I went from zero knowledge of cars to a knowledge that would impress someone with zero knowledge of cars.

I am the stereotypical woman who knows absolutely nothing about cars. If you ask me to check my oil, I'll have a panic attack because I don't remember where the little stick is. I take my car in for a yearly checkup and they can take care of all that stuff.

I have just spent an excruciating amount of time trying to find out why a car makes "constant banging sounds," only to discover that the rusty parts that were eluding me were little round things called Rubber Bushings. I'm only a few story missions in, so I don't know what a rubber bushing is yet, but I will not cheat and google it! Hopefully my journey will eventually lead me to the answer.

I bought this game because I like simulators and wanted to learn more about cars, sine they're such an important part of our lives. It's a big challenge from the start if you don't know anything about cars, but I wholeheartedly recommended it! It feels damn good when you figure something out. And hey, I'm 99% sure I can check my oil in RL now!

I'm a mechanic. My whole family thinks I'm crazy because I go to work then come home and go to work on Mechanic Simulator. I'm having a blast and maybe I am a little crazy.

This game is fairly realistic as someone who enjoys working on cars IRL but still simplified enough to be enjoyable for a player who is not as mechanically inclined. If you love cars, made models of cars, or even enjoyed playing with Legos as a kid. You will enjoy yourself playing this game. --9/10 my personal rating of this game.

I work on cars as a hobby/side hustle, so there are things missing in this experience that you have to deal with in reality, that I wish were in this game (but I still think should be optional if a player does not wish for all the extra hassle)...

i.e. --Wiring
--transmission parts and fluid (magically all one piece)
--differentials, covers, gears, oil and otherwise (magically all one piece)
--brake lines, and no process of having to bleed air and bad fluid from brake calipers and brake lines
--torquing the lug-nuts once you put wheels back on.
--tie rod alignment (just to clarify, that means specifically the tie rods, more specifically tie rod thread count. Anyone who has changed a tie rod before will know what I am talking about... I am not referring to wheel alignment which is in fact in the current game).
--parking brake cables, handles or shifter handles
--no gaskets, no intake manifold gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets, no head gaskets (metal to metal and somehow everything is magically sealed.
--no interior panels for doors, no window motors/regulators, locks, handle rods, lock rods.
--no dash/instrument cluster
--no heater cores
--no hoses or lines for EVAP related parts, cooling system, or fuel.
--no ball joints

and the interior stuff is kinda lackluster... there is more to the interior of a car than seats, benches and steering wheels.

In the future, this game should let us customize the dashes, the shifter, the gauges, the radio/stereo, the carpet/floor material and color. Just a few ideas I had.

If the game had a bit more of these realistic aspects to it, I would give it a rating closer to 10. As it stands, it is an excellent game! I've put several hours into it within these last couple of weeks as of writing this review and I look forward to logging many more hours in this awesome experience, especially if they release more DLC for all the different brands of vehicles out there! So much Content! Lotsa sexy cars! Lotsa fun!

10/10 didn't get yelled at for holding the flashlight wrong

This is a pretty good game, but its not exactly realistic. Let me start off with im an ASE certified technician, and i know most people playing this game are probably normal people who arent techs, so i can understand why theres much simpler systems. Heres a list of what i think could be improved upon purely to make this more realistic.

1. Heavily simplified. Missing systems like EGR, EVAP, secondary AIR, VCT, IMRC, IAC, PCV, hydraulic lifters, hydraulic lash adjusters, dual bed catalysts, resonators, smog pumps, vacuum pumps, missing lots of vacuum/electrical actuators, automatic transmissions, strut bearings, etc.

2. No true transmission repairs possible. Transmissions are their own beast to simulate, but it would really improve the experience.

3. Inconsistencies. Stuff like naturally aspirated cars having intercoolers, some cars have redundant suspension components that dont do anything.

4. Limited diagnostics. The main tests that i think would be good to add would be a cylinder leakdown test, wet compression test, cooling system pressure test, propane enrichment test, (dynamic) manifold vacuum gauge, spark tester (cant remember if thats in this game)

5. Inability to remove parts while other parts are attached. Im mainly talking about not being able to remove the cylinder head while the spark plugs are installed and having to remove inner tie rod ends before removing a rack..

6. Every worn part is rusted. This makes it very helpful to spot them, but its not realistic. Most parts that need to be replaced are not necessarily covered in rust. Adding the ability to inspect journals on the crankshaft and camshaft(s) and scoring/glazing on the cylinder walls would really improve realism.

7. No bearings or seals. I personally think that the crank main bearings, cam main bearings, and connecting rod bearings at least should be in this game. There are lots and lots of bearings, bushings, and seals on cars.

