How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot

First, my credentials for this review. From 1971 to 1994 (with insignificant gaps), I've owned and driven three Vokswagen buses (not including a parts bus)and used this manual to keep all of them on the road. As of this writing, I'm driving my fourth bus. I've gone through four copies of the Idiot Book, using each one until it either fell to pieces, became illegible from grease and oil stains, or needed to be updated as I bought a later-model bus. It has guided me through six or seven engine rebuilds (I used my engines very, very hard) and God knows how many other procedures ... I think that I've done every single procedure in the book that applied to my particular makes and models. And using this book, I've done work on various WV bugs, buses, and squarebacks that belonged to friends of mine.
I agree with everybody who calls this the indispensable reference for VW owners. I also agree with those who point out its shortcomings. Muir quotes a friend of his, on a review of another VW book. as saying "I agree one hundred percent with ninety percent of what he says." That could also apply to my own feelings about this book.
As a technical manual, it mostly consists of solid information -- solid enough, anyway, to get you back on the road so you can find somebody to show you how to do it the right way. I've always advised a prospective repairer to own both this book and another manual (my favorite was the green Volkswagen Official Service Manual, also called the "Bentley"), read the Muir write-up first to get a general idea of what to do, and then compare it to the other manual, note the differences, and ask somebody why the differences are there. Usually it's because Muir assumes you're making do with a minimum of tools, or are too cash-strapped to make a proper fix. Occasionally, you'll find that John was flat wrong about something (such as how to warm it up in the morning, or why chokes should be disabled, or why the 009 distributor was perfect in every way), or that your particular model had a different set-up than the ones he was familiar with.
But to simply compare this book with other technical manuals would be to ignore the most important feature of this book, which is its ability to empower you. It presumes that the reader has no technical aptitude and starts you gently down the road to proficiency and self-confidence. I'll bet that more mechanics have been inspired by this book than any other technical manual ever written. Not only that, but once you have discovered that you can indeed perform a repair competently, you get a sneaking suspicion that there are other things you can do if you apply the same confidence, common sense, and ingenuity that John taught you about. I doubt if I would have had the courage to time a sewing machine, install a hard drive, build a mandolin, or re-assemble a hang glider if John hadn't shown me that I had the potential to do these things.
This book has survived because of its idiosyncrasies, not in spite of them. John writes that "You must do this work with love or you will fail. You don't have to think, but you must love." He's telling you something important about Life here, and about the relationship we have to our possessions and to our work. Forty years later, these are still wise words, and to find them in an automotive manual is astonishing. Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" tried to apply philosophical principles to machine repair, but it failed because he was no mechanic and tried to gauge his mechanic's skill according to his own expectations of what a mechanic's mind-set should be. John knew better. He knew, and taught, that you achieve oneness with the machine by applying mind, heart, and hands together, and by listening to the machine as it tries to tell you what needs to be done. If there's ever been another book like that, I haven't heard of it. And if there is, I'll wager that the author has read the "Idiot Book."

Dear Amazon-- the editorial review you supplied here about the author is totally erroneous and laughable!! Please correct it. This book is NOT authored by John Muir the nature-writer and conservationist, born 1838 and who died in 1914, BEFORE the volkswagen was even invented. This book is by John Muir (b1918– d1977) who was a structural engineer who worked for National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), who "dropped out," 1960s-style, to become a writer and long-haired car mechanic with a garage in Taos, New Mexico, and who specialized in maintenance and repair of Volkswagens. OMG!! This is exactly the sort of thing that makes the World Wide Web so damn dangerous Amazon. Fix it please!

Peter Aschwanden's art work is awesome. It reminds me of R. Crumb. The detail is amazing. The book itself is a master-piece of entertainment and a great combination of art and technology. Reading it front to back will give the novice a good understanding of what makes the wheels go round and round. You might want to have a Haynes manual handy too, but you can't go wrong with Muir/Tosh Gregg for taking your bug apart and putting it back together again. It's just damn fun!

Don't
even think about touching anything else on your car till you read it cover
to cover. It, for lack of a better term, is THE aircooled bible. It is
written for the VW driver that knows NOTHING about anything mechanical or
electrical.
THIS is the best (...)you
can spend on your car.

