# Why the demand for car owner's manuals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2016, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760 "2016-10-06T11:41:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/1 "2016-10-06T11:41:53Z")
Totaled my car recently. My dad suggested that the owner’s manual might be valuable, so I salvaged it from the glovebox. Sure enough, I see owner’s manuals for my car, a lot of them, listed on eBay for $60+. Given that every car comes with one, why are they such a hot commodity? ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/2 "2016-10-06T11:46:44Z")
Because they may not be present in used cars. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/3 "2016-10-06T11:54:55Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Because they may not be present in used cars. Do sellers of used cars tend to deliberately hang onto the manuals, or is it typically an oversight (i.e. they find the manual in their desk drawer a couple of years later and think “crap, this was supposed to go with the car…”)? ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/4 "2016-10-06T11:56:16Z")
I’m sure lots of people throw them away. I’ve always passed them on with the car when sold. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/5 "2016-10-06T12:03:55Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Do sellers of used cars tend to deliberately hang onto the manuals, or is it typically an oversight (i.e. they find the manual in their desk drawer a couple of years later and think “crap, this was supposed to go with the car…”)? We’ve bought several used cars from dealers. The nearly universal practice is to throw out _everything_ in the glove box, etc. Manual and all. Note that manuals frequently have the original owner’s name in them. I think there’s a fear that if something was broken and not fixed right back then and caused a serious accident, the new owner might track down and cause problems for the old owner. (Or maybe it’s protecting the fellow dealership that did the crappy repair.) Nowadays, all this is not all that hard to find online. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/6 "2016-10-06T12:40:10Z")
> [@campp](#): > > I’m sure lots of people throw them away. I’ve always passed them on with the car when sold. I’m sure you’re right, but that’s really bizarre to me. Why would anyone throw it away? While I’ve never felt the need to read the thing cover to cover, I’ve consulted the manual of every car I’ve ever owned at least once or twice for _something_. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/7 "2016-10-06T12:43:12Z")
Over here at least, the lack of a manual, like the lack of a properly stamped service record book, reduces the value of a recent model used car. Modern cars are so complicated now that it would be a challenge to work out the finer points without instructions. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/8 "2016-10-06T12:51:16Z")
How old are these cars we’re talking about? I’ve gotten my manuals online from the manufacturer for free going back to at least my 2001 Continental. Checking right now, Ford has manuals going all the way back to 1996, online, free, no registration required. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/9 "2016-10-06T13:02:44Z")
I’m surprised any cars even have printed manuals anymore. My laptop came without one, it’s on line, pdf, all 182 pages of it, but there was nothing in the box. I once did have critical need for a manal, when Honda decided that my used car radio would have to be reset every time the battery was disconnected. The reset code was in the manual. Brilliantly, Honda’s brainstorm was that if your radio is stolen, the person who stole it was the only person who could find out the code. It cost me $60 to have the radio taken out to see the serial number, and then have the dealer get the code. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/10 "2016-10-06T13:04:29Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > How old are these cars we’re talking about? I’ve gotten my manuals online from the manufacturer for free going back to at least my 2001 Continental. Checking right now, Ford has manuals going all the way back to 1996, online, free, no registration required. There’s some value in having a hardcopy in your hands while you sit in the car trying to figure out how to operate the accessories, although admittedly that’s less of a big deal now due to the increasing ubiquity of tablet computers and wifi. In my case, the car is MY2013. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/11 "2016-10-06T13:08:12Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I’m surprised any cars even have printed manuals anymore. My laptop came without one, it’s on line, pdf, all 182 pages of it, but there was nothing in the box. A printed manual is more necessary for a car than for something you keep at home (especially if you don’t carry around a device that can access the internet from anywhere) or for something you can actually read documents on. It’s often when you’re out and about that you need some of the information the manual provides: What does that light on the dashboard mean? How do I change a tire? What kind of bulb or fluid or filter do I need? When I bought my current car (used, from a dealer), it didn’t have a manual with it. I asked for one, and they mailed it to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/12 "2016-10-06T13:13:02Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Note that manuals frequently have the original owner’s name in them. I haven’t heard of this. How does the owner’s name get in the manual? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/13 "2016-10-06T13:14:30Z")