8. Leaks/spills cost money to clean up. If you spill coolant or oil or whatever in a shop you just throw some sand on it and sweep it up. It really isnt that big of a deal unless you spilled like 12 quarts of oil on the ground.

9. No plumbing or wiring modeled.

10. No sensors or solenoids. Missing MAF/MAP, knock sensors, oil pressure sensors, IAT, CMP, CKP, TPS, VSS, ISS, TSS, wheel speed sensors, SAS, STS

11. Specifying locations on cars is done by mentioning the side of the car and then front or back. For example, you say right front instead of front right, left rear instead of rear left

12. Very simple electrical systems. Electrical systems like the CAN-HI and CAN-LO would be difficult to model but would make for very challenging repairs, as it can cause sensors and actuators to communicate weirdly or not at all.

13. Only hydraulic power assist steering (HPAS) as far as ive seen. Lots of late model vehicles, especially HEVs and mHEVs, use electric power assist steering (EPAS). Also no variation in steering systems such as parallelogram and recirculating ball, only rack and pinion.

14. This one is really small but the lifts are missing the mechanical lock clunks when raising the lift

15. No gaskets.

16. Blocks are missing oil pickup tube, oil pump, oil galleries, and (removable) freeze plugs.

17. Crankshafts are missing oil ports.

18. Brake system is missing combination valve or metering, proportioning, and pressure differential valves.

19 Tire machine removes the tire without touching anything. Removing tires is a lot more involved and labor intensive (i hate tire work).

20. Some suspension components are mislabeled. MacPherson struts are called shock absorbers, some coil springs are also considered shock absorbers in this game. Shock absorbers dampen spring oscillations, but are not the spring itself.

21. Very little variation in suspension systems. Ive only seen MacPherson and SLA-1 used in IFS and SLA-1 in IRS and solid axle in rear suspension. Adding some other spring types like torsion bars or air springs would add a little variation.

22. Brake caliper is a floating caliper but does not have slide pins.

23. Drum brakes missing all hardware. Self adjust cable/linkage, self adjust screw, park brake strut, park brake cable, return springs, hold down springs, anchors.

24. This would probably make the game very boring for most people, but theres no measuring, indicating, or torquing.

25. Symptoms dont always match up with the problems. For example, “Car is hard to control” is caused by a sway bar end link. That will usually just cause clunking, especially when turning the wheel in the direction of the bad link.

26. Rusted bolts are too easy to remove. I wish it was this easy to remove stuck bolts, and i much prefer how easy it is to remove them in game. Its just not fully realistic.

27. Suspension and steering component replacement doesnt require alignment. Replacing tie rod ends or steering gears require an alignment after installation.

28. Not much variation in valvetrain designs. Would be nice to see roller lifters, different followers, lash adjusters, and tapered cams vs straight ground cams.

29. It would be cool to see some splayed crank journals on certain engines.

30. Hydraulic and fluid systems dont need to be bled. This does take a lot of the tedious work out though.

31. Steering system missing steering shaft, intermediate shaft, couplers. Also missing the entire SRS and anti-theft systems.

32. Rust behaves a little strange. Sometimes, single parts will be rusted in the crankcase or cylinder head. This would mean that water was somehow getting into the engine and only on that one part. If water manages to get inside the engine where it shouldnt be, it will rust several parts, and if bad enough it can and will rust the entirety of the inside of the crankcase. Rust inside the engine is a major indicator of a fault somewhere in the engine, not necessarily related to that specific component. Rust also spreads through other means like galvanic corrosion.

33. Symptoms arent specific enough. If someone told me that their engine shut off while they were driving, i wouldnt just say ok and start disassembling their car, i would get more information (engine speed at which it shut off, were they on a grade, is it during tip-in/cruise/WOT, etc.), then run diagnostic tests (checking the fuel flow and pressure at different engine speeds, checking the fuel filter for blockage) then begin disassembly and order replacement parts. (symptom-system-component-cause)

34. No priming of the engines oil system before installation into vehicle. say goodbye to your precision machined journals.

35. Diagnostic tools just magically tell you the condition of parts. It would be much more realistic if you had to go in with a test light and check all the fuse terminals, measure the resistance of wires, checking for short to ground/short to power, etc. but, i can understand why this wasnt implemented.

36. Missing throttle and cruise control (older vehicles with vacuum CC) linkages.

Overall this is a fun game, however its not exactly a simulator.

Please add multiplayer so I can work on cars with my friends.

Went from not knowing a thing about cars to being able to change headlight fluid. 10/10

If I can't lose my 10mm, it isn't a real simulator.

Legit made me confident enough to perform my first oil change, change my spark plugs, and replace my valve cover gasket. (With YouTube as a guide, of course)
Car is still running, so that's a good sign?