How the hell do I level car mechanics?

[Sushi_Rocks]

I thought maybe changing the tires, but no. My guy failed changing the tires 4 times in a row...
I also think that there might be a significantly lower chance of successfully changing tires when being tired (haha) or exhausted...
There SHOULD be a success chance of 65% (which is being displayed), but the success chance seems to be significantly lower.

Do you get XP for changing light bulbs for the car lights?

[Emilius]

Im almost sure that will help

[The cursed Jäger]

You do get XP for un- and re-installing the lights, radio and battery of a car but it's not a lot. There's a 24 hour cooldown per car. With lots of cars, you can easily level up. Another way is to go to a parking lot and just un/re-install everything until all parts are broken. Also read the skill book(s).

[Shurenai]

Any part you successfully remove gives experience, and every successful install/replace gives experience.

There is a 24 hour cooldown as Jager mentions- It's important to note that this 24 hour cooldown is not per car, but per part, and it is a HARD cooldown- If you remove or replace a part after 23 hours and 50 minutes, you get no experience and now have to wait a full 24 hours again to get exp from that part. So keep track of when you're doing your mechanics work.

[Jarzzen]

Typically, I'll take out the battery, and the windows of a vehicle repeatedly once a day until I find a jack and lug wrench, then I add in the tires brakes and suspension when I can until I cap out.

[Kaldrak]

I use this mod:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2588598892

Real QOL improvement.

[Shurenai]

Originally posted by Kaldrak:

I use this mod:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2588598892

Real QOL improvement.

I use it too. It is a massive QOL improvement. Still takes the tools/time investment, without the manual tedium of replacing all the parts individually.

[Nordil(Hun)]

Originally posted by Shurenai:

Any part you successfully remove gives experience, and every successful install/replace gives experience.

There is a 24 hour cooldown as Jager mentions- It's important to note that this 24 hour cooldown is not per car, but per part, and it is a HARD cooldown- If you remove or replace a part after 23 hours and 50 minutes, you get no experience and now have to wait a full 24 hours again to get exp from that part. So keep track of when you're doing your mechanics work.

Indeed.
Radio, battery and lights. That way you can get depending on bonus no bonus about 9-18 CXP per car.
The HARD cooldown is only active during a game session, so if you save and quit and then load in again it should reset, so technically this way you can cheeze your way to improve your mecha skills. (If they did not fix this yet.)
Another thing is, always have the appropriate tools, and also check the required skill level for each car job.
For instance removing a wheel for a sedan is i think just level 2. It means that on level 0 you have about 33% chance to succeed. On level 2 100%. However you can still damage the part that you remove.(This is especially true for heavy objects like tires and wheels, so only remove and place these back when you have around level 4 str at least.

Another important thing to note is that the difficulty level, or skill level required is different among different type of cars. Commercial requires the lowest level whereas heavy duty the highest usually. So to use the wheel change example level 2 for commercials, and level 3 for heavy duties is the required skill level to have 100% chance. (It should also show you on the interface what skill level is required and what is your chance to remove.)

[Sushi_Rocks]

Originally posted by The cursed Jäger:

You do get XP for un- and re-installing the lights, radio and battery of a car but it's not a lot. There's a 24 hour cooldown per car. With lots of cars, you can easily level up. Another way is to go to a parking lot and just un/re-install everything until all parts are broken. Also read the skill book(s).

IF I COULD FIND THEM!

I had to drive to West Point to find the "Basic Mechanics" magazine, because I couldn't find it in Muldraugh.
The spawns chances are totally off the charts in this playthrough. I can't complain too much though. I found a 100% condition working "heavy lifter" police vehicle next door to my base on day 2.

[=JpS=Red5]

It is a bit of a grind to get to level 5 mechanics. Uninstalling and reinstalling light bulbs, batteries, etc is just tedious work...but once you get to level 5, it is a whole new thing.

My last game I focused on mechanics. When I hit level 5 and was able to automatically succeed on standard cars, the grind went away. I was just looking for better parts for my standard cars in order to upgrade. By the time I was done rebuilding a few cars. I was level 6. I started working on vans. When I had a few good vans, boom, level 7. I hit level 9 in no time when I started working on two sports cars.

The real grind was getting my metalworking high enough to do bodywork. I found that taking apart wrecks on the highway was the best option (if there is enough propane). Clearing the road, increasing metalwork skill, and getting metal sheeting is a win, win, win.

[Sushi_Rocks]

Originally posted by Beltneck:

If you don't like any particular grind, take Fast Learner. Instant 30% XP boost to all skills.

Then read the mechanics skill books, magazines are a bit more rare, I usually have to search 2 school libraries to find everything. Get to a scrapyard or parking lot, take out all the light bulbs, disconnect all the batteries, and take out all the radios. Then put them all back in. Repeat every 24 hours.

Then once you get your success rate higher for more complicated tasks, grind those too. 65% success rate is not a good time to try that.

Already got that skill actually.

[Jarzzen]

Just wait; hopefully B42 will add terrorising dogs to the junkyard.

[Lord Jesus III]

Originally posted by The cursed Jäger:

You do get XP for un- and re-installing the lights, radio and battery of a car but it's not a lot. There's a 24 hour cooldown per car. With lots of cars, you can easily level up. Another way is to go to a parking lot and just un/re-install everything until all parts are broken. Also read the skill book(s).

It's actually a 24 hour cooldown for the parts. That means you could grab 40 lightbulbs and screw each one in for XP. I tried that once. Kinda tedious organizing the "used" bulbs tho

[Armagenesis]

There's a trick to level up mechanic pretty fast.

Find a vehicle you can sacrifice, like totalled cars and such, then try removing anything and let yourself fail over and over.

You will still get exp even if you fail to remove the car part, say a seat, and you can repeat this ad infinitum without having to wait for anything.

[Sushi_Rocks]

Originally posted by Armagenesis:

There's a trick to level up mechanic pretty fast.

Find a vehicle you can sacrifice, like totalled cars and such, then try removing anything and let yourself fail over and over.

You will still get exp even if you fail to remove the car part, say a seat, and you can repeat this ad infinitum without having to wait for anything.

How do I let myself fail over and over?

[Jarzzen]

Originally posted by Sushi_Rocks:

Originally posted by Armagenesis:

There's a trick to level up mechanic pretty fast.

Find a vehicle you can sacrifice, like totalled cars and such, then try removing anything and let yourself fail over and over.

You will still get exp even if you fail to remove the car part, say a seat, and you can repeat this ad infinitum without having to wait for anything.

How do I let myself fail over and over?

Welcome to my life lol.