At 12:44 PM 2/5/99 -0500, Ghsharp@aol.com wrote:
>> I'm not sure of the cost to Joe Consumer -- the office had a couple sets
>> handy and I didn't have to buy them. This will change this year as I'll
>> need to buy a set for my '99 Cobra (production date currently unknown).
>
>Jim,
>
>Does this mean that Joe Autocrosser can go into a Ford dealership and
>buy the appropriate CD-ROM's for his car at the parts counter? As you
>may know, some German mfrs have already gone the CD-ROM route.
>They consider them to be proprietary information and AFAIK will not sell
>them to the public. As it appears that all mfrs will eventually convert to
>this
>type of system, we all (SCCA and competitors) may have to figure out how
>to deal with this situation when a protest arises, especially if the mfr of
>the
>car involved will not allow the competitor to have access to workshop
>manuals of some type, as we are required to have now.
GH -
I *think* they are available -- probably need to be ordered rather than
available at the parts counter, but I *think* they are available to the
consumer. I know printed manuals will continue to be available for sale
for at least the immediate future, but they will likely cost more than the
CD-ROMs.
I agree that the shop manual requirement is something that is going to
likely need revisiting by the SEB Real Soon Now, if not Right Now. The
future of documentation is digital, and with CD-RW (and the eventual
DVD-RW) coming in, I can see future systems that just update the things
online rather than physically sending new discs out.
I learned some interesting things about the aftermarket manuals like
Mitchell's and Chilton's and Haynes: they buy the factory manuals and
condense several model years into one book. As a result, you often get
things that are *nearly* correct, but not quite correct, in the aftermarket
books. Factory manuals are worth the expense if you're doing any
significant work on your car.
Jim Crider
autojim@delphi.com
Jim Crider
autojim@delphi.com
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