Haynes to cease printing new repair manuals, moves to online guides

Haynes manuals have been making it possible for the unskilled and utterly unqualified to work on their own vehicles for over half a century. If you're like us Roadshowzen, you probably have more than a few -- all grease-stained and dogeared -- kicking around your garage, but future generations of shadetree mechanics may not be so lucky.

Haynes' Twitter account confirmed on Thursday that the company would cease production of new printed manuals. While this is pretty shocking at first glance, it went on to clarify that it would keep its back catalog in print production, so all is not lost. The decision to pivot its business model was likely a difficult one, but the company's switch to a digital platform could keep it alive for years to come.

It’s not the end of the road for Haynes – we are embarking on an exciting new journey!

Contrary to reports, Haynes is not stopping printing Manuals. Whilst we will no longer publish new print Workshop Manuals, we will continue to print and publish our huge back catalogue. [1/3]

— Haynes Manuals (@HaynesManuals) December 3, 2020

The move away from print is understandable. Older cars required more hands-on diagnosis and repairing or rebuilding of individual components. Newer models are increasingly challenging to use those techniques on, and printing a book that tells someone how to use a computer seems a little unnecessary.

Haynes claims that its new platform -- which it will discuss in greater detail at a later date -- will cover 95% of all makes and models of vehicles. This is around 40% more than the current printed catalog. It's unclear if the company will continue to base its manuals on a complete in-house tear-down and rebuild of the vehicle in question, but we sure hope so.