Car Mechanic Simulator 2021

just starting out as a virtual car mechanic, already lost the 10mm socket. 10/10

Pretty cool. I feel like if you don't know crap about cars, you'll actually learn some really practical, good basic things about them in terms of parts and repairs.

After playing for 4 hours, I can tell I'll be playing this for a looooong time. If you love cars it's a no brainer (cross faded but I'm telling the truth, happy 4th of july 2025)

I own and have played cms 15, 18 and 21 and can really say that this one hits the mark pretty much exactly. extra tools from 18 wer re-done to involve the player a bit more (minigames), repair system is finally not just a rng and the progression is more up to the player (YOU choose which skill you go for how you expand the garage etc). Ovewrall, the game does what it says in the tin and is great fun overall. There's also great modding community on steam workshop and some modding doable using external tools (on nexus) Now to the things that could be made better: game is about fixing and maintaining cars, but in the end you want to be able to see the fruits of your labor. while there are race tracks you can drive around on and the drive model is getting better there's still a lot of room for imporovement. at least there are some tracks on the workshop engine (and entire car) sounds. engine is the heart and soul of the car. while it's good you can tell different types of engines apart, the overall quality is kinda meh. also - damage doesn't have impact on the sound of the engine and i think that's a bit of a blunder. a lot of car and engine troubleshooting is done by how the thing sounds like and that's just missing here [strike]Scrapping minigame. I get it, there is a need to reward patient and skillful player, but 99% of the parts getting scrapped give 1/2/3 scrap based on the outcome of the minigame and the rest of the parts are a lot less common and the reward from scrapping those with best outcome just doesn't justify the extra effort. at least it doesn't for me; i then decided to forget about the skill part and just scrap everything as fast as possible (just to clean the store). i spent 10 minutes just tapping the space bar like a monkey. we can mass sell parts based on their condition, but we can't sweep'em in a grinder (to get 1 scrap each). why? there are only two ways of getting scrap, one is buying/unmounting damaged modules and scrapping them and the other is from cases - so it's dumb grind with some time/skill benefit or rng.[/strike] I'm blind, sorry

Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 is a highly detailed, methodical, and deeply satisfying simulation game that puts players in the gritty, grease-stained shoes of an auto repair professional. Developed by Red Dot Games, this installment significantly expands on its predecessors with a more polished engine, a broader array of parts and vehicles, and a host of new gameplay systems that elevate the overall experience. From the moment you step into your first garage—modest, worn-down, and full of potential—the game presents a realistic and immersive representation of what it’s like to diagnose, dismantle, and restore automobiles. The attention to detail is remarkable, whether you're unscrewing a spark plug, draining oil, or completely rebuilding a junkyard relic from the ground up. One of the game’s greatest strengths is its authenticity. Every car is composed of hundreds of individually modeled and interactable parts, requiring players to not only know how to fix things but how to disassemble and reassemble them correctly. The game’s expansive part catalog includes everything from brakes and exhaust systems to complex engine components, each with wear levels that affect performance and resale value. Diagnosis tools like the OBD scanner, multimeter, and compression tester add depth to the repair process, encouraging thoughtful investigation rather than trial-and-error guessing. Whether you're working on everyday sedans or high-performance sports cars, the sense of realism and care in mechanical design is consistently impressive. Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 also offers more gameplay variety than ever before. The story missions and job orders provide structured objectives that gradually introduce new mechanics and systems, while the open-ended restoration projects—found via junkyards, barns, and auctions—allow for true creativity and personal investment. The addition of car washes, custom painting, interior detailing, and even engine swaps gives players a deeper layer of customization and ownership. Over time, players can upgrade their garage with new workbenches, lifts, and test tracks, transforming the humble beginnings of their shop into a high-end facility capable of handling exotic builds and full restorations. Visually, the game has received a solid upgrade over previous versions, with improved lighting, sharper textures, and more realistic environmental details. The cars themselves are highly detailed, both inside and out, with authentic wear-and-tear effects and satisfying animations for every repair action. While the visuals won’t rival AAA racing titles, they serve the simulation well, creating a grounded and believable atmosphere. The audio complements this with a subdued but functional soundscape—tool noises, engine hums, and the occasional background music track keep the experience immersive without becoming intrusive. However, Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 isn’t without its shortcomings. The repetitive nature of some job types can lead to a grind, especially early on when funds are limited and high-end jobs are out of reach. The UI, while functional, can feel clunky at times, particularly when managing inventory or navigating part categories. Additionally, the learning curve may be steep for players unfamiliar with automotive mechanics, though the in-game tutorials and gradual progression do help ease the challenge. Some bugs and performance hiccups have been reported, especially in larger garages or when using mods, but these are generally minor and have been steadily addressed through patches. In conclusion, Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 is a remarkably detailed and rewarding simulation that captures the tactile joy of taking something broken and making it whole again. Its wealth of content, authentic mechanics, and steady sense of progression make it a standout in the simulation genre, especially for players who appreciate patience, precision, and problem-solving. While it may not be for everyone—especially those seeking fast-paced gameplay—those who do get hooked will find countless hours of satisfaction buried beneath the hoods of its many cars. Whether you're a real-life gearhead or just someone who enjoys building and fixing things, this game delivers an engaging, hands-on experience unlike any other. Rating: 9/10

