Auto Repair For Dummies Paperback – November 17, 2008

I love this book because I am incompetent with vehicles.I know how to fill up my gas tank. I know how to pop my hood. I know the check engine light coming on is bad. Literally, that is the extent to my car knowledge.I don't know how to change a tire. I struggled to pop hoods. I have no clue what a radiator looks like, or even what it does. My father worked on vehicles when he was younger but never taught his children about vehicles; he did all the work for us. I always took my car to the local quick change to get my oil change. I have relied on everyone else to take care of my vehicle for me, and I have to trust their judgment and what they ask to fix my vehicles.I am an analyzer. I analyze numbers and trends. I have great business skills, am technologically advanced and can type 117 words a minute. I have two Master Degrees and am working toward my PhD. I am confident in what I know. And what I know, is I don't know a blasted thing about vehicles in any form, and that aggravates the snot out of me.I was having problems with the battery in my truck a few weeks ago; it was just not getting enough juice to start. I would did everything I knew to do (see aforementioned) and had people come examine it to no avail. Some days it would start and other days it wouldn't. I was on my lunch break when my truck died, again. I couldn't get back to work. I called my supervisor and she sent one of my co-workers (very capable with auto-mechanics) to come take a look. He opened my hood looked at the battery and said "your clamp is loose, that's why your not getting any power." I looked at him dumbfounded. What's a clamp? He then took a screwdriver, unscrewed something, and pushed a little on this thingymajig called a clamp.The truck started.I decided that was the last straw.Something so simple made me late and affected my job performance. If I knew the basics about vehicles I could have gotten my truck started. I didn't and I didn't.I went to work in a foul mood, determined to learn auto-mechanics. I searched amazon, found this book, and knew it was for me.Since that time:I can change my oil. I take care of all the fluids. I can change all tires, check the gauges, coolants, anything basic. I have decided I am going to take an auto-mechanic class at the local community college. I also want to build a little garage some day, and start small repairs on my own vehicles. I would genuinely like to take a clunker and fix it with the time I don't have.You can be like this too! I knew absolutely nothing about vehicles! This manual will teach you how to pop open your hood and fill up your gas tank. We laugh at this, but some people genuinely don't know how to do this. My wife didn't when we wed. Fear not; we all have to start somewhere! The manual gives detailed descriptions and accurate, simple pictures of everything you can do without seeing a mechanic for a serious problem. And the book will even elaborate when you may be doing something out of your league. Time to pony up and call the mechanic!Your car should be your best friend. It takes you wherever you need to go and you pray it starts up every morning. Why not take care of it? Not to mention, if you do your own small maintenance repairs starting now until the rest of your life, you could very well save a lot of money. Plus, it's satisfying to look at your vehicle, knowing you have accomplished.If you have basic skills (typing, can change a lightbulb, count to 100, know how to breathe) but don't know the first thing about a vehicle, this book is for you. I believe the book should spark interest and give a desire to learn about vehicles, teaching how to take care of them while saving the reader money.I believe the investment is worth it. And hey, perhaps the cost of the book will be far less than the mechanics hourly rate of fixing your car. I am inclined to think such is probably true in most circumstances. But I could be wrong. After all, I couldn't change a tire until someone showed me how.

I started at a job as an automechanic about 7 months ago doing basic oil changes, brake jobs, tires, and the odd catalytic converter. I wanted to learn more in hopes of becoming a more important member of my team and making more money. This book has helped me so much in my off time better understand the ideas behind the things im working on. every time im introduced to something new at work I pick up the book when im home and read the section on it to understand it better. Its become my automotive dictionary and introduction before i do research online. It really is the best way to learn mechanics cause it doesn't start paragraphs with things over your head and discourage you.

Wish it went a little deeper sometimes, but it's car repair for dummies so can't expect too much. Plenty of good info and easy to follow. Great for beginners.

Very clearly written and perfect for someone who's never done more than check the oil. Even shows you what a screwdriver looks like. It's a perfect beginner's primar so I also needed a more indepth manual. This book makes it possible for me to finally understand more complex manuals. Only annoyance is her soapboxing on climate change with 7 references before the first chapter starts. Still 5 stars because it is an excellent beginners book.

This is an informative, useful and easy to read book! Anyone can use this to do it yourself for car repair. Highly recommend it to keep on hand. If nothing else, you'll learn how your vehicle works.

Reading this everyday to help maintain my car

I really enjoyed this book. It’s easy to find guidance on what to fix or replace on your car so as to keep it in shape. It also tells you when to let a pro do it. There are many easy things to do yourself and you save so much money that way. Plus you build up confidence learning a new skills. So far I replaced my spark plugs and pcv valve (which I didn’t even know existed.).I think I have come across a few instances of the index needing to be updated to match this new edition. I’ll edit this later if that is indeed the problem; I can’t remember specific incidences off the top of my head but do believe I found some. Another qualm I have is this book and all dummies books continually say in paragraphs “(refer to chapter three for more info, etc.).” That really gets annoying while you are reading over the topic and I wish for dummies as a whole would stop doing this. It’s not helpful and it disrupts the flow of reading.

Bought it for Christmas for my son who is a tinkerer. One year later he told me he never used it as YouTube is the new standard for Dummies.

I bought this for my son who was taking a saturday morning class on car maintenance.. the book was worth the money to help him clarify things he hadn-t got clear in the hands on class and allowed him to be better prepared for the next week.

I actually bought this as a gag gift for someone who knows nothing about cars. I flipped through some of it, and it seems like there's a lot of helpful information.

Great for kids to have and read when they become drivers

Very well presented and easy to follow. Would highly recommend! It's a book for life

I was interested into how a car works and in that it supplies enough information.However, if you want to learn general auto repair like if your handles are not working, or you car door lock is getting stuck, or how to install an autoradio, it will not provide in these simple steps. You cannot however not say the book only handles complex reparation as it even explains how to tank gasoline.