back together to make the book. That practical knowledge captured tricks of the trade not usually found in Service Manuals.

 

Definitely i need 4 of these.

Jesus....

 

Whilst I understand your point, Haynes were making money publishing these books so it seems bizarre to buy the company and more-or-less immediately stop. I could understand if they put they put the content on-line and then got to the point where the print versions stopped making money but that isn't the case as far as I'm aware.

Also, a lot of the recent publications are "fake" manuals for things like the Starship Enterprise where the logic of print vs on-line is different.

 

Were it not for Haynes and Chiltons, I'd never have learned diddly squat about fixing a car. Young and poor, these books were the ONLY way I could figure out how to fix stuff on whatever POS car I was driving at the time. No way I could pay a shop for repairs back then. I even changed my first engine (Mercury Capri v6) using one of these books and it worked out perfectly.

Didn't Haynes buy Chiltons? Isn't it all owned by Disney? (too lazy to search )

Jedi

 

I just ordered a Haynes and a Chilton for my Dodge Ram 2500. They were pushing the on-line version pretty hard. They never made one for the F355.....that would have been a fun read.

 

Sorry to disagree. I do know excellent (official Ferrari factory) dealerships that have many dozens if not hundreds of books and actually use them as well.

I have never seen a dealership where teenagers are working.......especially not in the technical and service department.

Marcel Massini

 

Marcel,

With respect....I grew up working as a mechanic in Ford Dealerships during the 1970s where the only thing we had was books (I was 18). The biggest game changer was when Technical Service Bulletins went online via Compuserve in the early 1980s. For the first time mechanics could share what problems they were finding and how to fix them. Ford HQ coordinated the effort and the industry moved from paper/telephone calls to the beginnings of the online revolution. Virtually every recall/repair was documented which made ordering parts and actually doing the repair a lot more productive. It also moved vehicle history from a room full of filing cabinets to the online world.

We used to have 2-3 people that did noting all day except update manuals. The parts department moved from microfiche and paper catalogs to online inventory during the 1990s and no one worried about paper any longer.

Once upon a time in the US we used to have three inch thick books delivered to your house called the Yellow Pages. Insane by today's standards.

I like actual books but their days are waning. Ferrari Service Manuals are collector/restoration items which put them in a different category altogether.

The topic is Haynes books which I have used all my life to fix cars. I can appreciate that most teenagers don't work on cars any longer and those that do are restricted to what they can legally do to the car ....at least in the US. Haynes knows this and has watched their business decline year over year. They bought Chilton and have watched that decline as well.

 

RIP books... I for one will miss you.

 

It is a shame; still I have a printer and if I buy another manual the first thing I will do is press the print button!!

As to kids in the garage; it was good too see the mechanic who has worked on my cars had a little shadow last time in an apprentice. The mechanic tended to do the older cars; what an apprenticeship; if I didn’t have a mortgage I’d apply!!!!! I’m popping in next week to drop a case of bubbly so I’ll ask them about books etc, it’s an interesting subject.

 

Thank you for the update. I do have the relevant Ferrari books, but have now added some additional marques, thanks to your info.

I am probably very old school. But I very much enjoy a physical book in my lap with a favourite beverage and or dog/cat beside me during an inside day, with a fire in the woodstove.