yippeeiaye

As you know, the Lexus repair manuals are very expensive. Unless you are a mechanic, I don't know if I want to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a repair manual.

So my question is, for those who are the basic weekend mechanic & like to do their own maintenance, what repair manuals do you use? Are there any good reasonable price repair manuals out there? Like Chilton's or Haynes? Which one is better? Has anybody bought those CD repair manuals of eBay & are they any good

biff44

Not only are they expensive, they are written very poorly. Maybe a translation problem. I bought the electrical manual on ebay, and it hurts my brain every time I try to trace out some circuit in it, and I am an electrical engineer!

Grumpa72

In the last 20 years, I have done 100% of the repair work on my cars but I may have met my match on the 05 Lexus and my 07 BMW. For my other cars, I have used both the Chilton and Haynes manual and both are adequate for routine maintenance. Neither of them had glaring faults so I would pick one up and read a few pages to see if either one has a format that you prefer.

Lil4X

I'm not specifically familiar with the Lexus manuals on CD, but there is a great deal to be said for the format. Acrobat files on CD are a standard method of delivering service manuals both for industrial and military vendors. I've written or edited several of these for clients and friends, and the advantages claimed by users include:

1. Lower cost - printing, especially of a thick manual is VERY expensive.
2. Ease of access - Acrobat files are searchable, so if you are looking for a specific compontent or procedure, you enter your search criteria into your Acrobat Reader software (free, online from Adobe) and avoid most of the page-turning.
3. Drawings and photos are zoomable - if a drawing (or your eyesight) is unclear, you can zoom it up to a size you can actually see, not guess at.
4. CD's are durable - They don't get grease-stained or exhibit coffee-cup rings (unless you use it as a coaster). Look up the information your need, print the page or two you will use, and when the project is finished, wipe your hands on them and throw them away.

If current trends continue, the days of the paper manual are numbered. Manufacturers are rapidly adopting the digital manual, either on CD or DVD - even a few flash drives are out there that can be put on a key ring. These allow service records to be maintained alongside the manual.

salimshah

The first thing I bought for my RX was the manual. Agreed, the text is not the very best it can be, but I usually look at the drawing/art-work. I would say it is top-notch. The assembly/diss-assembly sequence is right there with torques. As a contrast, the Bentley manual for my son's BMW is sub-par (the text is good but, there is not enough art-work).

I did pay top dollars for the manual, but I have saved enough over time. If you can find one used, dont pass it up.

The soft version (pdf) have been seen over the net. There are copy rights issues and I have not been able to do a side by side comparison.

Lastly, Toyota/Lexus have these manuals on line. (for fee).

Salim