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JFP in PA · 03-18-2026, 07:55 AM

I always chuckle when people ask about Porsche tech manuals and the fact that they are no longer in print. What they overlook is that when they were in print, they were bloody expensive; a full set of the 13 volume 986 service manuals set would have set you back about $3,000 in the day, plus another $2,800 for the OBD II diagnostics manual. As someone who purchased the 996, 986, turbo, and OBD II manuals for shop reference purposes when they were in print, I can tell anyone interested that these some 30 volumes both take up a lot of self-space, and required that new or updated information had to be indexed into manuals to keep them current; making the back room at the shop look more like a library than a store room.

I still occasionally see them for sale, typically for about $2K for the set.

03-18-2026, 07:55 AM	#8
JFP in PA Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: It's a kind of magic..... Posts: 6,687	I always chuckle when people ask about Porsche tech manuals and the fact that they are no longer in print. What they overlook is that when they were in print, they were bloody expensive; a full set of the 13 volume 986 service manuals set would have set you back about $3,000 in the day, plus another $2,800 for the OBD II diagnostics manual. As someone who purchased the 996, 986, turbo, and OBD II manuals for shop reference purposes when they were in print, I can tell anyone interested that these some 30 volumes both take up a lot of self-space, and required that new or updated information had to be indexed into manuals to keep them current; making the back room at the shop look more like a library than a store room. I still occasionally see them for sale, typically for about $2K for the set. __________________ “Anything really new is invented only in one’s youth. Later, one becomes more experienced, more famous – and more stupid.” - Albert Einstein