Can anyone recommend I great book for beginner basic car maintaince?

Question

Just bought my first car - I'm not looking to become a super mechanic, just want to aviod going to the garage for silly reasons. PS I own a Citoen Saxo.

Answer 1

Only buy The-haynes-book-of-lies if you have a good sense of humour, a fully tooled up workshop and infinate time.

They are OK as guides, but nothing more.

There is NO substitute for getting a socket set and tinkering around for yourself.

One tip in the haynes manual when it says "Simply undo the bolt" what it means is... obtain an atomic weapon and try to loosen the bolt that way.

Answer 2

Books are great to get the basics of how a car works. But you need to have someone who can help you answer the many questions that you will have. Call around to your local continuing education centers and see if any of them offer automotive courses. This will allow you to have access to a shop to do work and have a qualified and experienced mechanic at your disposal. You will be able to not only learn things from your car but with the others in your class you will learn about there problems and how they resolved it. It's really the best environment for a beginner.

Answer 3

I'm not much of a car repair guy myself, but I have found those Haynes guides to your specific year and model of car to be useful. I've used it to replace or fix some fairly easy to fix stuff like an electric fan motor and an alternator. If I have to start dissassembling a lot of stuff to get to what I need to change, I take it to the shop.

They have step by step instructions including lots of photos of what the process looks like.

Even if you never do a repair, it's an interesting way to really understand the layout of how your car is built.

Answer 4

i own a repair shop,and go to your local parts store and get a Haynes repair manual on your car they make a book just on that type of car,and if you,ll read all of it by the time your done with it,you should know how to do just about anything you want to on the car,this is a real good way to learn about one specific car,those books cost around 15 bucks,and to me they have been worth a million because of the good information in them,good luck with it i hope this helps.

Answer 5

A great way to start is with a haynes manual for you car. It will show you all the major jobs on the car in a clear easy to understand way.

Answer 6

Good thinking, m8. As already said, a Haynes manual will tell you all you need to know (and more), but I'd see if there are evening classes on car maintenance available somewhere near you - there's no substitute for getting your hands dirty!

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Haynes do basic books on most subjects and indivual cars that are pretty easy to understand and are very good in the language that they describe things in.

Answer 9

If you go to pep-boys or auto zone you can pick up a chiliton book. they have them at every auto parts store. These books will be of alot of help for the guy who is not a mechanic.

Answer 10

Have you tried a Chiltons or haynes Car repair guide you can get them at your local car parts store or wal mart sells them.