RE: [T3] beginner

["Rik Ponne" <rikponne@gmail.com>]

Does a 1961-1967 version of this manual exist? I found a volume called
"Bentley Volkswagen Type 3 Workshop Manual 1961-1967", is this what I would
be looking for? Quity pricy, the cheapest I could find was $78.08 at
overstock.com.
Rik

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Adney [mailto:jadney@vwtype3.org] 
Sent: 19 August 2007 23:21
To: type3@vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] beginner

On 18 Aug 2007 at 22:13, Mark Healey wrote:

> Jim Adney wrote:
> 
> > Buy this manual:
> > 
> > Volkswagen Official Service Manual
> > Type 3 Fastback and Squareback 1968-1973
> > published by Robert Bentley, Cambridge, Mass, 1974
> > ISBN 0-8376-0057-X / LPV 997 383 / VSQU
> > (excellent book, complete and well written)
> > 
> > These are still in print for about $40, but old copies (with wiring 
> > diagrams in color) occasionally come up on ebay for about half that.
> 
> I'd like to caution you against buying books on ebay.   Go to ABE.com. 
> Sellers have to pre-pay to the service and are more likely to be real 
> bookmen.  There are a lot of amateurs there but not nearly so many as 
> there are on the bay.  You will probably pay a little more but you are 
> less likely to get burned.

Have you had some trouble with manuals bought on ebay? I've bought 
quite a few and never had a problem. I generally email the seller, 
however, and ask whether they have the color wiring diagrams.

I was not familiar with abe.com, so I went there and pasted in the 
ISBN. I got quite a few hits, and the prices ranged from just a bit 
more than I would pay on ebay to 2.6 x the Amazon.com discount price. 
It looks like these are now available from Amazon for $31, new, 
w/free shipping, but these would be late printings with the B&W 
wiring diagrams. The low price at abe.com was US$25 w/shipping to the 
US for a greasy copy from Canada. The low US price was $29 
w/shipping.

Most of the over-retail prices were in Europe, which might explain 
the higher prices, but the highest price, an astonishing $82, was 
right here in the US.

I'd never thought of going the standard used bookstore route, so I 
tried the same thing at my favorite, alibris.com. and found similar 
prices at the low end, but nothing that went as high at the high end. 
There looked to be a reasonable used copy w/color wiring diagrams 
there for $25 plus shipping. Shipping charges weren't called out 
explicitly, but they've been reasonable for me in the past. You 
probably get to see them in the checkout process.

I can usually get a good used copy w/color wiring diagrams from ebay 
for $20. If you don't mind B&W wiring diagrams, then the current $31 
discount price is impossible to beat for a new copy. I just hope this 
doesn't mean that Bentley is closing these out.

Anyone who is interested in getting a good manual should just copy 
the ISBN above and paste it into the search engine of abe.com, 
alibris.com, or amazon.com. Finding them on ebay is harder, because 
sellers almost never include the ISBN. I generally search on: 

manual bentley (fastback, squareback)

-- 
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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