The Driveway Mechanic's Manual

The Driveway Mechanic's Manual

This manual does two things. It shows you the jobs you can do yourself in your own driveway — oil, filters, wipers, tires, battery, brakes — with the tools and the steps laid out plain. And it tells you which of the things a service counter offers you are real, which are worth paying for, and which to turn down.

What's inside — 12 sections, 58 chapters

• The Service Counter — what they'll offer you, what it actually costs, and the four sentences that end the sales pitch
• Oil — the 3,000-mile myth, which oil your car really needs, and the driveway oil change start to finish
• Tires — pressure, rotation, reading wear patterns, and the $9 kit that fixes most flats
• Brakes — how to check your own pads, the front pad job, and the noises that mean stop driving
• Battery & Electrical — the $8 tester, cleaning terminals, jumping a car without frying anything
• The $12 Parts — key fob, fuses, spark plugs, coolant
• Under the Hood — the five-minute monthly check, reading the dipstick, what a drip's color tells you
• Warning Lights — the $20 code reader, and the gas cap that causes most check engine lights
• Schedules — what to do and when, plus the before-winter and before-trip lists
• Buying Used — the twenty-minute driveway inspection and the walk-away signs
• Talking to a Mechanic — estimates, "show me the old part," and when a car is done
• The Driveway Toolbox — the $120 kit that covers this whole book, and the one rule that keeps you alive under a car

Plus 86 illustrations and diagrams, a one-page card at the end of every section, and four printable sheets for the glovebox: a maintenance log, a road-trip checklist, a used-car inspection sheet, and a script for the service counter.

200+ pages, set in large print, because I know who's reading it.

What you get

A PDF, downloadable the moment you buy. Read it on a phone, a tablet, or a computer, or print it and keep it in the car. Nothing ships to your house.

What it isn't

A repair manual for your exact car. Your owner's manual is the only schedule that counts, and I say so on page one. This is the book that tells you what that schedule means, and which of the other things they'll sell you are real.

If it doesn't help you

Ask for your money back within 7 days. No argument, no questions. I'd rather refund you than have you feel ripped off, which is the whole point of the book.

— Walter Doyle