BMW, right? I just checked completed listings and holy shit, you’re right. Who in their right mind is paying $75 for one of these things? But the ones that sold, especially for that much, are what look like a stack of books and pamphlets in a nice binder (bag? some sort of container), often with extras. Change the search to something a bit more pedestrian like the single 3 color utilitarian Honda Accord manual and they sell for $7 to $15 depending on year and condition. In short, I think it’s a combination of BMW spending a lot of money on their owner’s manuals and BMW owners being a bit fanatic. Even if you look at something like a G37 you see that they just don’t sell as well or for as much (although there’s no shortage of people who apparently paid $60 for a G37 owner’s manual, those buyers willing to pay a premium don’t seem to be quite as prevalent). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/14 "2016-10-06T14:48:27Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I haven’t heard of this. How does the owner’s name get in the manual? Various reasons. E.g., the dealer writes it in there when service record pages are included in the manual. (Less common now that stuff is computerized … only:dubious:.) A PDF of an owner’s manual is a bad idea to useless in a _lot_ of emergency situations. A paper manual is generally handier. BTW: I’ve also been in rental cars where they take the manual out so that it can go with the car when the sell it. Nice. Luckily the last car I rented had one. Figuring out all sorts of odd controls is nearly impossible without one. (And I still couldn’t figure out out to get the \*&!$# stereo to play the songs on my mSD card in the right order.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/15 "2016-10-06T14:52:54Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Because they may not be present in used cars. I bought a used car last year with only 910 miles on it, and the manual was conspicuously absent. Luckily, a lot of them are online. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/16 "2016-10-06T14:57:35Z")
The last time I needed a car manual, it was a Smart4 and I was trying to find out how to open the blasted deposit so I could gas it up. An online document wouldn’t have been very helpful, I was very glad that for once the rental had come with its manual. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/17 "2016-10-06T15:02:33Z")
For new cars, I find it _essential_ to read the owner’s manual cover to cover! My 2014 Volvo owner’s manual is 400 pages long and has all sorts of information about the navigation, hands free cell phone, Bluetooth, automatic safety braking, etc. Also how to get into the car and tow it should the battery fail! (Can’t exactly read the owner’s manual in the glove compartment if you can’t get into the car! ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/18 "2016-10-06T15:08:02Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I haven’t heard of this. How does the owner’s name get in the manual? Usually there’s a space on the flyleaf for owners to write their name, address and other contact info. I never have, but some people do, especially older folks. My Pontiac Solstice had the whole kit and caboodle in there - the PO’s name, address, phone number - I was surprised the dealership left such personal info in the car. (Turned out to be a crappy dealership, so…). The BMW kit is a faux leather pouch with several manuals inside - one for warranty claims, one for the stereo, one for roadside assistance plans, and two manuals for the car - a quick guide and a full manual. I’ve never gotten the kit in a used BMW - I bought all mine via eBay. And that practice means BMW-less me now has 5 such kits on my bookcase (Z3, Z4, M Coupe, 3-series, 7-series). My Fiat 500 Sport came without a manual - they downloaded it onto a usb drive with a bit FIAT logo on it. Not trusting this, I ordered the hardcopies from Chrysler, which was a free option. The kid who bought my car took the usb drive and looked at the books like I was nuts for even having them. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/19 "2016-10-06T16:01:47Z")
Epbown, you’re missing the 5 series? I wonder if I still have mine around. Nah, it was in the glove box when I sold the car. And I did buy that car from BMW as pre-owned and warranted, and sure enough it had the previous owner’s information written in. I almost contacted them because I was missing the remote. They lived over a thousand miles away from where I bought the car. I do still have the microfiche repair manual, those are really hard to come by. One that you do need from the BMW manual collection is the code to enable the radio if you ever unhook the battery. The dealer can provide it to a legitimate owner. For older, expensive cars like Ferraris, the documentation and tool kit are worth thousands of dollars. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760/20 "2016-10-06T21:32:07Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I haven’t heard of this. How does the owner’s name get in the manual? I have a buddy, who when in high school 1976, bought a '68 Camaro that my dad had sold new in 1968. Both my dad and the new owner were listed with signatures. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-demand-for-car-owners-manuals/767760.md?page=2)