Ford Discontinued Physical Manuals? Helm Manual Order Cancelled

[JourneyBeyond]

Has anyone ordered a manual from Helm Inc recently? I just purchased a brand new 2023 Bronco at the end of May that was sitting on a dealer lot for 6 months. I noticed that there was no manual in the car and the dealer said Ford stopped issuing them due to a digital manual in the car. Digital doesn't cut it for me as you can't access it if the battery is dead or car won't start. I called Ford and they said to contact Helm to order one. I placed my order over a week ago and this morning I noticed a credit back from Helm. After calling to inquire, Helm told me that the order was cancelled because Ford notified them that they are discontinuing the physical manuals and only going to digital. Helm said they were told they needed to cancel all existing orders.

Has anyone experienced the same thing with Helm? Where are we able to get physical manuals without having to print them out ourselves?

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[TacosTuesday]

haven't bought one from helm, but i got one off ebay for $45 and it's solid.

 

[DriveAllNight]

I agree, I've always prefered a physical book, but the world is going in another direction.

Log into Ford's website and/ or the app( as long as they didn't remove the link) and you can also read it online. Just put in your Vin or year of vehicle ( I forget which one) and you can see the manual.

It's not the same, but you're not dependent on the infotainment system either.

There's a pdf version also if you don't want to use the html version.

Edit: I just tried to attach the 2024 manual but it's giving me an error that the file size is too large to upload.

 

[JourneyBeyond]

Thank you both for the input! I will go to the Ford website and download the PDF manual to my Apple Books app to have it on my phone and see if I can purchase a physical one from eBay.

 

[Y2KFirehawk]

I was putting this off and may have waited too long... Tried to order one from Helm for my 22; will see if it gets canceled...

 

[351W-Bronco]

One of the first purchases I made when I got my '23 last year was a Helm manual. Why does Ford care if a third party company prints manuals, I'm sure Ford was getting royalties.

When I took a class this Spring at the local university, you better bvelieve I bought a physical book and not an electronic one, but maybe it's because I'm an old fart. Searching an electronic book has advantages, but I like to be able to flip back and forth to the applicable sections to get a complete picture.

Herb

 

[SeptuagenerianSasquatch]

You might print it out, perhaps onto 3-hole punch paper and keep it in a binder. Not sure how a professional job at Staples or someplace would compare, cost-wise, to the no-longer-available bound volume.

 

[SHANUT]

Has anyone ordered a manual from Helm Inc recently? I just purchased a brand new 2023 Bronco at the end of May that was sitting on a dealer lot for 6 months. I noticed that there was no manual in the car and the dealer said Ford stopped issuing them due to a digital manual in the car. Digital doesn't cut it for me as you can't access it if the battery is dead or car won't start. I called Ford and they said to contact Helm to order one. I placed my order over a week ago and this morning I noticed a credit back from Helm. After calling to inquire, Helm told me that the order was cancelled because Ford notified them that they are discontinuing the physical manuals and only going to digital. Helm said they were told they needed to cancel all existing orders.

Has anyone experienced the same thing with Helm? Where are we able to get physical manuals without having to print them out ourselves?

I ordered one off eBay. It was a little pricey, but it came in a nice cover and the information provided is fantastic compared to that anemic crap that you get from the center display.

 

[Summit981]

I ordered an official (paper) manual back when I first bought my ‘22 Badlands. Bought it off eBay and it’s sized to fit in the glove box. I still refer to it from time to time. Super practical.

 

[lakesinai]

Has anyone ordered a manual from Helm Inc recently? I just purchased a brand new 2023 Bronco at the end of May that was sitting on a dealer lot for 6 months. I noticed that there was no manual in the car and the dealer said Ford stopped issuing them due to a digital manual in the car. Digital doesn't cut it for me as you can't access it if the battery is dead or car won't start. I called Ford and they said to contact Helm to order one. I placed my order over a week ago and this morning I noticed a credit back from Helm. After calling to inquire, Helm told me that the order was cancelled because Ford notified them that they are discontinuing the physical manuals and only going to digital. Helm said they were told they needed to cancel all existing orders.

Has anyone experienced the same thing with Helm? Where are we able to get physical manuals without having to print them out ourselves?

If you can download the pdf file, you can take it to staples, have it printed and bound

 

[Robieman]

Thank you both for the input! I will go to the Ford website and download the PDF manual to my Apple Books app to have it on my phone and see if I can purchase a physical one from eBay.

That’s what I did. Works just fine. But I agree, I’d like an actual manual.

 

[Squatch]

I'm wondering if there's an ADA complaint yet to be made here.

I get that few people look through all the pages of physical manuals now and they don't tell you much aside from legalese BS anyway. A free shop manual with purchase of a $50k vehicle would be great too.

Not providing them on request is pretty crappy, but nobody is holding their feet to the fire so they're going to cut corners and hope nobody gets too mad.

 

[jrollo7]

Thank you both for the input! I will go to the Ford website and download the PDF manual to my Apple Books app to have it on my phone and see if I can purchase a physical one from eBay.

use this url; www.fordservicecontent.com

 

[jrollo7]

Has anyone ordered a manual from Helm Inc recently? I just purchased a brand new 2023 Bronco at the end of May that was sitting on a dealer lot for 6 months. I noticed that there was no manual in the car and the dealer said Ford stopped issuing them due to a digital manual in the car. Digital doesn't cut it for me as you can't access it if the battery is dead or car won't start. I called Ford and they said to contact Helm to order one. I placed my order over a week ago and this morning I noticed a credit back from Helm. After calling to inquire, Helm told me that the order was cancelled because Ford notified them that they are discontinuing the physical manuals and only going to digital. Helm said they were told they needed to cancel all existing orders.

Has anyone experienced the same thing with Helm? Where are we able to get physical manuals without having to print them out ourselves?

CORRECTION: Use this url since the other isn’t working
https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...d_Bronco_Owners_Manual_version_1_om_EN-US.pdf

 

[BillTheCat]

Ditto as others have said. I got mine off Ebay (Quikby Garage) for $50. No postage and got here in 2 days. It is Glove box size. If you want "full size" you'd probably have to have it prof printed from PDF (I downloaded that to my laptop). Just be aware...it's ~650 pages. I found it cheaper/quicker to just pay the $50. OUCH!

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