No more paper factory manuals?

[Bonnewagon]

So my Daughter bought a 2012 Jeep Liberty. I always buy the factory manual because I am the sucker that gets stuck working on the kid's cars. I cannot find a paper repair manual at all, just CD's, and they are more expensive than the paper. Research indicates that Chrysler, at least, quit publishing paper manuals around 2008. What gives?

 

[Ribbedroof]

Easier to use/read (for aging eyes), last longer, print as many pages/just the pages you need as many times as you want.
For them, it's win/win...cheaper to produce, way cheaper to mail, premium price for the "new mode of delivery technology"...it all adds up to increased profits!

 

[pagrunt]

GM doesn't print parts catalogs anymore, hell their parts guys can't look up parts with out a VIN either so I guess it makes sense.

 

[Jimmy]

You can find them on eBay usually pretty cheap.

 

[fleming442]

Check around; you might find a free download. I found one for a 2002 F body for the Pig project.

 

[airboatgreg]

Cost as usual. You might look at Alldata. I used them for years. They just about have it all including service bulletins

 

[melloelky]

I haven't seen a crash book in years,like anything else it's more cost effective.

 

[DRIVEN]

There's also just a lot more info for the newer cars. A FSM for a 2018 would probably be 3 times as thick as a 1998.

 

[Ribbedroof]

I haven't seen a crash book in years,like anything else it's more cost effective.

I remember the last time our rep tried to sell us paper books by saying "a lot of people like to be able to carry them out to the car". I showed her the laptop we had their estimating system on and told her we already had a portable "book"

 

[HADA442]

One PITA reality with service manuals for newer cars: It definitely isn't 'one-stop shopping' like it was for our G-Body cars. A lot of them have multiple volumes.