Haynes Manuals now available as online editions — at a price

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Haynes Manuals has finally conceded that there may be something to this new-fangled internet thing and has start to make its manuals available online as electronic editions.

Haynes Online so far offers 50 of its top-selling manuals, with a further 50 to follow over the next 12 months.

The entire content of each printed manual is available, including full-colour photos, quick links to chapters and job types, and a search option.

Instructional videos are also included and although these aren’t specific to a particular vehicle, they’re probably easier to follow than a sequential series of photos.

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The manuals are accessed online via a restricted area of the Haynes web site rather than downloaded, which means a laptop, tablet computer or smartphone with internet access is needed if they’re to be viewed while working on a vehicle.

We’re not entirely convinced that the underside of a car is necessarily the best place to use a delicate piece of electronics though, nor are oily hands the best tools for using one.

More to the point is that the online Haynes Manuals are more expensive than their printed equivalents. Each costs £25 for a one year’s access or £30 for a lifetime subscription, compared to £20 for the paper edition.

According to Haynes, motorists in the US (where the online manuals have been available for some time) have been buying the printed version in addition to the online one.

We think it would make more sense to bundle access to the online edition at a reduced price with each book sale than charge over the odds for the convenience of a digital edition, though we’re not aware of any book publisher that uses such a fair and sensible model.

Here’s the full list of manuals available online so far: