Delmar Publishes Recipes for Car Care to Help Consumers Understand and Repair Their Vehicles

        Do-it-yourself Car Repair Guide Shares Secret Ingredients and
                           Instructions From Expert

    ALBANY, N.Y., March 28 Most automobile manuals contain
standard repair and maintenance information. This information generally does
not provide a thorough understanding of the car's workings for preventive
maintenance. Many costly car repairs can be prevented if the owner knows how
to detect a problem and treat it before it escalates.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010328/NYWFNS1 )
    "Recipes for Car Care" (Delmar/December 22, 2000/$18.95) by Vermont
resident Kathleen E. Casagrande, is a new book designed to empower every day
people with the knowledge to protect themselves and their automobiles.
Published by Delmar, a division of Thomson Learning and a leader in
educational resources for lifelong learning, "Recipes for Car Care" can be
used to help consumers understand the fundamentals of preventive maintenance,
learn how to detect problems early, and prevent multiple part failure.
    By relating known household items to unknown car items, "Recipes for Car
Care" makes the concept of car maintenance and repair easy to understand.
Do-it-yourself recipes are included in a standard recipe format: time needed,
difficulty level, required tools, and explicit instructions. Readers can
follow along with each recipe and learn to perform the basics of car repair in
areas involving the engine, air conditioning, fuel, spark plugs, exhaust,
transmission, suspension, wheels, brakes and general maintenance. A checklist
and reference are also included to aid in scheduled maintenance.
    "Recipes for Car Care" is a convenient and affordable tool for maintaining
an important and costly investment. It allows the consumer to play a greater
role in extending the life of an automobile through preventive maintenance and
early problem detection. In addition to learning how to detect problems early
to avoid costly repairs, consumers will obtain tips on how to deal with auto
technicians and manufacturers by becoming an educated consumer. "Recipes for
Car Care" is available at http://www.amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

    About Delmar
    Delmar (http://www.delmar.com) is a leading provider of lifelong learning
products and services for the health care, technology and trades, business
education, and career education markets. Delmar's market-leading imprints
include Autodesk Press, OnWord Press, Singular Publishing Group, Milady and
West Legal Studies. Delmar is a division of Thomson Learning
(http://www.thomsonlearning.com), one of the world's largest providers of
lifelong learning information. Thomson Learning serves the needs of
individuals, learning institutions and corporations with products and services
for both traditional and distributed learning. Headquartered in Stamford,
Connecticut, with multiple offices worldwide, Thomson Learning is a division
of The Thomson Corporation. The Thomson Corporation (http://www.thomson.com)
with 2000 revenues of approximately $6.0 billion, is a leading, global
e-information and solutions company in the business and professional
marketplace. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the Toronto and
London stock exchanges .

    About the Author
    Kathleen Casagrande is a resident of Wells River, VT and is the manager of
a graphic design company. She has a bachelor of science from the University of
Maine and was a student of automotive technology at Vermont Technical College.
In the past, she has taught both science and math. She decided to combine her
teaching skills and automotive knowledge to teach people how to self-diagnose
and maintain their vehicles to avoid costly repairs.