Haynes manual for Smart car - is it worth the money ?

Lao_Tzu

Considering the purchase of this Haynes (online / digital) manual.

Unfortunately cost of £27.

Am pensioner with monthly personal budget of £50. If manual purchased something else must be denied.

Has anyone purchased this manual for Smart car ? If so was it good value -  did it contain the information you required ?

In 1970s when these manuals were sold without shrinkwrap - they were very good.

Then came shrinkwrap - so purchaser not able to verify contained required information. Inside book many tasks simply stated "refer to main dealer". Hence money spent for no benefit.

Mnay thanks.

Username03725

I tend to refer to Youtube videos when doing something that I've not done before on a car, even if it's just to check that there are no special tools needed to remove the brake discs. Haynes manuals were good but it's years since I bothered with one.

Ebe_Scrooge

See, I'm old-school, and have always bought the Haynes book for every car I've had.  Sure, I use YouTube a lot these days as well - but when you're grubbing around amongst assorted oily gubbins, I still find the book a lot easier to refer to "on-the-fly".  Personally I find it a worthwhile investment - but then I do do a lot of work on cars myself, it's only the really complex stuff I leave to the mechanic.

That kind of leads on to the main question, I guess - how much work are you likely to be doing on your car?  If you're the type of person that's happy to tackle all but (or even including!) the most complex of jobs, then it's probably worthwhile.  If all you're wanting to do is to work out how to change the odd light-bulb, then I would say YouTube would suffice.

Username03725

A Mk 2 Escort (and Cortina) or a Hillman Avenger were a doddle to work on, and a Haynes manual was very useful in that era. Modern cars are both a lot more reliable and when things do go wrong it's often not a DIY job to resolve it unless your own toolkit contains a lot of specific tools and electronic equipment. From my pov YouTube vids cover most of what's both reasonable and practical to attempt. Much beyond that and these days it's off to my tame mechanic to have it done properly. 

It's also a fact that the days of crawling under cars in the bitter cold are largely beyond me nowadays. The payoff between discomfort, effort and ability to fix a modern car, and the likely cost (and benefit to them) of getting my local independent to do it has swung quite a way in that direction tbh.

Lao_Tzu

Thank you to all for replies.

Question is - can Haynes be relied upon to provide information for Smart Car when manual is online. There is no paper manual for this vehicle.

Haynes is now online only.

There is no way to very online content contains information required. Haynes admit on website - many videos in manual generic (eg how to change timing chain) not vehicle specific,

Experience with Haynes paper manuals in 1980s and 90s make me very wary - too much "refer to main dealer" inside. That is not valuable information but cheap 'cop-out'. No wonder Mr Haynes very wealthy man.

Too poor to purchase DIY manual if only to be told - "go to main dealer". Cannot afford and would rather stick needles in my eyes.

Ebe_Scrooge

Lao_Tzu said:

Unfortunately cost of £27.

Am pensioner with monthly personal budget of £50. If manual purchased something else must be denied.

With the utmost respect, if you are struggling to find £27, do you have a budget set aside for routine maintenance and the inevitable repairs that come with running a car?  Even if a car is totally reliable and of an age where you're lucky enough not to have any unexpected repair bills, things like tyres will still need replacing, and it's false economy to not service it in line with the manufacturer's recommendations.

Lao_Tzu said:

many videos in manual generic (eg how to change timing chain) not vehicle specific,

Changing a timing chain falls - I think most people would agree - into the category of "you need to be a pretty experienced DIY-er to do this".  It's by no means impossible, but it's not the sort of job you'd tackle as your first attempt at DIY mechanics.  What level of experience do you have, and what sort of jobs are you wanting to realistically tackle yourself?

facade

If you look at a certain auction site, people offer a CD workshop manual for a lot less, but I wouldn't suggest that you buy one as they are pretty certain to be a copy of the genuine manufacturers manual and that would be a breach of copyright.

Lao_Tzu

Ebe_Scrooge said:

Lao_Tzu said:

Unfortunately cost of £27.

Am pensioner with monthly personal budget of £50. If manual purchased something else must be denied.

With the utmost respect, if you are struggling to find £27, do you have a budget set aside for routine maintenance and the inevitable repairs that come with running a car?  Even if a car is totally reliable and of an age where you're lucky enough not to have any unexpected repair bills, things like tyres will still need replacing, and it's false economy to not service it in line with the manufacturer's recommendations.

Lao_Tzu said:

many videos in manual generic (eg how to change timing chain) not vehicle specific,

Changing a timing chain falls - I think most people would agree - into the category of "you need to be a pretty experienced DIY-er to do this".  It's by no means impossible, but it's not the sort of job you'd tackle as your first attempt at DIY mechanics.  What level of experience do you have, and what sort of jobs are you wanting to realistically tackle yourself?

2nd part of reply first.

Yes - experienced at DIY vehicle maintnenance -  motorcycle, car or aircraft (fixed wing).

Began in 1964 (age 11) with Lamberetta rescued from builders skip.  Several years tuning two stroke motorcycles for production & club class racing.  30+ years building custom motorcycles for self. Restored two classic cars. When aircraft owner (1982 - 1997) did own work as permitted under PFA licence. Wonderful focus for rmind when life depend on personal skill.

Timing chain reference provided by way of example.

Now for first part - £50 is personal spend available after bills paid (including fuel, insurance etc) and food in cupboard. So if spend £27 less for book, magazine, clothes or other items that provide deep joy.

Age 68 and impair mobility so need vehicle to go Sainsbury and take cats to vet.

Hope that explains.

Lao_Tzu

facade said:

If you look at a certain auction site, people offer a CD workshop manual for a lot less, but I wouldn't suggest that you buy one as they are pretty certain to be a copy of the genuine manufacturers manual and that would be a breach of copyright.

Paid £6.50 for one on popular auction website as wife very keen. 'Man who disobey wife have but short time to live'.

Information provided can be found in owner handbook that come with car. No torque setting / cutaway diagram / wiring diagram etc

Much sadness follow.

facade

Lao_Tzu said:

facade said:

If you look at a certain auction site, people offer a CD workshop manual for a lot less, but I wouldn't suggest that you buy one as they are pretty certain to be a copy of the genuine manufacturers manual and that would be a breach of copyright.

Paid £6.50 for one on popular auction website as wife very keen. 'Man who disobey wife have but short time to live'.

Information provided can be found in owner handbook that come with car. No torque setting / cutaway diagram / wiring diagram etc

Much sadness follow.

Have a look at https://www.evilution.co.uk. There is some free content, e.g. search for torque settings, and quite a lot of subscription only stuff, £20 a year at the moment.  Much better than Haynes by all accounts.

Lao_Tzu

Sincere thanks.

Website look good - many quality photo. Much information Smart 450. Able to look some before handing over my quids.

Thank you for help.