CarTech books. Quality issues.

[TonyW]

You may well have a few titles from this company, I do and up to now I've been happy with their product. They have released many really good titles over the years including Car Model Reference titles by our own Tim Boyd. However...

I've just bought a CarTech book on the Sox and Martin race team. It's for reference on a couple of Super Stock builds.  I'm far from happy with it. I've complained direct to the company. Here's my note to them:

Hi there,

I've been a customer of yours for many years and have a couple of dozen of your titles on my bookshelves.

I've just taken delivery of your Sox and Martin book by James Schild ISBN 978-1-61325-478-3

The book was bought new from a seller here in the UK. The purchase invoice is enclosed below.

The written and pictured contents are up to your usual high standards.

The physical book itself is terrible.

The soft cover is thin and flimsy compared with all my other titles

It feels shoddy compared with any of my other books from you. The photographs are fuzzy and are nowhere near as sharp as they should be in a photo specific volume. This is due to the paper used, not the quality of the original negative.

The paper used is cheap and feels almost like newsprint. The pages are already taking on a wavy appearance. The pages are see through! I can see the next page details before I turn the page.

The book has been here a couple of days only.

I would normally return a book in this poor condition but I can't see how it's the fault of the seller. They packed well and delivered securely and in as new condition and are not at fault. The book itself is of poor quality and not up to your usual standards.

Is there more than one edition of this book, in hardback for instance, and with better printing and paper used? If that is so, how do I order one to replace the unsatisfactory one I have.

Is it possible to return the book direct to you in exchange?

I'm more interested in getting a decent copy of the book than getting a refund.

I am in the UK which doesn't help, but I'm happy to work with you on this.

Thank you for your attention and best wishes from the UK,

Tony.


I got a reply the following day.



Hello Tony,

The book you purchased is a print on demand. Those are created when a book goes out of print and we no longer stock them and they are not always the best quality. Unfortunately I have no other copies to offer than what you purchased.

Thank you,

Nancy Kuhnz
Customer Service

CarTech


Basically, tough luck. We know they are rubbish but we will happily sell substandard books to you.

It seems that you now need to check with whoever you are buying from to see if they actually have the book in front of them, and specifically ask if it's Print on Demand. Without checking thoroughly there's a chance you will get a pretty poor book for your money.

I'll not be using CarTech again.



Tony.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sorry to hear that. There are a lot of publications out there now that are "print on demand" or available only on digital storage media.

I almost always buy "used" original copies, very often indistinguishable from new, of anything that's out of print.

Here in the US we have rather a lot of sellers of salvaged stock, library copies, etc.

[RSchnell]

I rarely buy new books anymore. Used is where it's at for me. Not only cheaper but better quality than reprints.

abebooks.com is my favorite used book site. I've no interest in the company other than as a satisfied many times over customer. 

[tim boyd]

On 2/10/2025 at 4:33 PM, TonyW said:

You may well have a few titles from this company, I do and up to now I've been happy with their product. They have released many really good titles over the years including Car Model Reference titles by our own Tim Boyd. However...

I've just bought a CarTech book on the Sox and Martin race team. It's for reference on a couple of Super Stock builds.  I'm far from happy with it. I've complained direct to the company. Here's my note to them:

Hi there,

I've been a customer of yours for many years and have a couple of dozen of your titles on my bookshelves.

I've just taken delivery of your Sox and Martin book by James Schild ISBN 978-1-61325-478-3

The book was bought new from a seller here in the UK. The purchase invoice is enclosed below.

The written and pictured contents are up to your usual high standards.

The physical book itself is terrible.

The soft cover is thin and flimsy compared with all my other titles

It feels shoddy compared with any of my other books from you. The photographs are fuzzy and are nowhere near as sharp as they should be in a photo specific volume. This is due to the paper used, not the quality of the original negative.

The paper used is cheap and feels almost like newsprint. The pages are already taking on a wavy appearance. The pages are see through! I can see the next page details before I turn the page.

The book has been here a couple of days only.

I would normally return a book in this poor condition but I can't see how it's the fault of the seller. They packed well and delivered securely and in as new condition and are not at fault. The book itself is of poor quality and not up to your usual standards.

Is there more than one edition of this book, in hardback for instance, and with better printing and paper used? If that is so, how do I order one to replace the unsatisfactory one I have.

Is it possible to return the book direct to you in exchange?

I'm more interested in getting a decent copy of the book than getting a refund.

I am in the UK which doesn't help, but I'm happy to work with you on this.

Thank you for your attention and best wishes from the UK,

Tony.


I got a reply the following day.



Hello Tony,

The book you purchased is a print on demand. Those are created when a book goes out of print and we no longer stock them and they are not always the best quality. Unfortunately I have no other copies to offer than what you purchased.

