The longest vehicle manual, according to our analysis, is that of the Mercedes G Class, which contains a staggering 185,783 words spread over 958 pages. That’s so long, you might just want to junk your car rather than do all of that reading!

When we compare this to the average reading speed of 238 words per minute, this would equate to a massive 13 hours and 1 minute of reading if a G Class owner were to read the manual cover to cover. Even more shockingly, this is three times longer than reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, 15,467 words longer than Becoming by Michelle Obama and just shy of the average 13 hours and 9 minutes it would take you to read J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic, The Fellowship of the Ring.

The Ram Pickup 3500 follows closely in second with 160,373 words, while the Kia EV3 (148,792 words), Ford Super Duty (147,624 words) and Jeep Grand Cherokee (144,861 words) manuals make up the top five longest manuals across all types of vehicle analyzed, each with more than 10 hours of reading time to get through. This means that all of these manuals take longer to read than modern classics such as Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and even A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking!

Which EV Manual is The Longest?

Volkswagen ID.4

With all the cutting-edge technology packed into today’s EVs, you might expect their owners’ manuals to be far longer than those for traditional gas-powered cars. Surprisingly, that’s not really the case. While the Volkswagen ID.4 takes the top spot with a hefty 134,394 words to digest, overall EV manuals are about the same length as those for gas-powered vehicles.

The Nissan Leaf lands in second with 124,666 words and an average of 8 hours and 44 minutes of reading, while the Audi e-tron and Cadillac Celestiq both demand more than seven hours to get through. To put that in perspective, you could read 1984 by George Orwell and still have time to dive into the debates around it before finishing one of these EV manuals.

Which Truck Manual is The Longest?

Ram Pickup 3500

Pickups have long been America’s favorite ride, and the owner’s manuals show just how much there is to learn about these favored vehicles. At the top of the list is the Ram Pickup 3500, with a massive 160,373 words to read, that’s more than 11 hours of reading to cover every detail.

Close behind is the Ford Super Duty, with 147,624 words (10 hours and 20 minutes), followed by the Ram Pickup 1500 and the hugely popular Ford F-150, each topping 143,000 words and taking just over 10 hours to get through. Rounding out the top five is the Ram Pickup 2500, at nearly 141,000 words and almost 10 hours of reading.

For first-time truck owners, these manuals might feel like a marathon. But with trucks being such a staple on U.S. roads, it’s clear that manufacturers want drivers fully equipped to get the most out of their vehicles.

Which Supercar Manual is The Longest?

Which Vehicle Manuals Are The Shortest?

Range Rover Evoque

With many of these manuals taking close to 10 hours of reading, it may be a surprise to learn that not every car owner has to grind through hundreds of thousands of words to get to know their vehicle. In fact, some manuals are surprisingly short. At the very bottom of the list is the Range Rover Evoque, with just 14,497 words, which is a little over an hour of reading for the average person.

These 25 slimmed-down manuals below offer a quick way for drivers to get the essentials without a marathon reading session. For anyone who prefers to spend more time behind the wheel than buried in paperwork, these models make the process a lot more simple.

Which Vehicle Manuals Are The Hardest to Read?

Ford Fiesta

At the tougher end of the scale to read, that may feel more like you’re reading a college textbook than a car manual is the Ford Fiesta, with a Flesch-Kincaid score of just 41.84, placing it solidly at a difficulty level suited for adult readers of 18 years of age and over. Right behind the Fiesta is the McLaren 720S (42.19) and the Tesla Model 3 (42.54), followed by the Range Rover Evoque and the McLaren 765LT, both hovering in the low 43’s.

To put this into perspective, getting through these manuals is a lot like tackling Finnegans Wake by Irish writer James Joyce, a book famous for its dense and experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult reads in modern literature.

With so much technical detail and specialized language, it’s no wonder these manuals can be intimidating. For some drivers, the hardest part of owning these vehicles might not be the driving – it’s making sense of the manual.

Can You Use AI To ‘Read’ A Car Manual?

With AI now part of everyday life in 2025, and 41% of drivers in our survey saying that they already turn to Google and YouTube to learn about their car rather than thumb through the lengthy manual, many may now be considering the likes of ChatGPT to cut to the need-to-knows. 

We partnered with AI expert Gareth Kemp at AI Potential to share whether AI can be a good solution for minimising reading time, and whether there is any potential concerns with people using it in the wrong way?

Turning a 900-Page Car Manual into a 30 Second Search

Gareth says that “AI will not replace your car manual. It will simply make it usable” and that “with the right approach, it can turn a frustrating page-flipping marathon into a 30-second search that gets you back on the road faster. And who knows, it might even help you find the hidden features your dealer swore did not exist”. 