Still the BEST!
I read this book for the first time when I was in college -- in the early 80's. That reading was for my 71 Karmann-Ghia. The second time, was while I was on an airplane in 2009 as I flew to pick-up my Porsche Speedster replica. Over twenty years later and everything flowed back into my brain about the elegance of the flat-four engine. And just like in the 80s, the dog-eared copy of the latest printing of this book sits on a shelf in my garage, next to the Speedster -- the pages of the chapter titled "Tune-up" dirty with used Castrol from my hands. Thirty years later, and life repeats itself, and that is a beautiful thing.

I am an ASE Certified Technician who purchased this book at the beginning af a restoration project involving a 1970 Beetle. After turning to this manual during many moments of need I have noted that my emotional responses ranged from deep gratitude to watching this manual sail across my shop toward the trash bin.

Why the author decided to exclude critical information while clarifying others is a paradox to me. i. e.; One very common symptom with all air-cooled beetles are the sagging rear suspension; the author doesn't mention a word about the rear suspension while expertly addressing the front. The only wiring diagram is for an early `60's 6 volt system!?! etc, etc.

Ultimately I am glad to have this manual (Yes, I have dug it back out of the trash bin after a cooling off period, more then once) and, for the price, would recommend it. But I would first recommend you add this book to your library only after investing in the bentley, and other, manuals first.

Do not depend on this manual to cover all your needs in any comprehensive way. If this manual does address an issue for you, it's the greatest reference book out there. When it leaves you in the dark on other issues, especially if you are neck deep in an operation, you may have to suppress the urge to test the aerodynamics of this book.

To me this book is half complete. I wish that the author had invested more energy and focus into making this a comprehensive guide and less into the extracurricular comic strips and art work, or at least save it for when this manual was truly finished.

Since this is half the book it should be I give it half the rating it could have...2.5.

I got this book when I was 14 for my 1974 VW Beetle. This book taught me how engines work, how to diagnose vehicles, and prepared me for becoming my own mechanic. Unlike other manuals when you need an image for the work you are doing you will find a hand-drawn version showing you exactly what to look for (check out the Distributor page for an example). We don't have the bug, but I got this for my partner and his first car. Though it's a newer VW, it'll still teach him to work on it because the principals are the same.

I first bought this book back in the 70's, when I think Muir was still alive. It completely captured the hippie, VW era, of which I was a part of, in Big Sur, CA. Step by step instructions for everything VW. Today, I am going to buy it just to read and remember an era long past, and wish I could bring back. I am glad it is still in print, because it perfectly matches the machine with the intended owners. I realize the Eurovan crowd will not be doing any repairs, but for those with 70-80's era buses, it is a must have.

This is a great book, but I own a rare 1969 Auto Stick Beetle. After buying the book from a Motorworks dealer in New Jersey, I found to my dismay that the book contains no information or help for the auto stick owners. Despite this, the book is a great help for other VW issues. I especially like the illustrations. Many of them are funny, interesting and awesome especially for Bug fanatics like myself.

I had a '72 Super Beetle, from 1973 to 1977, and kept it running using this book. I did all sorts of procedures using the book--tune-ups with setting the valve clearance (many times), replacing my muffler, heater box, clutch cable replacement, and changing my leaking fuel pump once in 15 minutes in the auto parts store lot--without the book.

The book is very good for general procedures, but it's really worthwhile to also have the model specific repair manual for your VW. There are subtle differences between each year, and the factory manual is helpful in figuring out what to do when the book doesn't look like Muir's illustration.

One time to let a pro take care of things--In the 90s, my son's fuel injected Bug with a damaged injector was just too much for us, even with my son's copy of Muir and the factory manual. Fortunately we knew a competent Bug mechanic (VW dealers can't repair them anymore--no parts or tribal knowledge), and got him running again.

If you own an air cooled VW, this is a must-have! The book is humorous, insightful and extremely educational. My VW mechanic, who has been fixing VWs for over 50 years, recommended this and loaned me his copy. I had to buy it, it was so good! It is the most comprehensive guide for classic VWs and is simple to read and understand for even the most novice mechanic. It demystifies the process and gives you confidence to maintain and repair your VW Bug/Bus/Ghia/Fastback/Squareback/Notchback/etc.