Thank you,

Nancy Kuhnz
Customer Service

CarTech


Basically, tough luck. We know they are rubbish but we will happily sell substandard books to you.

It seems that you now need to check with whoever you are buying from to see if they actually have the book in front of them, and specifically ask if it's Print on Demand. Without checking thoroughly there's a chance you will get a pretty poor book for your money.

I'll not be using CarTech again.



Tony.

Tony....so sorry to hear that and thanks for the heads-up.   I recently noticed that the CarTech 2025 catalog does disclose which titles are "print on demand" and that the quality differs from original printings, but your experience is certainly a situation that purchasers need to be aware of.  

I do want to advise that for my two CarTech books, there is still a healthy inventory in stock from the original print run of "Collecting Drag Racing Models' and the second printing of "Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits".  However, those two will not see another print run in the future, so when they're gone, they're gone (I don't think my books would qualify for the "on demand" feature.)  So, if you are considering one or both, recommend you order sooner than later.  

Best...TB  

[Wickersham Humble]

My publisher, California Bill's Automotive Handbooks, Tucson AZ (formerly HP Books, Fisher Books, etc.) suffered badly during Covid, and Bill's son Harold sold all his automotive titles to Car Tech; my title is/was "How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car", c. 1990.  It's the only Z resto book ever published, and has been 'in print' (not printed on demand) since '90, selling fairly well.  Now, I don't know; we'd done a complete revision of the text (and photos) to update it before 2020, but now that's in doubt; Bob Wilson, my contact guy at CT is very dubious about bringing out the planned revised edition now, and I think is just selling out the stock he acquired last year.

Publishers: they rule the roost for authors, unless you go to self-publishing, the original 'print on demand' source, and all my fiction stuff is struggling along with Kindle now.  It's the best compromise I can get, at age 79-1/2!  Car Tech doesn't like the b&w photos* in my manual, but who's going to do another ground-up restoration project just to get color digital photos?  If NISSAN USA hadn't bought my original owner/restored '70 240Z back for a display car, I'd never really have earned back my investment in the darn thing, written about a car that sold like crazy; highest selling sports car of it's times, etc.  I spent time and bucks gettin a portfolio of new color shots of a friends original 240Z for the cover, and CT is only lukewarm about using them at all.  Bill's put up a dummy cover on Amazon for a few months with the red car, but...  It's a strange world, publishing; take it from me!  It was a learning experience, anyhow.  Ole' Wick Humble

*I admit that my b&w photography was on a learning curve, but we redid them digitally; all the info is there, anyhow.  I used a s-pot of Nissan drawings (almost the whole parts manual for the early Z is included, with call outs) and did a number of ink illustrations myself, where needed.  Also, I got permission from Yoshihiro Inomoto, the Japanese techical drawing genius, to use his X-ray rendering done for Datsun on the frontspiece.  Crazy; he asked me to be his North American editor for two pretty coffee-table books he wrote/illustrated (in Japanese) but in the early '90's I could not sell them to any publishers in the US!  Sad! 

[tim boyd]

Folks, Wick's experience is not unusual for auto authors these days. 

Between the collapse of two major book selling chains a while back and the third one teetering for a good while, then the Covid debacle, and the now-ubiquity of the internet as a source to provide historical info (although sometimes of dubious accuracy), the auto book publishing world has suffered a near=mortal blow, and my sense is that it is still really struggling these days.  The only things that really sell these days, apparently, are the modern engine how-to books.   Car-Tech made it through, somehow, and also seems to be to be becoming a bit more aggressive in promoting their books (good!).      

My publisher for both books was also Bob Wilson, and I found him to be a straight shooter and excellent business associate.  I also give him and the CarTech team kudos as supporters of the model car hobby (they approached me with a request to do both my books, not the other way around).  

Not sure how relevant this info is to all of you beyond Wick and I, but I'm sharing it anyway....TB 

[Wickersham Humble]

Tim,

Hear ya!  Pettersen's Motorsports, our local speed shop, has a rack well stocked with print paperback how-to's, but sadly they all show signs of wear; meaning that some have been there for literally years!  He sold a half-dozen of mine, mostly as a courtesy -- a friend.  Manuals are not too expensive, versus what inflation has done to the old buck, but they don't seem to be the format folks are buying -- alas!  My book usually costs $25 retail, but sells for about $13 wholesale (of which I get ten to fifteen percent, or as little as $1.30 per copy!) and that hasn't changed much since 1990!  Eg, if i wanted to give you one, it would have to sell ten copies just to break even in handing one out gratis for a review or some publicity.  I have donated two to the local library (one lost it's cover) which also precluded a certain number of sales...!

