As a consumer, can you buy the "OEM service manual" for your car direct from the manufacturer?

This is specific to the make of your vehicle. For instance, you can purchase many tools and service manuals from manufacturers such as Chrysler and Hyundai/Kia, BUT you may not be so lucky when it comes different dealers such as Toyota or many GM vehicles. If you provided your specific make and model, I would better be able to answer this question.

As the person above said, that you have to be of certain "Criteria" to obtain one of these is true; However it isn't ALWAYS true as I said. With the internet being what it is today as well, online versions of these are sometimes readily available. The legality of obtaining one can be questioned though. From my experience obtaining these from Ebay has not been a reliable experience. However, though there are quite a few websites that sell them. I have ordered from certified OEM websites and have close to 100 manuals in my shop, all have been legitimate.

I'm not sure that you can purchase one from the manufacturer, but you can purchase them from Helminc.com without issue for many brands (but mostly American). I purchased two different ones from here, one each for 93 & 94 Camaro (also covers Firebird/Trans Ams). These are the exact ones used by dealership service mechanics. Some are hard copy, while I believe newer ones come on CDROM.

It depends on the year of the vehicle, but yes, one "set" (if more than one) usually covers a single year. There is much in the way of crossover, though, where one year's service manual will cover quite a bit of another year which is in the same basic model (ie: not much difference between a 94 & 95 Camaro, so the manual for one would probably cover the other also).

For a Toyota, you can get the same service manuals that the dealers use, manuals produced by Toyota, online: https://techinfo.toyota.com/

The answer to this question will depend allot on what geographic area you live in and what manufacturer you're talking about. After spending quite a bit of time researching this very question I've found that there are quite allot of sources for OEM level service information if you own a North American model vehicle. If you live outside North America, it's much more hit and miss. I'm not sure why that is, but it may have something to do with copyright or licensing laws in the USA vs. the rest of the world.

First off, you've got the possibility of purchasing physical OEM second hand shop manual sets ( mechanical, engine, gear, wiring, etc. ) in good condition ( sometimes even new in the plastic ) for anywhere from maybe $100 to a few hundred dollars. This usually involves ebay or amazon.

But in many cases the on-line third party sources used by professional mechanics are both superior to the OEM service manuals, and have DIY subscription options. Just to list the ones I am aware of:

Do it Yourself Automobile Repair Manuals - Mitchell 1 DIY

Direct-Hit Repair Data Coverage | Identifix

Online Repair Manuals — Car Forums at Edmunds.com - Lists resources for a few other manufactures not listed here.

DIY Auto Repair Manuals, Service Manuals Online - ChiltonDIY

OnDemand5.com: online auto repair, estimating, and service information

TSB's & Wiring Diagrams

AllData DIY

Mazda North America offers their Tech Info site for a $20 USD monthly fee which gives you access to their service manuals and allot of other tech info.

Toyota has a similar service which another poster mentioned and Paulster already mentioned HelmInc for a variety of other manufactures' data.

Hyundai and Kia both make all dealer service manuals available free of charge:

https://www.hyundaitechinfo.com/

https://www.kiatechinfo.com/

I think that covers all their models world wide, but I haven't actually checked into that.

Outside North America things are quite a bit more sketchy. I've found it generally difficult to find OEM service manuals for non-North American models even second hand on ebay. The best I've found till now has been an European version of AllData, however it's only available to professional mechanics in continental Europe AFAIK, and I've found a European version of Mazda Tech Info which provides hourly subscriptions and is technically only open only to professionals, but I doubt they check that thoroughly.

There is a right to repair law in NY for cars, which should ensure that pertinent information is available. Without a factory manual this is not possible. If I had the money and time I would definitely search for ways to force the manufacturers to make manuals available, since we should not be held hostage by them and their dealers. It is irresponsible to have DIY MECHANICS on their vehicles without torque specs and information on procedures, just to force them to hand over their vehicle to the often careless and badly trained mechanics, and sometimes fraudulent repair places.