Haynes vs Muir

Nov 19, 2003 16 Replies

Ant, the Muir book is called "the idiot guide" because is a simple, basic, just the strictly necesary book. If you are confortable using more technical books like the Haynes and the Orange book, then stick to them. But if you need basic step by step procedures on how to do things if you don't know what a torque wrench is, then go the the Muir book. Anyways, it's not expensive, so, If I were you I would buy it just in case. It's a fun book to read, even though most of the things there you already know or you can find in the Haynes or the Orange book. Go to amazon and read the sample pages, the whole book is just like that.

Karls

Don't get the Miur book for its tech help but definitely get it for pleasure.....it is a fun, kinda informative, and quite biased read.....

Sneaks

Why limit your self just to one source? I'd get them both, cause you never know when you may gain knowledge from one over the other and vice versa. Since you are looking on ebay for it, check out ebay's HALF.COM lots of new & used books at good prices.

Narley Dude®

We buy ALL aircooled books that are less than $4... then we get pickier.

The muir book combined with the Haynes is an excellent combo... Muir for concept... Haynes (chiltons etc) for details.

I'm sure we'd all agree that it's easy to read the Muir book cover-to-cover... it would be a chore to read just one chapter from a technical manual.

T>

Muir's book is so well written, you can hand it to people who don't even own an acvw and they can enjoy reading it, especially the first couple chapters because of much of the info in there is useful for driving almost any manual (and to some extent, any car, period).

Granted only two people that I can recall personally having read it, but neither of them were mechanics and they walked away with a better understanding of how cars run.

Which is something getting dangerously rare these days. Not that I deserve the title "mechanic" by any interpretation of the word but at least I can describe the components of an internal combustion engine. :p

I saw a cheap Muir beetle manual on Ebay. I already have the Haynes one, but I wonder if the Muir adds something to the one I have.



Ant



Absolutely get a copy of Saint Muir's book.Still one of my favorite reads.The Haynes manual is excellent for shop facts and the Muir bible is fun.Steve

Why limit your self just to one source? I'd get them both, cause you never know when you may gain knowledge from one over the other and vice versa. Since you are looking on ebay for it, check out ebay's HALF.COM lots of new & used books at good prices.

Narley Dude®

I have four books and use Muir's the most as he tells how to do. Many of the others say crap to do but not how to do it. They usually supply great pictures so I look at them (haynes etc) and read Muir's. Now if I want more complete explanations I will listen to Speedy Jim or the group and of course Bob Hoover whom I believe knows more than most books and can tell you the why and how. Dennis

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The best VW manual is the Bentley, but the Haynes is a close second. The Muir book has the best karma of them all, but you still need the Bentley or the Haynes for good straight info.

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Hiya All,

I would add one important caveat to what has already been said............... Muir's book is a fun read. But on any point in which St. Muir disagrees with either Bentley or Haynes - trust Bentley and Haynes to be correct. The Idiot guide was written well over 35 years ago and it reflects the unique opinions of one person. As a result (despite updates and additions) it is NOT a good choice as the primary source for today's use. It does contain innacuracies, so one is well warned. Still a heckuva good read though.

Mike

1970 Bus - The Ruptured Duck

I like reading Muir... Muir was a rocket scientist/hippy. He writes a kind of "Zen and the art of VW maintenance". There's lots of 1970 hippy art, and more about why you do things, and a whole lot of here's what you should be seeing, and some of "while waiting for parts, you have some time to burn, stop and smell the roses, then shag the ol'lady, and get a smoke." I wish I had read Muir when I was given my 62 bug when I was 16.

follow up suggestion......

Keep your eyes out for a set of the BugMe videos -- worth the investment... brings together the factory manuals and the muir book

I agree with this ALMOST completely. The problem is that I have not yet found a manual that is error-free. While the Bentley is the absolute best, there are still errors in it. Most of them are so minor that few people will ever notice them, however.

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Ant,

Each book and author approach this great topic from different perspectives. More ideas are often best, when working in a specific technical area.

The Muir book... is FUN! Muir's prose style is a joy to read and the illustrations are insightful, as well!

VW EBAY STUFF... TEKTRONIX TOO

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Marco

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 23:23:59 -0600, Jim Adney scribbled this interesting note:

One correction...

The best ACVW manuals are the original Factory Workshop Manuals used by the dealership mechanics. The Bentley manual is an abridged version of this manual.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

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