“Instead of wading through dozens of pages, you can ask a direct question and get a targeted answer” and is a tactic that “works especially well for newer vehicles with downloadable PDFs or online manuals”.

How To Avoid AI Pitfalls And Incorrect Information?

Great, but what about ‘hallucinations’ and the concern of AI giving you information that isn’t even in your manual?

According to Gareth, “AI can make finding answers much faster, but only if you feed it the right information. Start by downloading your exact manual from the manufacturer’s website and upload it to the AI, telling it to only use that document for answers. Include safeguards in your prompt such as: 

• “Base your answer only on the text below; if there is no match, say so.” 
   
• “If the answer is not in the provided information, say ‘Not found’.” 
   
• “If you are unsure, list possible options and state your confidence level.” 

“These instructions help reduce “hallucinations” and keep the AI focused. Remember that AI outputs are not legally guaranteed to be correct. If you act on them without checking the official manual, liability rests with you rather than the AI provider. Always double-check safety-critical instructions before attempting repairs, or your knuckles (and your wallet) might regret it”. 

AI Prompts To Help With Reading Your Car Manual

There’s a range of things you might want to do when it comes to navigating your manual, so Gareth has prepared some simple prompts to try for your car – be it a lengthy Mercedes G-Class manual, or the much short Range Rover Evoque booklet!

1. Finding Your Car Manual

‘Find the official car manual for a [Year] [Make] [Model] from the manufacturer’s website or another trusted source. Provide a direct download link if available and confirm that the document is the latest version for this vehicle. If the manual cannot be located online, suggest two alternative methods for obtaining it’.

Why it’s phrased this way: “This ensures the AI starts from the right place, using official or reputable sources. The ‘latest version’ check stops you from following outdated instructions. Try it in Perplexity.ai, which is a great free search engine that can cite sources and link directly to the file, saving you from wading through dubious search results.”

2. Broad Overview of the Manual

‘Summarize the key information in this car manual that every driver should know, including controls, safety features and basic maintenance, in plain English. Organize the answer into clear section headings and exclude irrelevant or repetitive content. Where possible, include the page number or section reference from the manual. Base your answer only on the text below; if there is no match, say so’.

Why is it phrased this way: “This gets you the important bits without drowning in jargon. Section headings let you skim, and page references make it easy to double-check. Think of it as an AI-powered content page with all the boring bits trimmed out.”

3. Locating a Specific Feature

‘Where is the cigarette lighter located in a 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLC? Provide clear, step-by-step instructions on how to find and access it. If there are multiple outlets, describe each one. Base your answer only on the provided information. If the answer is not in the manual, say ‘Not found’.’

Why it’s phrased this way: “Step-by-step makes it foolproof, even if you are halfway through loading the trunk. Asking for all outlet locations stops the AI from giving you only half the answer.”

4. Understanding a Warning Light

‘What does the amber engine warning light mean on a 2018 Toyota Yaris, and what should I do? Include both the likely cause and the recommended action. Provide a severity rating (minor, moderate, urgent) and state whether it is safe to continue driving or if the vehicle should be stopped immediately. If you are unsure, list possible options and state your confidence level. Base your answer only on the provided information’.

Why it’s phrased this way: “Cause, action and severity are the holy trinity of warning lights. The confidence level is your clue whether to keep driving or pull over before something gets smoky.”

5. Comparing the Manual to Your Car

‘Here is a photo of my car’s [specific part]. Here is the matching section from the manual. Compare the two and tell me if there are any differences I should be aware of, such as optional extras, missing components or modifications’.

Why it’s phrased this way: “This helps you spot when your car does not exactly match what the manual describes. It is especially useful for second-hand vehicles, imported models or cars with after market modifications. Knowing these differences can save time and confusion when troubleshooting or ordering parts.”

Whether your car’s manual feels endless or easy to skim, it’s worth taking the time to understand it. Knowing how your vehicle is designed to operate and be maintained can save you from bigger problems down the road. Skip it, and you could be looking at unnecessary repairs or even driving a car that will end up junkyard sooner rather than later! 

Methodology

We analyzed the user manuals for 129 best-selling vehicles (including cars, trucks, EVs, SUVs and supercars), taken from a range of seed lists, to reveal their length and readability. 

The number of pages was taken from the length of each PDF document, with the word count determined using Word Count Tool. The average time to read each manual was calculated using the total word count of the document, and the average English silent reading speed of 238 words per minute.

An excerpt of 1500-3000 words from each manual was then analyzed using the Datayze Readability Analyser to determine the readability of the document based on the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease and Grade Level scoring systems.

33 books were also analyzed in the same way, in order to allow comparisons to be drawn. 

All data correct as of September 2025.