I know exactly what you mean. I was in your position not too long ago. You can also try going to the help section in max. They also have some nice tutorials that you can get adjusted to by going to help I believe. If you want a good tutorial on the basics of what you need to do, check out RedStars Supra tutorial because he briefly explains the basics of car modeling and what each option does and how to use it.
http://www.smcars.net/forums/video-t...tutorials.html