It’s been a while since I wrote a guide, but considering the amount of time and energy I’ve invested in it, here are some Car Detailing Simulator tips for when you’re starting. Hopefully, it’ll save you time.
There will be spoilers in this guide. I mean, that’s the principle of a guide, so look through with caution. It won’t spoil the story elements – that gave up on itself early on. Instead, I’ve separated it into sections which you can view below.
What Can You Expect In Car Detailing Simulator?
First of all, this list summarises what you can do in the game and what you can’t.
Can
- Wash the cars
- Polish and buff out scrapes
- Clean the windows and add a compound
- Wash the wheels and fenders, plus add a dressing
- Clean the mats and seats
- Repair blemishes on the seats
- Buff out the headlights
- Change the colour of the car
- Display your work in your garage or a showroom
- Buy cars from auction
- Sell the cars
- Take photos and pin them to the wall/email them to your friends in real life. Erm…
Can’t
- Test drive a car
- Add body kits, change the wheels, add decals or tint the windows
- Do anything with the interior other than clean and repair it
- Experience licensed vehicles
- Create custom colours for the paint job
- See/hear the engine
- Sell your first garage
- Rename your garages
- Upgrade the seat repair kit
- Order takeaway
- Hire staff
The following is a selection of Car Detailing Simulator tips I’d like to share. Hopefully, some of them will save you some time or make the experience a little better.
General Tips
Regularly press the right mouse button when wiping. This is a no-brainer, but to progress or get the maximum rating, getting all the tasks ‘perfect’ will be worth the effort.
Don’t be meticulous about the customer cars – do what’s required. See water residue on the bonnet but got the green light? Leave it.
Be meticulous about your cars. As this is entitled Car Detailing Simulator, it makes sense to pay attention. When in cleaning mode or polishing the bodywork, switch to your tool and hold down ‘E’ to zoom into the car in sections. It seems obvious, but it makes a difference.
Take on a job you can do. Earning money and reputation is key, but pay attention to the icons in the job description and make sure you have the kit. If you take on a job but cannot complete a task, you can still return the car, but you’ll be docked reputation points and money. It adds up, so be sensible.
Rinse and repeat. Keep an eye on the water levels for your cloths and the wax for buffers. There’s no audible clue when you run out, but it’s easy to forget, and you’ll be going through the motions without any results. Press ‘R’.
When repairing seats, move the cursor within the red circle and frantically move the mouse left and right in short distances for faster action. When it comes to spraying, zoom out as the spray has better coverage.
What’s reputation? This unlocks new gear and places on your map. That includes an improved garage and a showroom. More importantly, you’ll climb the ranks, and once you’re in the top three, you’ll get awarded trophies that can be displayed on your premises. Get to number one, and you’ve beaten the game.
Upgrades
Upgrade your shelves first. The core gameplay is fixing up cars, but you can’t do the job if you don’t have the kit. Likewise, if you’ve bought the kit but don’t have the space, you can’t place it. My recommendation is to buy a shelf, then kit, and alternate it this way. However, only buy the kit for the job in question. Buying all the gear in advance makes sense, but when you’re out of pocket, it seems like an age to catch up.
My recommended upgrade path for kits would be:
- Car interior kit
- Polishing kit
- Bodywork wash kit
- Car seat kit
- Wheel kit
- Window cleaning kit
- Headlight restorer kit
Upgrading to the pro kits is a personal thing. Which task do you like doing the least? For me, it was repairing seats, and typically, that’s the only kit that doesn’t feature an upgrade. Here’s another list with the additional features:
- Car interior kit – no need to spray as you only use one device (super fast)
- Polishing kit – sand and buff out scratches. Also, take a vehicle down to bare metal
- Bodywork wash kit – faster?
- Wheel kit – foam spray for some wheels, faster spray and wheel dressing
- Window cleaning kit – compound to add after cleaning
Upgrade the lights in your first garage. Switching between the polishing tool and light to look for scratches can be tedious. You can train your eye to spot imperfections with the proper lighting, thus performing the task faster.
You can buy an additional display spot in your second garage and another workspace to work on two cars at a time. To the back of the garage is a storage space where you can purchase vehicles that have been left, but they are dependent on your reputation level.
Like your first garage, you have to buy all the shelves and kits again, so apply the same method and go steady. Perhaps keep your first garage for clients and the second for ‘projects’? Other options are cosmetic, such as hanging up posters or changing the look of your display areas.
Auctions
Auctions, in my opinion, are endgame. Here you’ll get a selection of cars to do up and either display in your garage or showroom. Alternatively, you can sell off at the auctions.
How much you get for the car will depend on the quality, but there’s a slider for a quick sale (and less money), or you can hold out. As I had a steady job flow, I would always put my cars up for the most money and do a few jobs. After this, I’d return to the auction, and the offers would usually be over the amount asked for. This money is perfect for upgrades, and also new cars.
It’s a bit clumsy to sell a car as you have to position first. Make sure that you’ve detailed it and it’s good to go, then go to your mobile (not the terminal or wheel menu), select the car and move it to another garage.
To sell a car, you need to go to your menu wheel, select owned cars and then click on the car image. Select the time you want to wait and then… wait.
Notifications will appear each time a car is added to the auction. Interestingly, this is the only notification with audio. If you press the mouse wheel (and not working on a vehicle at the time), you can select the auction house and purchase a car. In theory, you can buy as many as you like; just don’t place them until you’re ready.
As with client cars, if you run out of space, you need to get rid of the vehicles, and if they’re not up-to-speed, you’ll affect your reputation.
Showroom
The first showroom feels pointless, but you can purchase up to six spaces to showcase your cars when you unlock the second one. If you like cars and are proud of your work – great! However, this serves as a storage option to keep your workspace free so you can buy new cars. Running out of space? Sell them at auction!
Glitches/bugs
Parking spaces are expensive, and when starting out, it’ll take a while to get enough cash. But what about where you have display spaces, but the car won’t move?
The car placement in Car Detailing Simulator is clumsy as you’ll see a drop-down menu that will say move your car to new garage or new garage. You can’t rename your garages and have to wing it. Worse, if you haven’t bought the space, you’ll see a ‘blocked’ notification, and the game will get stuck. Autosaves are frequent, so as a last resort, you can exit the game.
My top tip? Press the mouse wheel and switch to another garage and then come back. It usually fixes the issue.
That’s more or less it. Apart from a few hidden gems in some of the cars you buy from storage, that’s more or less what you get in the game. The AMMO NYC DLC is like New Game+; only you have to start a new game. The reward? Better cars.
