Anybody tried a CD Manual?

[happydog500]

I am tiered of my "1985 through 2002" Manuel. I was looking on eBay and saw a "CD Manual".
It's for 1997 to 2000, so it seems like it will be more specific to my car (1997).

Has anyone tried these CD Manuals?

With shipping it will cost about $12.

['97ventureowner]

I bought one for another vehicle I own a couple of years ago from eBay to try it out. I usually purchase the factory manuals which are quite a bit more bulkier and expensive, but I liked the thought of having a lot of that info on a smaller CD.
I still like my hard copy manuals for many reasons. First they are easier to take outside and prop on the vehicle for the instructions,( with a CD you either have to go in the house and look it up and write it down or print a copy, OR use a laptop outside . I also found it easier to look something up in the manual itself. I kind of memorized some of the sections and I found i easier to research something than to go through the CD in an attempt to locate exactly what I needed. I don't know maybe it was because at the time I wasn't as "computer literate" as I am now, and didn't know the setup of the CD as well as I did the book.
FWIW I think the CDs are okay. I'm getting better at finding what I need on them.They are a less expensive, easy to store alternative to the hard copy manual,( and they're easier to clean the grease off the plastic rather than the paper pages In the future I would consider purchasing another CD manual for one of my vehicles. As I stated before, I am becoming more familiar with using them and also with that familiarity it can speed up your repair process.

[rustbucket]

I bought one of those ($.99, $5.94 ship) CDs (-Buick LeSabre 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 PRO REPAIR MANUAL). I am not too impressed. First of all it said it covered up through 1999, but only a couple sections included 1999. Second, it looked like it was a chiltons version of the haynes manual, that is, covering a lot of years, but not in much detail. I guess for the price it was worth it to have another reference.

[BNaylor]

Post the link to the Ebay item so we can review it. You have to be careful on the CD Service Manuals, especially the generic versions. The one to stick with is the GM version. But new these are expensive. Of course, better price used. I have the GM CD FSM for my '97 Grand Prix GTP and it is OK. The files are Adobe PDF files. IMO the paper version (GM FSM) is superior. For troubleshooting electrical problems like cruise control the GM FSM is the only way to go due to the superior wiring diagrams and having decent diagnostics procedures.

BTW - The GM CDs have the system wiring diagrams and you can print them.

[happydog500]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BUICK...spagenameZWDVW
The problem I have right now is all the ones I have/access to the pictures don't look like what I have.
This one is only a few years.
I want to dig into my steering column and change the ignition cylinder.

[imidazol97]

Originally Posted by happydog500

I am tiered of my "1985 through 2002" Manuel. I was looking on eBay and saw a "CD Manual".
It's for 1997 to 2000, so it seems like it will be more specific to my car (1997).

Has anyone tried these CD Manuals?

With shipping it will cost about $12.

This is what you want, a Helminc.com manual. This is the factory service manual.
http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2...08P9TGDLF5E84D

or you can buy a used one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1997-...spagenameZWDVW

The FSM Helms were on sale half price around Christmas. The Ebay is 29.99, a good price.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by imidazol97

This is what you want, a Helminc.com manual. This is the factory service manual.
http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2...08P9TGDLF5E84D

or you can buy a used one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1997-...spagenameZWDVW

The FSM Helms were on sale half price around Christmas. The Ebay is 29.99, a good price.

The trick with eBay is being in the right place at the right time. Also some patience can help too. The lowest price I paid for a factory service manual was $7.99, and the most was about $32.00 . Sometimes you'll find multiple bidders on a manual, sometimes your the only one. I've seen a lot on eBay in the past few years from dealerships "going out of business". And the prices have been pretty inexpensive. A word of caution: Make sure you read through the description of the auction to make sure it is a complete manual and is not missing any pages and all the pages are readable. I've seen some that are missing pages or have some sort of issue with them like pages that are unreadable due to fluid or grease spills, etc.

[happydog500]

The reason I was looking into the CD is I don't want to spend $30+ on a manual.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by happydog500

The reason I was looking into the CD is I don't want to spend $30+ on a manual.

Like I said in my post above yours is if you're patient and can wait a bit, you might score one on eBay for under $15 to $20. It all depends on the demand of the item at the time it is listed. Most of the manuals I have I paid less than $20.You could get the CD now and keep checking back on eBay watching for a hard copy manual within a price range you are willing to pay.

[richtazz]

Iagree that both versions (hard copy and CD) have their advantages and disadvantages. I have a CD version for my HArley, and it's nice because you can print just the pages you need (and if you get them all greasy, you can print them again). I have the 3 volume set for my 99 GP, and it has all the info you could ever want (and sometimes more than you want, ).

['97ventureowner]

I just wish technology like we have now,(i.e. manuals on CD and the internet and it's places like eBay) were around 20 years ago. It would have made life more easier on those of us who work on cars or restore them. Back then we had to rely on a Chilton or Haynes manuals,(forget factory manuals because they were so expensive, now we can get them cheap on eBay.) Finding parts is so much easier with internet access . And we can network with other enthusiasts at places like AF to share problem solving and other ideas. I remember we had a auto parts chain called National Auto and I would frequent them quite a bit because they had an area of the store set aside with tables and chairs and bookshelves loaded with factory service manuals for their customer's use. They also had a copy machine in that area and I remember going through many dimes copying the pages I needed to do a job. They were eventually bought out by another chain of auto parts stores and that service was discontinued.

[TGMCallie]

Originally Posted by '97ventureowner

I just wish technology like we have now,(i.e. manuals on CD and the internet and it's places like eBay) were around 20 years ago. It would have made life more easier on those of us who work on cars or restore them. Back then we had to rely on a Chilton or Haynes manuals,(forget factory manuals because they were so expensive, now we can get them cheap on eBay.) Finding parts is so much easier with internet access . And we can network with other enthusiasts at places like AF to share problem solving and other ideas. I remember we had a auto parts chain called National Auto and I would frequent them quite a bit because they had an area of the store set aside with tables and chairs and bookshelves loaded with factory service manuals for their customer's use. They also had a copy machine in that area and I remember going through many dimes copying the pages I needed to do a job. They were eventually bought out by another chain of auto parts stores and that service was discontinued.

Have not tried a CD but I have seen them advertised on E-Bay. I did get a complete 4 volumn Service Manual on my wife's 2001 Deville and have used it quite a lot.
I did not pay a lot for it, something like $30.00. It must have come from a mechanic shop because it has some grease prints on it but it is in real good shape. Keep checking E-Bay and search for (year model) Buick Serivce Manual and you will find quite a few.