Magazines too; I'd gotten my toe in the door at STREET RODDER about 2015, but then the mag was folded up by the pubisher (after several changes of ownership) not even transferring to an online format! I began with Mike Lamm's Special Interest Autos in 1978, then Old Cars Weekly/Car Exchange, some regional tabloid types, and was Restoration Editor of Z CAR Magazine unil it also folded.  Just club mags, now.

And, then S____ A____, MCM's competitor...  Less places for Tim to sell his good articles!

As a former teacher, I can testify to the power of the 'mobile personal electronics communication device' and it's deeply spooky connection to the human brain... and it's lack of attraction to old me.  "The times, they are a'changin'" for sure.  I'd hoped my Z book would be published anew by CT, but maybe in vain.  Funny, I've haunted 1/1 car swap meets since it was debuted, and only once found a single used one for sale -- and I've looked!  It's a phenomenon, certainly.  Like most of you, I love books; I collect books of many kinds, and have so many shelved that my heirs will undoubtedly curse my name when I croak, in sorting them.  Oh, and a shelf of about twenty feet just of car mags, too, mostly from the '50s-60s!  And, I've already given some away.  Print speaks to me -- now where's that Spotlite book on car models I had?  Wick

Edited February 17 by Wickersham Humble
forgot detail

[RSchnell]

Interesting thread. I had given thought to writing a book on pre-war Ford stuff, but this only confirms my suspicions- I might make enough to get the All Star at Waffle House. Books, especially Ford related books(and Ford memorabilia) are my other weakness aside from kits. This is about 10% of the book collection. Some VW and OT stuff mixed in. More in the living room and even more boxed up. There's only so much room in my beachside apartment. 

[tim boyd]

Speaking of which, the Publisher advised me today that they are nearly sold out of the "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits" book. 

As I indicated above, it is unlikely to see a new print run, and as Tony noted at the start of this thread, the "on demand" copies of out-of-print books are not of the format you typically expect from a CarTech publication.

All of which is to say, if you want a copy of the Drag Racing kits book for yourself, now would be a really good time to order it from CarTech, Amazon, or your other favorite book retailer.   

As for the companion "Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits" book, CarTech did a second print run of that one, so the inventory of that title is still sufficient, at least for now. 

Best...TB  

 

[bobss396]

I was in NYC for a job writing car manuals in 1980, incidentally the same day that John Lennon was killed. I even stopped by the Dakota on the way to 57th street. 

I did well at the interview, but turned down the offer. I later found out that it was for the Haynes line of books. I bought one for a Caprice I had, one of the worst car books I have ever seen.

It had random junk in it, like an exploded view of a 1964 Impala tailgate with no text to back it up anywhere.

[Wickersham Humble]

I had a friend who used do photos for Haynes; he wanted to impress me, but I got the impression he wasn't impressed, overall. The modern manual has a lot of info on teardowns, etc. which private owners haven't done for decades!  Plus, in my experience they leave out a lot of pertinent stuff.  My last Haynes under air conditioning just said 'go to an a/c shop.'   I didn't need to overhaul my pickup, just troubleshoot the a/c electronics. OC, they come in shrink wrap so you don't know what a clinker you have until you've rung it up!

Ahh; give me the old blue MoToR's Manuals -- and simple cars like my '51 Ford or '55 Chevy that were simple enough that a high-schooler could do really competent repairs on 'em!  Ole' Wick

'

[Bainford]

2 hours ago, Wickersham Humble said:

I had a friend who used do photos for Haynes; he wanted to impress me, but I got the impression he wasn't impressed, overall. The modern manual has a lot of info on teardowns, etc. which private owners haven't done for decades!  Plus, in my experience they leave out a lot of pertinent stuff.  My last Haynes under air conditioning just said 'go to an a/c shop.'   I didn't need to overhaul my pickup, just troubleshoot the a/c electronics. OC, they come in shrink wrap so you don't know what a clinker you have until you've rung it up!

Ahh; give me the old blue MoToR's Manuals -- and simple cars like my '51 Ford or '55 Chevy that were simple enough that a high-schooler could do really competent repairs on 'em!  Ole' Wick

'

When I used to do a lot of mechanical work on other people's cars I avoided Haynes manuals whenever possible, at least for American cars (their manuals for British cars seemed to be better). Chiltons were everywhere, had comprehensive coverage, and were very well done. The absolute best were MOTOR manuals, if you could find one. A proper trade-worthy manual. I still have a few out in the garage.

In the late 80s I was selling a tape deck to a friend for $30. He showed up with the money, but then waved a like-new MOTOR manual for '72-'75 American cars in my face and asked if I would rather trade. You betcha!

