Car Smarts: An Easy-to-Use Guide to Understanding Your Car and Communicating with Your Mechanic | 
 enlarge | Author: Mary Jackson
Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy Used: $2.38
You Save: $15.57 (87%)
New (16) from $8.92
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 261880
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3rd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 264
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 7.6 x 0.7
ISBN: 1562614576
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.2872
EAN: 9781562614577
ASIN: 1562614576
Publication Date: October 14, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Thoroughly illustrated, "Car Smarts" is written especially for those who may never work on their own cars, but want to speak confidently about car repair. 11 charts.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Great Book for Basic Understanding July 10, 2007
I loved this book as it delivered on what it promises - to instill a basic understanding of the various components of the car. I also came away with an appreciation for the bigger picture - how these components work together.
The book is very well written and I found the checklist of the things to do at the end of each chapter very helpful. I agree with another reviewer here that the troubleshooting map at the end of the chapters were not as useful (especially for someone who is a beginner). But make no mistake; this is a very good book (and a fun read) if you just want to understand the inner workings of your car as well as pick up basic tips to maintain your car. If you want to learn to repair your car (as a mechanic does), then you need a different book. As for me, I will use this book to have a more intelligent conversation with my mechanic!
 Cute, but perhaps a bit too beginner for some. January 17, 2007
I knew hardly anything about cars prior to reading this book and after reading it, I feel like I could at least discuss small things with my mechanic and actually understand what is going on. That's exactly what this book is far - a VERY basic, general understanding of how cars work and how they can be maintained; if you want information on repairs and do-it-yourself stuff, better go with Dummies.
 recycled version of previous book July 11, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is virtually identical, word-for-word and illustration-for-illustration, with "The Greaseless Guide to Car Care" by the same author. This is not stated anywhere, which leads me to conclude I should look elsewhere for consumer advice on cars.
Mary Jackson is within her rights as an author to update her book, change the title and the covers, etc., but she has a responsibility to inform her customers. She in fact withholds vital information about her product, a complaint often leveled at the auto repair industry.
The irony is that I bought these books to avoid being ripped off.
Excellent beginners guide February 26, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Author has done an excellent job in covering the basic workings of a car. As the title states it's a guide to 'understanding your car' and NOT repairing your car. A basic understanding of how cars work is necessary before one wants to repair or maintain his/her car.
 Auto repair for dummies is better July 23, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Car smarts is good to understand the basic principles how a car works, but it touched too less in topics such as "How to check / repair by yourself" and "What tools you should buy". I read "auto repair for dummies" few years ago, it did better in this sense.
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