Factory service manuals help people with servicing, maintenance, and repairing broken parts and components of a vehicle whereas. A factory service manual is a manual that was initially offered to mechanics working at dealerships and not to the general public by the vehicle manufacturers themselves. Whereas a commercial repair manual is made for the same purpose i.e. repairing, maintaining, and servicing vehicles but they are written and compiled by a secondary company. The most renowned companies to publish their commercial manuals online are Haynes and Chilton whereas all renowned car manufacturing companies like Hyundai, Mercedes, Chevrolet, BMW, Nissan, etc. have published their factory service manuals. Both, factory service manuals and commercial workshop manuals, can be bought or downloaded online for free. However, Factory service manuals are slightly expensive as compared to commercial workshop manuals.

A commercial manual will provide a simple step by step solution for a particular problem but this solution will be applicable for all cars irrespective of their make and model, whereas car manufacturers will publish a single workshop service manual for each of their cars. The companies that make commercial workshop manuals do not have any ownership in the manufacturing company of any respective vehicle. Due to this reason, their point of focus is to analyze and inspect the car with a generic approach whereas since car manufacturers publish specific manuals for specific cars, they pay a lot of attention to all intricate details.

Commercial manuals tend to keep all details related to the repair and manufacturing process brief and concise whereas a factory service manual gives a detailed account not just of the repair and maintenance procedure but also states important details related to the respective car and the necessary safety and precautionary measure. Commercial manuals are said to be created to analyze cars in general, this is why they most often skip out on important and crucial details whereas a factory service manual mentions every single detail that too elaborately. A commercial manual discusses and sheds light on only a handful of issues that individuals can fix on their own but a factory service manual mentions repair and maintenance instructions for each car component. Due to this very reason users sometimes find it very difficult to look on issues pertinent to their cars only in commercial workshop manuals as they’re most likely to miss out on them. A better alternative for them on this front is to buy or download a factory service model of their car.

In a nutshell car factory service manuals are the superior manual considering it provides its users with in-depth details on not just a single issue but every component pertaining to that car whereas a commercial manual is most likely to miss out certain details. Users who usually opt for commercial workshop manuals believe that they’re relatively cheaper than factory service manuals. However, factory service manuals are often free and the paid ones can also be downloaded from third-party sources, but their credibility is questionable.