How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive 19 Ed: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot | 
| Authors: John Muir, Tosh Gregg
Creator: Peter Aschwanden
Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $15.45
You Save: $9.55 (38%)
New (30) Used (12) Collectible (1) from $15.00
Rating:  112 reviews
Sales Rank: 5715
Media: Paperback
Edition: 19th
Pages: 470
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1566913101
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.28722
EAN: 9781566913102
ASIN: 1566913101
Publication Date: September 9, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
First published in 1969, this classic manual of automotive repair equips VW owners with the knowledge to handle every situation they will come across with any air-cooled Volkswagen built through 1978, including Bugs, Karmann Ghias, vans, and campers. With easy-to-understand, fun-to-read information — for novice and veteran mechanics alike — anecdotal descriptions, and clear language, this book takes the mystery out of diagnostic, maintenance, and repair procedures, and offers some chuckles along the way. This edition features new information on troubleshooting, new photos, and an updated resource list.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 107 more reviews...
 An excellent repair manual! Buy it if you like your VW! November 26, 1998
38 out of 39 found this review helpful
Commonly referred to as the "Idiot Manual" or the "Muir Book" among VW fanatics. It covers all air cooled VW models. It is a book that I love and cherish! It is different than any other auto manual you've ever see. It is aimed at the complete idiot! It has NO pictures and only hand drawings and illustrations. This makes all illustrations very clear because it leaves out all the extraneous stuff that photos include. It has lots of text but this is a good thing. John Muir is an old hippie that loved his VW's. He instills this love in all his readers as well. This book's strong point is teaching this love of your car as well as teaching you the ongoing maintenance. I feel the tune-up and maintenance portion of this book is better than the other books. The other big plus of this book is that it's just plain fun to read. I've read it cover to cover a few times. It's that entertaining! The only weak part of this book is for serious (professional) mechanic's who want a technical manual for ALL parts of the bus. for example, here is an actual quote from the book. "The trans (transaxle) overhaul is not in this book. Not only can't you do it but we won't either." I don't mind that one bit! I couldn't do it so I appreciate them telling me. It covers the basic maintenance and repair (99% of anything you will need done on your car/bus) in a clearer, step by step, way than any other book. If I had to have only one repair book, this would be it, without question.
 Essential if flawed -- great introduction to aircooled VWs August 2, 2000
Gordon M. Wagner (Suburbia)
38 out of 42 found this review helpful
I've had three or four copies of this book over the years. If you buy it, take your book to the printer and get them to trim off the binding and three-hole-drill it for you. Keep it in a binder. The book is an excellent introduction to aircooled VWs, but it is slightly flawed and has a bias towards OLDER VWs... I have a '76 bus and the margins are full of notes correcting slight inaccuracies... such as today, I needed to replace my brake light switches, the book says "remove splash pan," I did that... sure didn't see any master cylinder revealed. Damn. 100 degree heat today. DEFINITELY get a Bentley shop manual reprint AND READ AND COMPARE BOTH OF THEM... get a parallax that'll help you figure out what to do. The tone of the Idiot Book is perfect, however, it's a truly empowering experience to realize that you can work on your own vehicle -- keep it running forever. It's a heck of a change from the "disposable car" attitude today. [...] You really need this book. There's nothing like it.
 Good, but not the only book you need! November 8, 2000
Simon South (Sunnyvale, California, USA)
30 out of 36 found this review helpful
Anyone who sets out to buy an old Volkswagen will hear this book mentioned again and again, usually with great reverence and a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. Well folks, it is simply not all that. Don't get me wrong -- I'm happy I bought this book, and I refer to it often -- but like other reviewers here have pointed out, it's awfully overrated within VW circles. The instructions are biased towards pre-68 cars and often gloss over details; it's very hard to track down specific solutions when all you know are the symptoms; and the diagrams, though extremely well-drawn, aren't always as effective as real photographs of the car and its parts. When I'm trying to learn how to repair something on my Beetle, I read this book first to get a friendly introduction to the work involved... but the other manuals are the ones I actually take outside to the car.So if you've just bought a "new" Beetle or Bus that needs a lot of repair, buy this book -- but get the Bentley shop manual for your model and year at the same time as you will need to refer to it a lot. I recommend the Haynes manuals, too; they give the same procedures but in a highly effective "steps + pictures" format.
A must have for all aircooled VW owners November 15, 1999
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
John Muir is regarded as the expert in the field as far as aircooled VW's. This book is extremely easy to read. It makes capable mechanics out of "compleat idiot"s with its easy going style.For a complete collection, buy the VW service manual by Robert Bentley to complement the Muir book. With these two references, available through amazon.com, you have everything you need to perform any and all repairs on your aircooled VW.
The best VW Book ever. August 7, 1999
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
I have owned 5 VW's in my life time and wouldn't be with out this book. I have overhauled several bug engines and a bus engines following this book with great success. I have had everything from a '63 bus to a '75 bus with a few bugs in between (a friend and I even put together a 2 cylinder bug engine) with each vehicle I would purchase a copy of " How to Keep your VW Alive" and when I sold the Vehicle I would offer the book to the new owner. I have given copies of the book to friends with VWs and a copy to my son when he bought a '74 bug several years ago. In the summer 1973 my sister, her child of 5, and husband left the USA for a tour of Europe by VW bus. I gave them a copy of Muirs book and it helped keep them "Keep on Trucking" on thier merry way.
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