A fun car mechanic game that i recommend getting on sale thou the graphics could be better but its the best car mechanic game for cheap

how the hell can this game be sold on X BOX with full controller support but pc is not full controller thats not right fix it

Basically a giant CMS18 DLC. This game also crashes, which wouldn't be that bad if it had an auto-save. Also pausing the game while it's unfocused (it will even pause the loading) is something which should be a setting. The engine sounds are also kinda bad, even the ones for branded dlcs.

Disappointing. I've played CMS 2018 before, enjoyed it, I like the concept. So as this is the successor it must be a lot better, right? Well, no. It's underwhelming. They added new "mechanics", if you could call them that, but nothing players actually wanted. A little garage customization, better graphics, a few DLCs - most of which suck. The game feels exactly the same always. There is some miniscule variety of cars, you see a few specific ones 24/7 and that's it. Some parts have 5 variations for no reason, others are used in completely different cars. I'm playing on Normal and the "story" just feels like a crawl. You make no money at all, a financial slog, you waste so much time, then you upgrade your garage, still get shit payouts. If you mod or cheat it definitely is a better experience, when you do what YOU want to do. Not change fluids of a car for the 1000th time to earn 100$. So you can eventually get 100,000$ to upgrade your garage, so you can finish your "Story" "mission". It's an okay game overall, but... yeah... Gets extremely repetitive and very boring. If you do wanna still get it, get it on a massive sale. The price still isn't justified but anyway. Feels dated... 2021, bruh... 4.5/10

I have played Car Mechanic Simulator since the first release and have to say that somehow with every new release they keep draining the fun out of the game. While I can appreciate they are trying to keep things as realistic as possible they forget this is a game first and foremost. The actual game mechanics they put in are implemented in such a way it is just not appealing. To start the balance is totally messed up. Let's say you spill oil or such that costs you 50-100 credits but if you complete an oil change job your only making about 10 credits of profit after the cost. Then there is the total lack of informing players properly of items. A good example is the body repair workbench, it only tells you that you need the repair perk not that you need the level 6 repair perk. I wasted my early money on the workbench thinking I could start to make better money only to find out I'm no where close to it, I was only lvl 2 repair at the time. Doing jobs get's super annoying when for example you need to replace parts deep in an engine so you pull the engine out and put it on the stand to make it easy to work on but you loose the ability to highlight the exact part you need to replace so if by chance you pull lets say all pistons and replace the bad ones but don't put the new parts in the exact spot the bad ones were you might find out oh you need to change them up. only after putting the entire engine back together and put it back into the car to find this out. Scrap credit is totally bull shit. The cost to upgrade parts vs how much you can get is way too lop sided and if the devs want to say well you don't have to upgrade all parts why even put it in to begin with then. Who only want's to upgrade a few select parts. Auctions are another thing that is broken with complete dumb programming. If you just watch an auction cars will easily go for 10K under the estimated value but if you take part no matter what you do it seems you can never get the car under the estimated value. I have personally tried to win 30 auctions and not a single time was I able to get the car under the estimated value at best I pust pay over. THe warehouse storage is another thing. It's designed so annoyingly cumbersom to use. I like trying to keep stuff somewhat seperated so that when I have projects it's easy to find what I want. You get different warehouses but you have to switch over to warehouse then select warehouse then go back to you inventory to put what you want away. Furthermore let's say you have a stockpile of upgraded parts from junkyard you bought and restored but you need something you have to remember the actual excact part you need cause god forbid you can pull up your shoping list or something. Scrapping parts for scrap credits is just painful. It's not bad at first when you get a handful but when you start getting pages it just becomes tedius and if you actually want to take part in upgrading is a must. Of all the areas in the game that really could have benifited from the skill tree this is one I don't understand how the devs overlooked. -the ability to mass scrap parts with filters, such as all parts that can only give 5 (adjustable) or less credits max then pay us (number of items = credits + 10-20% bonus scrap) -Letting us mass select parts (let's say limit to 10 or more) to play the game and outcome decides all. -Having a skill tree for scrapping where you can get differnt benefits. Like lvl 1 adds an extra green bar, lvl 2 adds an extra blue bar, lvl 3 slows the arrow by 10%, lvl 4 increased bonus scrap by 10%, level 5 if you mass scrap minigame but only get green you can choose to randomly get x amount of items back (not scrapped and not counted towards scrap credit), then for level 6 have it so each item give +1 scrap credit so minimum you get 2 scrap credit even from green. I can say the only thing I can appreciate that was added is how the shopping list can be used even if it still could use some polishing up such as letting us just open the list in the store and hit a buy all and have the items marked bought and removed from the list. I honestly can say with this release I have no interest in supporting Red Dot Games any further even if they did come back. If a new CMS did come out I doubt I would buy it even on sale unless they somehow discovered games are ment to be fun which they seem to have forgotten instead putting in needlessly grindy mechanics that suck any fun to be had out of the game.

