RE: A4 service manuals are available.

["Dupree, Jim" <dupree@alldata.com>]

According to the US Federal Clean Air act the manufactures are required
to provide all necessary information to completely and correctly repair
emission related failures. It also says they are not required to provide
anything more that what they provide the dealerships. There is also a
"Reasonable cost statement in there I am told but I have not read it and
their definition of reasonable cost and mine are going to be different
(VW 1998 Beetle manual set $700 - reasonable???). The requirement is
only applied to "Emissions" related failures also which means they are
not required to provide their complete repair manuals, brake,
suspension, sunroof, etc are not emissions related.
The VW and Audi manual set are very good (IMHO) although they are not
beginner level repair information. They assume you know what you are
doing when it comes to general repair work and they often only provide
and exploded view with notes for certain component and yes the do
indicate the use of many special tools. Many times the repair can be
done with alternative tools but some things can't be.
If I owned a late model Audi I think I would shell out for the complete
manual set, of course on what I make if I bought a late Audi I wouldn't
be able to shell out for lunch much less a manual set.

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Paul Wilson [SMTP:pwilson@pop.ma.ultranet.com]
	Sent:	Sunday, September 20, 1998 10:04 AM
	To:	quattro@coimbra.ans.net
	Subject:	A4 service manuals are available.

	I received my A4 service manual(s) the other days.

	It's actually all the same manuals the techs use but sold at one
price with
	a binder and packaging included.  They also said that I can buy
TSB's($4
	for the first one, $2 ea for subsequent ones).  Cost is
$395(gulp) as
	opposed to the ~$1000 the stuff would have cost seprately.

	There are 19 seperate "Repair Manuals" each of which covers one
aspect of
	the car. As stated before, these *ARE* the repair manuals that
were
	previously sold seperately for Audi Techs. The package comes
with a heavy
	vinyl folder for each manual/section as well as a 3-ring binder
for TSB's.
	There's also 3 slipcases to store the folders.  It covers 96 to
98.5.

	Finally, I should also mention the warning on the front of each
section. It
	says:

	IMPORTANT NOTICE TO CONSUMBER BEFORE USING

	This manual is written and intended for use only by professional
	technicians, who have attended formal training courses for our
vehicles and
	have access to special tools made specifically for repair of
those
	vehicles. This repair manual is being made available to
consumers in order
	to comply with *Federal
	Regulations*(emphasis is mine).

	Most repairs discussed should not be attempted by any person who
does not
	have the necessary training and special tools reguired.

	blah,blah,blah,blah,blah,blah,blah,blah,blah.

	So, as I thought, VW/Audi is required by law to make service
manuals for
	all their cars available to consumers, something they have not
been doing.
	I find this kind of annoying.

	Paul Wilson