Perhaps the best thing about Haynes manuals is that they cover many subject that the others did not, especially specialists books. The only manual I could find for Stromberg carbs is a Haynes, brilliant in some ways and completely misses the mark in others. The black & white on newsprint quality paper doesn't help. But, who else produces a manual for bizarre subjects like the Lotus 49.

[Wickersham Humble]

MoToR's went way back to when that was a car mag, I think!  A 'friend' swiped the one I got for Xmas in '63, darn it!  Loved the 'faces' of each year of auto, used for reference when drawing frontal views when I should have been doing my mechanical drawing projects.  I have a number of older ones, too.  

I like the manufacturer's shop books, but they vary a lot in usefulness. The GM ones were used, because of their good grammar, I guess, to teach English in some of the Arab countries, it is said.  They truly are meant for factory mechanics, though, and gloss over many, many needful details -- for my money, after 60 years of screwing around with Chevy's and Pontiacs, mostly.  I like the 1949-51 Ford book (reprint) I have, esp for readability, but it has some of the same faults.  Great illustrations. 

I had Datsun books for all the first-gen Z-Cars; great in some ways, hilarious in others.  They never had a native-speaking English/American beta reader or editor, obviously, and got some nomenclature badly, humorously wrong!  A brake-adjusting spur was called a 'claw.'  When they suggested something be shaken, they said 'give it a vibration.'  And so forth!!  And imported motorcycle manuals -- don't ask!  Wick (now writing 'stream of conscious' style.)

[bobss396]

I have a bunch of Motors Manuals, the oldest is from 1939. I have never bought a new one, either someone gives them to me or I find them at garage sales.

When I did work on my 1964 Olds 88, it sure was a handy reference.

[Wickersham Humble]

One of the big selling features of my "How to Restore Your Datsun Z-Car" manual was the set of Datsun parts-book exploded drawings and call-outs we were able  include as an appendix.  NISSAN USA wouldn't supply me with the material, but said if a dealer let me have them, it was okay -- no joke!  Datsun dealers who were established in the early Katayama era (late '50s) got a lot of concessions from them for taking on the new-to-USA Datsun line.  I also borrowed the entire 'recall bulletin' collection from 1970-78, and culled it for pertinent info on Z's, plus some other technical drawings from their shop manuals.  Basically, stuff I'd like to see if doing a good, accurate restoration of their cars.  My text far outshone my photos -- it was a learning curve!

Aside: Datsun recruited dealerships so assiduously before 1960 that a local outfit that was established to sell McCulloch chainsaws was recruited, Norbergs Motor Center, Redding CA.  The dealer I bought my new 1970 240Z from operated under a huge Renault sign; Calmbach Motors in San Antone, TX.  Wick

 

[Wickersham Humble]

News Flash!  Okay, while I'm damning Car Tech Books with faint praise, I get a call from 'my guy' there: my "Z-Car" book is coming out in revised edition after all!  After CA Bill's Automotive Handbooks ceded all their car titles to CT, I got the impression that it was dead, and they'd only be selling out the remaining stock, or at best doing an exact (obsolete) reprint, but not so!  I get the proof mss. in a week or so, and get to 'red-pencil' it for imminent publication.  Whew!  Am I relieved!  New life for an old manual -- but then it's still the only game in town for early (1970-78) Z restoration, as far as I know.  Never actually out of print for 35 years!  Yay!  Wick

[tim boyd]

18 hours ago, Wickersham Humble said:

News Flash!  Okay, while I'm damning Car Tech Books with faint praise, I get a call from 'my guy' there: my "Z-Car" book is coming out in revised edition after all!  After CA Bill's Automotive Handbooks ceded all their car titles to CT, I got the impression that it was dead, and they'd only be selling out the remaining stock, or at best doing an exact (obsolete) reprint, but not so!  I get the proof mss. in a week or so, and get to 'red-pencil' it for imminent publication.  Whew!  Am I relieved!  New life for an old manual -- but then it's still the only game in town for early (1970-78) Z restoration, as far as I know.  Never actually out of print for 35 years!  Yay!  Wick

Great news Wick!  Big congrats.  Perhaps there is still life for the printed word!   Cheers...TIM 

[Wickersham Humble]

Tim, et al,

All my years teaching little kids, one hope I had was to make them love the printed word (especially on paper!) with good story-times, well told.  Learning was a side benefit, at least!  Wish I could have interested more than a few on modeling...  Wick  

PS/ Check my name [ Wick Humble ] on Amazon for my fiction stuff; mostly adventures, the kind I like to read!  :-<)

[Tabbysdaddy]

I've had these for years and haven't been able to bring myself to throw them away. They're neat to thumb through when I want a blast from the past.