This game EASILY has +150 hours of gameplay but with under 40 hours of experience I feel I have achieved everything I aspired to do. The gameplay is super satisfying especially when you find specific pieces at the junkyard to fix and install in your car! Its like adult Legos with a bit of scavenging! I rebuilt the Sakura Takumi + GT20 and the Fastback from scratch and was always looking forward to see the final finish. Although the gameplay got a little dry and wasnt always user friendly, I enjoyed my time. Highly recommended for car enthusiast! 7.5/10

Its a fun game very basic realism for the workin on stuff part gets like a 6/10 though it gets repatative

Fun, but badly designed. 1. In the real world customers cover the cost of parts, not the mechanic. The mechanic still gets the old part and can go on to refurbish them later. It might be a game but I see this as a big flaw. Charge the customer a rate and ALSO bill for parts! 2. In the start of the game you will probably go broke from having to cover the expense of these parts....especially after story car 5 or 6 (and that is with me picking up easy low paying non-story jobs as well). This is what causes a lot of players in the community a lot of frustration. To remedy this try taking the non-story fluid and brake job cars, or even pick a expensive car and sell all of the parts lol. 3. The game is not at all intuitive...it is badly designed. The tutorials are totally incomplete and the path forward in the game is very unclear. You need a lot of support from the community to play this even if you are a car mechanic irl. It is fun for the most part though.

Its good for wasting time, the game can get repetitive after a while however the "story" missions are long enough to distract you for a bit. My biggest complaint is that they brag about having 70+ different vehicles we can play with, but most of it comes from the somewhat expensive DLCs (3rd World Country Economy). It gets really boring just tinkering the same cars over and over again (I think steam workshop mods add more cars idk).

played this game on console for a while and its absolutely amazing!! 10/10 would recommend

This is my opinion and remember, opinions can not be right or wrong. They are just opinions. And IMHO... this game SUCKS !!!! Three things really bother me about this game. 1). The front end components of EVERY single vehicle are the same. That really, really bothers me. 2). The credit, money, financial (whatever you want to call it) really bothers me. You should start with WAY more money. It's a freaking game....let it be fun 3). It's so mind numblingly repetitious. In real life there 6-10 different ways to deal with stuck bolts/nuts. Simply spraying WD-40 on the stuck bolt works 10% or so of the time. I wish I knew in less than 2 hours of playing how much I would come to hate this game so I could have gotten a refund but oh well. Just my opinion

this game is such a amazing game man ive been wanting to play it for 4 yeas now and i finally got it.

This game is interesting. If you have the patience to figure out how the different stations for cleaning, tinting painting and etc or even memorizing the different places of where pieces and parts are taken off its a great experience . Even on easy mode highlights the parts as well as using color coordination for good to bad parts. I recommend to anyone of all ages. The only thing i wished is if the game incorporated using different sizes for real life tools. other then that its fun taking cars apart on the sandbox mode and restoring junkyard vehicles.

pretty cool game. love the concept. great way to learn about cars if you know nothing what so ever about cars.

If you have any interest in repairing cars, this is a fun sim. Lots of content in the base game as it is. You can just mess around in the sandbox mode and still have a good time learning how the game works. I find it relaxing. It does not go into great detail with wiring electronics, but all of the core mechanical components that you would expect are here. Get it on sale, play it for awhile, then see if you want any of the DLC if you have even the slightest interest in a game like this.

I left my save running in the background, and I came back to it and my save was gone, with no way to recover it. The game was also probably made on a very low budget as I was also getting frame skipping.

when i first got this game i never left my chair for 3 hours straight slight learning curve once u figure it out its pretty addicting

This is the first game in a LOOONG time that I achievement hunted all achievements, and honestly it's a great game. CMS 2021 is great to jump in for short playing sessions or for longer playing sessions, and no matter what you'll get a chill and fun experience. In my steam library page, it says "Mostly Playable With Your Controller", I was never able to get it to work with it when I tried streaming this game to my phone, didn’t really try it on my pc but I think the better experience is keyboard/mouse anyway. I'm not a big car guy, my knowledge is very limited when it comes to cars and working on them. I consider myself a motorcycle guy, but again somewhat limited knowledge when it comes to intricate repairs, but I was able to get a hang of CMS 2021 quickly and do things I'd never thought I'd do in real life (like rebuilding engines). I think a great challenge in the beginning had to do with money and how it made me think of whether or not I could complete a job or car restoration, once you get the hang of things and unlock a few skills it gets easier to the point where the challenge becomes more about if you like working on a car or not. TLDR: fun, chill, good price, don’t need to know a lot about fixing cars to get into the game.

