Manual handbook

[peteh]

I am firmly of the opinion that the manual for my Tucson is without doubt the most non-intuitive car handbook that I have every encountered

Some of the items in the alphabetical Index are insanely specific, but others are extremely broad, with a dozen pages to read about when you get there.

I must confess I have more or less given up on it, and instead come here and read through posts until I invariably find the answer from one of you guys (so thank you for that).

I had the same car for many years before this one and I wondered; is this typical of modern car manuals today, or is it just a Hyundai thing? Or do you disagree with me, and consider the manual to actually be very useful?

Thanks

Pete

[Deleted User 1711]

Or do you disagree with me, and consider the manual to actually be very useful?

I use it very infrequently if I need some clarification that I haven't been able to glean from a decent forum like this one. I don't use the paper manual though, as the pdf version I downloaded from Hyundai is just easier to search for key words and usually hones me in rather than trying to work through the index.

[Indalo]

I’m bound to say that I completely agree with the critical comments from both previous correspondents.

When I owned a Hyundai i40 previously, I used to refer to the manual occasionally and found it useful and not difficult to follow. On moving over to KIA, I discovered the biggest and most comprehensive Owner’s Manual that I had ever encountered. It really was a weighty tome but, in fairness, it wasn’t difficult to navigate and represented an excellent source of information.

However, on reverting to Hyundai, I imagined that the manual would be similar in content and layout to that which accompanied my Optima. Boy, was I wrong! Most of the information that I wished to uncover was/is in the book but navigating through the index and relevant pages to find the exact piece of information was painful.

Using the expression of one of my old teachers; 51/100 - Passed but could do better!

[Beards]

I took the manual out of the car and placed it in the drawer in my home office labelled “Forget”.
To find an item it is so much easier to either sit in the car and tap the search button ‘spy glass’, or search and ask here.

[P1car00n007]

It's not just Hyundai, lots of them are like that these days. I usually end up skipping the manual too and checking out short youtube videos for answers.

[MikeSwift]

I’m bound to say that I completely agree with the critical comments from both previous correspondents.

When I owned a Hyundai i40 previously, I used to refer to the manual occasionally and found it useful and not difficult to follow. On moving over to KIA, I discovered the biggest and most comprehensive Owner’s Manual that I had ever encountered. It really was a weighty tome but, in fairness, it wasn’t difficult to navigate and represented an excellent source of information.

However, on reverting to Hyundai, I imagined that the manual would be similar in content and layout to that which accompanied my Optima. Boy, was I wrong! Most of the information that I wished to uncover was/is in the book but navigating through the index and relevant pages to find the exact piece of information was painful.

Using the expression of one of my old teachers; 51/100 - Passed but could do better!

LOL, both my last Sportage and currrent Tucson need a wheelbarrow to carry the manual but arent as uswful.

For anyone interested a good easily understood option for setting up the car can be downloaded from :-

http://webmanual.hyundai.com/STD_GEN5W/ ... index.html

I found it very useful to find my way around.

[Genoa90]

The manual for the Tucson seems to be a source of frustration for many. Some find it overly complex and non-intuitive, resorting to forums like this for answers. Others opt for digital versions or alternative resources for easier navigation. It appears to be a common issue across various car manufacturers, not limited to Hyundai. Perhaps manufacturers could take note and strive for more user-friendly manuals in the future.

[GrumpyDad]

I found the Tucson manual just okay if being read cover to cover, or for looking up specs (tables in chapter 2) or fuse details (tables in chapter 9). The index, however, was as much use as a chocolate teapot. It reads like a poorly conceived contents list rather than an index. It feels like the person who was charged with indexing the manual turned up with a hangover, and left early.

As others have said, a good PDF copy and reader will allow you to search the manual text for information. Even then though, the manual has some very clunky descriptions and explanations in it. I don't know if that comes from a "Lost in translation" problem, or perhaps the manual writers went to the same party that the index creator did. The systems are generally quite intuitive in the car, so I have found that the manual is good enough to get me pointed in the right direction. Although I feel like the wiper blade positioning to change the blades could be moved out to its own button, rather than doing this silly "turn on the ignition, turn off the ignition, hold the wiper control arm down for a couple of seconds" jig.