Really slow game, they draw out way too much to make it any fun. I get it if they made it accurate but its not even close to being accurate.

This game is perfect it show you how to repair car , customize your car ect . So if your looking to train your Mechanic skill you should buy this game.

from what i can tell even after 3 hrs into the game, there's a crap ton of content in this game and who would've thought they'd still be updating and adding dlc to this game years after 2021?? didn't know shi abt cars and i barely learned through the tutorial, started the game on normal expecting it to be not that hard (spoilers: it was hard) but there's a lot of learning by doing and that in and of itself is a fun process when you finally figure things out. highly recommend. this is worth every penny

Very good game,hope next they do open world finding some abandoned cars

Very fun if you don't know jack about cars. I've learned more about leaf springs and random rubber parts than I will ever need to know. There's also a junkyard where you can buy a junk car and rebuild it, which is my favorite thing to do. Other than that, very user friendly and i will be spending at least 10,000 on this game.

Never thought I'd enjoy this game but after a bit of a learning curve I thoroughly love playing this. I love it so much I bought every DLC and am currently exploring them. Definitely recommend if you enjoy building things and then playing with them afterward.

Interesting game for those who are mechanically inclined, or even if you have an interest in cars/motorsports. The game offers perspective into how vehicle components are tied together (for example - why would a starter need to come off a vehicle before removing a transmission/gearbox. SURPRISINGLY addictive! =D

really fun, but when you have DLCS? way funner, basically, the tunning shop made it way better, such as its really realistic! (it aint realistic in CMS 2018 so dont download it.)

Game is great but only really starts to be fun once they release the DLC with actual vehicles.

Great game with realistic components. Interesting to see the differences between japannese and western cars.

For some reason, I can't find all the regular cars in the game. The Pagani is nowhere to be found and I know it's part of the regular slate of cars in the game. Also, you can only add 5 cars to your Community Workshop in the store. I have multiple in my folder and sometimes the Mods in the store will switch to another car. Why have so many downloadable Mods when the game will only display 5? This makes no sense to me. Why are we only allowed 5 cars in the Community Workshop? I'm kinda regretting purchasing this game.

Really indepth game, fantastically put together mechanically...(see what i did there) LOL

i find this game very fun and relaxing, dont forget to get the QoL mods and the TK mods because they are a game changer

its a very good game especiially for me since i want to know how cars work and stuff

I play this every day and I am loving it. when I play a single player game, this is it. between 2 jobs, I'm enjoying learning about cars while at the same time building cars that would be a dream to own. it is helping me understand the general process of replacing broken or damaged parts.

Overall great game, with great mechanics and functions.

a little janky, but really, really fun... and a big timesink...

Very relaxing game once you've gotten into the flow of things. I didn't know much about cars before but with a couple YouTube videos and playing this game I think I've learned the basics. I recommend it if you have interest in cars.

Fix cars. Fun. Really wish items stacked though, it's annoying scrolling through 5 pages of rubber bushings to find an item in my inventory.

this game is very entertaining and fun yet also satisfying and challenging.

It's a nice game, but it would be really cool if you could hire a mechanic to work on 2 ramps at the same time as you.

very good game it shows you the different amount of cars in real life

its fun when you have nothing to do. I love this game so much i got it awhile ago but its mostly fun when you buy the dlc i bought the mega pack and then also installing mods

more accurate than i thought it would be. good learning tool to get familiar with car anatomy and pretty addictive lol

Never been interested in cars, but this is the ONE game that is focused around cars and their parts, 10/10 game, +++ rating.

Relaxing game with a great car selection (even the fictional ones). Exploring junkyards and barns for cars and parts can be great fun, and restoring and customizing cars is satisfying. Cars are simplified compared to their IRL counterparts, so don't expect the in-game vehicles to prepare you for working on real cars. The gameplay loop can be repetitive and requires little thinking or real problem solving, since your character often knows what's wrong and what still needs to be fixed, therefore many of the problems can simply be brute forced. The game also reinforces bad habits that wouldn't fly IRL, like performing a brake job on only one corner or filling the engine oil until it's bursting out of the filler cap. There should be a greater penalty for mistakes or wasting time. That said, I still recommend Car Mechanic Simulator for its uniqueness and cathartic gameplay.

Life is easier if you play this game. If it seems like another job to you then its not for you, but if it is for you then don't make it another job.